OCR Text |
Show STRUGGLE FOR ! VOTE BEGAN IN ! COLONIAL OUTS John Adams Was Warned of "Rebellion" if Women Were Not Given Voice MISS ANTHONY DEFIED LAW AND WAS ARRESTED Movement Met Determined Opposition From Many of Gentler Sex W ASHINGTON. Aug. 17. Ratification Ratifica-tion of the suffrage amendment to the constitution ends a struggle, which he-Igan he-Igan In this country before the colonies declared their Independence It will eventually enfranchise 2G.000.000 sfdmen. Woman suffrago first raised its IVOlee In America in Maryland in 164 7 srnen Mistress Margaret Llrent, heir of Lord Calvert, demanded a place In the legislature of the colony as a property bolder of wide extent. And In the days of tho Revolution Abigail Adams wrote her husband, John Adams, at the Con-i t .cent.i! i 'ongress. which was framing j the laws of the Infant nation that "If In the new laws particular care nr.d attention arc not puld to the la- j dies, wo are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ouroclvea' brnind to obey nny laws In which w'c I a ve no olee." Organized work for woman suffrage; began in the United states with the Woman's Rights convention In Seneca' Palis. X. V. In 1818, which was called !i Lucretla Mott and Kllzabeth fadyj Stanton, early leaders of Masaachu-I aeltl and New York. In response to tin indignation aroused by 'he refusal, 10 permit women to take part in the .i t. slavery convention of 1M0. From I tr.e date of that convention the suf-j frage movement In tho ' nited StuteSj began the tight that lasted seventy! , .-. i si nurl r-nrteil ulfli i I, Inn An., ii,. i convention followed .n 1802 at I Syracuse. N". Y., at which delegates! from Canada wore present and it was! there that Susan R. Anthony assumed! leadership of the cause to which she devoted her life. MOl I Ml AT SPREADS In lv;i the National Woman Suf-1 llrage association, with Biles Anthony, and Mrs. Stanton at Its head was form-1 led In Now York and In the same year! the American Woman Suffrage asso-j elation iv as organised in Cleveland ;with Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Hewe an Its b. adcrs. At first differing wide-! 1 ly In poll' v, tlio national association! working to put a suffrage amendment j (tr.rough the federal congress and Its) sister organization bending Its efforts j to convert the country Mate by,statc, 'the two associations later united un- dn the name of the National Woman' Suffrage association. The association's I drive for the vote was led in turn by! I Mrs. Stanton. Miss Antnony. Tr Anna I j ward Shaw and Airs. Carrie Chap-' 'man Catt. the latter of whom Is now I Its president. Tho nineteenth amendment, which' hears her name, was drafted by Ml.s( Anthony In 1875 and was first lntrO- dl ced In congress In 1878 by Senator! A A Sargent of California: and it is 1 in the same language that the new' principle of tho national law reads: "Article . Section 1. The right of: IcltUens of the i'nltod States to vote, a tall not be denied or abridged by the! I'nlted Slates or by any slate on ac- count of sex. 'Section 2 ("ongress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, to, enforce the provisions of th:& article. ' I Th amendment holds the record of 1 being before the country longer than ii other successful amendment to 1 ttH constitution. It was introduced as the lbth amendment and has been1 suoce.Nsh i l the 17th. 18th .. ml 1 Sth 'and has been before every session of 'congress since Us Initial appearance. I During tho first 35 years after Its Introduction into congress '.ho amendment amend-ment made practically no progress and until seven years ago It had not been debated on the tloor for 80 years. But Ihi campaign for the movement was Slowly but steadily gaining ground In tho states .MIK ANTHONY UIRE8TKD. Meanwhile Miss Anthony made a' I test of the right of women to cast the' ballot bv going to the polls and voting ' She waj arrested and convicted and, I hough she refused to pay her fine. Bias never Jailed She became, however, how-ever, the forerunner of the "militants" who adopted the forceful tactics o I the latter days of the campaign. State after state gradually enf ran-', Chlsed Its women cltlseos. Beginning with Wyoming In 1SC9. by 15l, u-' ! teen states had given women the right' I to vote, and fourteen states had presidential presi-dential suffrage previous to ratlflca-l tlon of the amendment. Illlltanc la the nKht for suffrage' 1 In America made Us appearance with, I the formation of tho National Worn ! I an's party In 1913. On the Cvc of I President W ilson's Inauguration s.ooa women led by Allce Raul, now the' chairman f the party, attempted to I march from the t apitol to the White j House. They were harassed by a hos- (Contlnued on Pago Two.) oo Struggle for Vole Began in Colonial Days (Continued from Page One.) tile crowd whiih overran an unsympathetic unsym-pathetic pom,, and tin capital of the i nit. it s,aie. had Its first experience with suffrage riots. ! Continuing their demonstrations. I over a period of seven years, members mem-bers of the women's party picketed the hite House with banners In I their hands and served terms in Jail 'for the disturbances of the pcaco j which grow out of their parade. and blockade of the executive mansion During the last few months before the adoption of the amendment the militants mili-tants redoubled their exertions Sever. Sev-er. l demonstrations were held on tho reps of the Capitol and on New Year s day, lilfc, watch fires wen- lighted in troht of the White Houe In which every speech made hy President Wilson Wil-son In Europe on democracy and self-' government was burned. The acts, however, wero disavowed by the Na-! tlonal association. I I AH GIVES APPROVAL, j Promptl) with the pasjuge of the i amendment by the congress the suf-i suf-i frage forces turned their attention to ratification by the necessary two- i thirds of tho states More special scs-i stuns of the stato legislatures were called to act upon the lath than upon I any other amendment Wisconsin and Michigan on June ' D I were the first states to ratify, quicklv ' followed on June lb by New York.! j Mannas and Ohio Other states ratified in the follow- Ing order, Illinois, Pennsylvania, ; Massachusetts, Texas, Iowa, Missouri,' , Arkansas. Montana. Nebraska Minnesota, Minne-sota, New Hampshire) Utah, California, Califor-nia, Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Da-kota, Colorado, Rhode lsla..J, Kentucky, Ken-tucky, Oregon, Indiana. Wyoming, Nevada, New Jersey, Idaho, Arizona, 1 .n.-u Mexico, Oklahoma and West Vii - j ginia. j From Its beginning in ibis country, th.. snl'frm-p n,rivninul ,ial llr. I O- ......... ...v. mineo opposition from women as well r.s from men. The firsi organised opposition op-position un the part of women mani-j mani-j tested Itself in 1S73 when a commit-I commit-I teo ol prominent women presented a petition to congress protesting against the extension of suffrage to I w union " Mr.-i. W. T. Sherman, wile of i In Civil war hero, headed the committee, of which Miss Catherine Ward Ueechor, sister of the famous divine, Henry Ward B eve her. was a i member Various antl-suffragc or-j or-j gonlzatlons came into being subso-QUently, subso-QUently, until the National association ojj;,uscd to woman suffrage was formed in 1911 with Mrs. .Crthur M, Dodge of New York as Its fhst president presi-dent This body, step b step, fought the adoption and ratification of the amendment. si PFRAGE OVKRSEAS. I"ul' suffrage Is enjoyed today by the women of 21 foreign countries, including th new stales of Csecho-Blovakla Csecho-Blovakla and Poland and the ancient nations of England) Germany nnd the Scandinavian countries. Now that the women of the L nlted States have won the ri"ht equally With the men to take their part in the government of the republic the effect of the women's vote on the political life of the coun-tr coun-tr 1 1 mains for time to show |