100 Years and a Day: Students on Women’s Vote

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On this day 100 years ago, women across the country were preparing to vote in their first presidential election. On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, stating “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Women Marching in Suffragette Parade, Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy National Archives, photo no. 306-PS-57-7357)

The road to women’s suffrage was long, beginning as early as the American Revolution. In a letter to her husband John, Abigail Adams wrote, “Remember the Ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a Rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice or Representation.”

“As women became more involved in reform movements in the 19th century (abolition of slavery, reform of prisons, creation of schools — later temperance), they became aware that the best way to influence policy/law was through the vote,” said Dr. Brenda Schoolfield, chair of BJU’s Division of History, Government and Social Science.

The Journey of the Vote

At the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other women’s suffrage leaders met to discuss women’s rights. Through the Declaration of Sentiments, they called for the woman’s right to vote, stating “that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” They argued that because women were not allowed to vote, they were being forced to submit to the government’s rule without their consent.

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Though the Civil War interrupted the movement, suffragists renewed their energy after the war. In 1869, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association which sought an amendment to the Constitution that would allow all minorities (women and Black Americans) to vote.

Photograph of a Suffragette Parade in New York City (Photo courtesy National Archives, photo no. 208-PR-14M-1)

A second group disagreed slightly. They believed that Black Americans should have their own amendment and that it was unfair to undermine what they had just fought for. This group became known as the American Woman Suffrage Association. Eventually, the two groups overcame their differences and merged, forming the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890.

Several western states began to give women the right to vote as early as 1910, but the South and the East remained steeped in tradition. More militant groups staged hunger strikes and picket lines at the White House, hoping to gain more publicity for the cause. However, it was World War I that did the most for women’s suffrage. Women’s work on behalf of the war effort showed they were just as patriotic and deserving of being full citizens as men.

The Susan B. Anthony Amendment, as the 19th Amendment was called, was passed in the House of Representatives on May 21, 1919, and in the Senate on June 4. On Aug. 18, 1920, the needed three-fourths majority of the states ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and women across the country lined up at the polls on Nov. 2 to vote for the first time.

Valuing the Vote

Now, 100 years and 1 day later, women will again line up to vote. For some BJU students, this will be their first time to vote in a presidential election. The female students do not take their responsibility lightly.

As a freshman studying paralegal studies, Grace Lehner sees the legal side of women’s right to vote. “As someone who’s starting to study law and seeing how we could — if we didn’t already have that right — how we could fight for it based on the law, and why we would win, I think I would want to fight for that,” she said.

Senior nursing student Cami Fordham said if she didn’t have the right to vote, “I think I probably would be pretty passionate about it. … I wouldn’t have my goal to be put in jail (like some of the suffragists), but I would if I needed to be.”

Freshman Daniela Paul said, “I think I would fight for (the vote). I don’t know if I would necessarily be the one who would lead the way in it. That’s not really my personality, but I think I would try to get involved in different things that would support it.”

The students’ opinions reinforce the relevancy of the suffragists’ fight to today. Said Schoolfield, “Governments tax women (their wages, their property, etc.), so women should have a say, through the vote, in who makes those decisions about taxes and spending. … Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in a speech to the NASWA, said that ‘Every truth we see is ours to give the world, not to keep for ourselves alone.’ The work that she and Susan Anthony did was likewise not for themselves alone but for women in subsequent generations.”

The Call to Vote

“All U.S. citizens, female and male, should exercise their right to vote,” said Schoolfield. “It’s how women (and men) have a voice in the decisions made today. Americans have unique opportunities to contribute to the decisions made in this country — and no one’s vote is more important or weighs more than any other person’s vote. We have an opportunity to be light and salt in our community through our vote. We ignore this right and privilege at our peril. Not using this right might lead some (politicians, judges, other citizens) to conclude that the democratic process of voting is not worth continuing.”

Senior Tayler Otis said she is passionate about getting out to vote, “I would say that if you have the privilege to vote, you should because not all countries have the privilege. We are privileged as Americans to vote. Personally, this is something I’m a little bit passionate about because I have people in my family that never vote, yet they complain about everything going on in the government. You have a choice to try to influence the government and the way you want it to go by voting. So, if you’re not going to vote, then you don’t have the right to complain.”

“We do (have the responsibility to vote) just because of how our country was formed,” said Lehner. “It’s formed for the people to be able to speak, and so I feel like, because we’re part of that country, we as citizens need to work with the government that we have. They’ve (made) it so that people can vote, and we are part of that country, so, therefore, we should be voting.”

Fordham says it’s more important to vote this year than others, “I think this campaign, these two presidential candidates are the most polarizing it’s been in a long time. I feel like they’re both kind of extreme. I think it’s even more important than in past years to vote because it’s really going to play out pretty drastically in our nation depending on who wins.”

Weighing the Issues

Many students are considering political candidates’ stances on issues important to them as they consider for whom to cast their vote. Otis said, “It’s important to pick a side and also look at the values of each of the candidates. I know President Trump is pro-life, and that’s something that’s very important to me. I want to see big changes in our country for pro-life. So I feel like my vote is very important because of my belief system. … There’s other reasons to vote as well, but that’s one of the biggest ones, I think, that matters.”

In this election, voting with the issues in mind matters more than ever to some students. Senior cross-cultural studies student Elaina Lehner said, “There’s more of a contrast (between candidates), and I think it’s going to make a bigger difference. It’s not like, Oh well. Either way, these major things will be the same. I think it’s going to be a lot more drastic of a difference if we vote.”

Senior communication Moriah Mantelli agreed, “It’s just important to see how significant all these little things are, and even studying economics. When the government gets bigger, how that affects economics. It affects the jobs. It affects all these things.

“So, it’s very important to think wisely about how the government is set up because it’ll affect all of us.”

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