The Fight for Women's Right to Vote

Happy Birthday to a warrior for Women's Rights.

The birthday of one of my heros is today. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born 195 years ago November 12. She is one of several women who helped gain women the right to vote, which recently had it's own anniversary. The 19th Amendment grantinging women the right to vote in the United States was approved 90 years ago in August.

The American women’s suffrage movement won a great victory after years and years of fighting for women’s rights. It took mass marches, protests, and hunger strikes. Women even went to jail for their cause.

How different would our country be today if women never won the right to vote?  Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Julia Ward Howe are just some of the amazing women who were important leaders in the suffragist movement.

You can go back further in history and find women like the Grimke sisters, who also worked to end slavery  during the Civil War. They are credited with inspiring many suffragist women to carry the battle for women's rights into the 20th century.

Then there are men like Representative Harry Burn who voted for the 19th Amendment awarding women the right to vote to become the law of the land. These people all deserve a big thank you for what they did.

I’m very proud to say that when I turn 18, I’ll be able to register to vote and have my voice heard. I can’t wait! It will be a pride-filled, exciting moment when I fill out my ballot and turn it in for the very first time.

I’ll even have the chance to be on those ballots when I’m old enough. Who knows? I might even be one of the first women U.S. Presidents, because in this country, I have an equal chance.

"As we recall the giants of women’s suffrage, we can rededicate ourselves to their noble goal: ensuring that full equality is the rule in our country, not the exception," said U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California, in a statement issued on the 90th anniversary. "There is no better way to honor the brave women who came before us and to create even more opportunities for those who come next."

—Miranda Rector

PHOTO: Daguerrotype of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot taken in 1856. (PHOTO CREDIT: Library of Congress)

Comments

[Alyssa]

Very good!

[morgan]

Good job! My class is doing global issues and my group is doing
Human Rights. This helped quite a bit. Thanks again!

[i]

hii9

[camden]

I really liked how you show alot of resheh about wonmens rights thank you
Now i konw what everything about wonmens rights

[Skylar]

This web site has made me feel like i should vote when i turn 18.

[camden]

I because we have also think that I will vote when i am 18 because we have the right to vote now.

[Skylar]

your web site has HELPED me with school work THANK YOU.