Women
Today, women in nearly all countries have the same voting rights as men. But they did not begin to gain such rights until the early 1900's, and they had to overcome strong opposition to get them. The men and women who supported the drive for woman suffrage were called suffragists. During colonial times, the right to vote was limited to adult males who owned property. Many people thought property owners had the strongest interest in good government and so were best qualified to make decisions. Most women could not vote, though some colonies gave the vote to widows who owned property. By the mid-1700's, many colonial leaders were beginning to think that all citizens should have a voice in government. They expressed this belief in such slogans as "No Taxation Without Representation" and "Government by the Consent of the Governed." After the United States became an independent nation, the Constitution gave the states the right to decide who could vote. One by one, the states abolished property requirements and, by 1830, all white male adults could vote. Only New Jersey gave women the vote, but in 1807, that state also limited voting rights to men. Beginnings of the movement. Changing social conditions for women during the early 1800'
The two organizations united in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. By 1920, 15 states--most of them in the West--had granted full voting privileges to women. One of the first public appeals for woman suffrage came in 1848. Its chief goal was an amendment to the Constitution giving women the vote. Its main goal was to induce individual states to give the vote to women. These leaders stressed organizing in every congressional district and lobbying in the nation's capital. Most people who opposed woman suffrage believed that women were less intelligent and less able to make political decisions than men. The men and women at the convention adopted a Declaration of Sentiments that called for women to have equal rights in education, property, voting, and other matters. In 1869, the Territory of Wyoming gave women the right to vote. She was arrested and fined for voting illegally. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and other organizations also made woman suffrage a goal. As a result, women started to ask why they were not also allowed to vote.
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