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Note that this entry is a product of its time, and should be read in that context. Footnotes have been omitted to make the text easier to follow. Also note that scanning and editing may have introduced a few errors into the transcription. Because of these errors, if you need to use this information in an academic paper, please consult the original, available at many libraries.

This continues the entry under "Women" in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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The movement assumed an organized form in the United States somewhat earlier than in the United Kingdom. It arose out of the interest taken by women in the temperance and antislavery agitations, and was fostered by the discussion on women's property rights. In 1840 the question was raised in a more acute form by the exclusion of women delegates from the World's Convention, and in 1848 the first women's suffrage convention was held at Seneca Falls, the leading spirits being Mrs Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha C. Wright and Lucretia Mott. Later conventions at Salem and Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1850, were the predecessors of annual meetings, but the extravagant dress adopted by some of the women brought ridicule upon the movement, which was further thrown into the background by the Civil War. In 1869 were formed: (I) in New York, the National Women's Suffrage Association, and (2) in Cleveland, the American Woman's Suffrage Association. In 1890 these two societies amalgamated as the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, of which in 1900 Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt became president. The question was considered by a select committee in the 48th Congress, and 200 petitions, representing millions of individuals, were presented in 1900. The Labour and Socialist parties in general supported the women's claim, but there was considerable opposition in other parties. In 5 states (Wyoming since 1869; Colorado, 1893; Utah, 1896; Idaho, 1896; and Washington, 1910) women are electors, and in 25 states they have exercised the school suffrage. In Louisiana they obtained the suffrage in connexion with tax levies in 1898. Anti-suffrage societies have also been formed in Brooklyn (1894), Massachusetts (1895), Illinois (1897), Oregon (1899).

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More of this article: General | Mosaic Law, Ancient India | Roman Law | Christian Law  | Northern Europe Law | English Law | Husband and Wife | Criminal Law | Education | Professions | Nursing and Medicine | Government and Politics | Women Practicing Law | Women as Clergy | Women's Rights Agitation | Woman Suffrage | Woman Suffrage 1865-1906 | Woman Suffrage 1906-1910 | Woman Suffrage Societies | Woman Suffrage New Zealand and Australia | Woman Suffrage America | Woman Suffrage Europe | Woman Suffrage International | Sources

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Part of a collection of etexts on women's history produced by Jone Johnson Lewis. Editing and formatting © 1999-2003 Jone Johnson Lewis.