Most people now take it for granted that women should have the right to vote, but it has not always been so.

In this timely teaching activity for March from SIRS Decades (free trial) learn about some of the arguments for and against women's suffrage that were debated in the early part of the 20th century.

Although women were not allowed to vote for much of our nation's early history, they participated in government as workers as far back as the colonial period.

Job opportunities for women in the federal government increased in 1883 when Congress passed the Civil Service Act, making some positions in Washington open to competitive exams. However, securing the vote for women was not as easy as winning a government job.

Groups such as the National Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women claimed that women's suffrage would lead to the breakup of the family.


© Archive Photos (circa 1910)

These anti-suffrage efforts were countered by the Woman Suffrage Party, which wrote pro-suffrage literature, solicited petitions, and organized parades. On August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote, became law.

Learning Activity

1. Divide students into small groups and have each group read/examine the primary historical documents listed below:
   
   We Want to Vote
   
   Votes for Women!
   
   Suffragette Rally
   
   How Suffrage Is Organized
   
   Why Suffrage Parades?
   
   House Joint Resolution 1 Proposing the Nineteenth Amendment
   
   
2. Have the groups summarize arguments for and against granting women the right to vote during the 1910s and identify tactics used by suffragists that led to the successful passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.
   
   
3. Assemble as a whole class to discuss the groups' findings. Discuss the impact of the Nineteenth Amendment on American history. What changes came about after voting rights in the United States expanded to include women?
   
   
4. Ask students whether they feel further organized action is still needed to remedy gender inequality. If so, what strategies should be pursued to achieve that end?