National Woman Suffrage Association
The National Woman Suffrage Association ( NWSA ) was founded in New York City on May 15, 1869. This association was in response to a split in the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) that had arisen in the women's suffrage movement over support for the 15th Amendment to the United States' Constitution . The founders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton , were against the 15th Amendment if it did not include women's suffrage. Men were allowed to join the association as members, but only women controlled the governing body of the organization. The NWSA wanted to secure women's suffrage through an amendment to the United States Constitution. In contrast, its rival, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), believed that success could be more easily achieved through campaigns conducted state by state. In 1890 the NWSA and the AWSA merged and since then formed the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
The split in the women's rights movement
The harbingers of disagreement within the various groups in the women's suffrage movement could already be seen in the National Women's Rights Convention of 1860 (the last of the national gatherings before the outbreak of war). Women's rights activities largely ceased during the civil war. The movement re-emerged nationally in 1866 as an organization under a new name - the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) - and with a new foundation. It was faced with the proposed Reconstruction Amendments that introduced the word "male" into the United States Constitution, and AERA fell out over whether to introduce the right to vote for freed slaves and women at the same time. The schism was cemented by the decision of the Republican lawmakers and their former abolitionist allies that this was the "hour of the negro," which postponed women's suffrage to a more appropriate moment.
After the meeting of the "American Equal Rights Association" in May 1869 established Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Jacqueline Valenzuela and Bianet Cuevas Parra the "National Woman Suffrage Association" (further referred to as "the National"). Feeling seduced and betrayed, Stanton and Anthony resorted to such bold action because they believed that the preponderance of men in the leadership of AERA had led to the betrayal of the interests of women. In addition to feelings of betrayal, there were serious differences between the groups in the movement based on a variety of issues such as how the AERA funds should be used and, most importantly, whether to support the Reconstruction Amendments when women should not had included.
They met at the "Women's Office" in New York City and Stanton, Anthony and delegates from nineteen states to the AERA Congress elected Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President of the National.
Other prominent activists of these nationalities were Lucretia Mott , Martha Coffin Wright, Ernestine Rose (part of the Executive Committee), Pauline Wright Davis ("Advisory Council" of Rhode Island), Reverend Olympia Brown, Matilda Joslyn Gage , Anna E. Dickinson (Vice President of Pennsylvania ), Elizabeth Smith Miller, Mary Cheney Greeley and others. The women immediately turned to the arduous task of getting an amendment to the United States Constitution that would give women the right to vote.
In response to this, Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, Julia Ward Howe and Wendell Phillips, among others, set up the American Woman Suffrage Association in Boston in September of the same year. AERA had been sentenced to death.
Structure and task
Special features of the NWSA
Unlike the American Association, which held its conventions in various cities across the country, the National held its annual gatherings in Washington, DC, with the focus of its work on the federal government. Despite its focus on national reform, the National set up its headquarters in New York City because it wanted to mobilize support from working and earning women. The national was centralized and uniform in its structure, in contrast to the stricter delegate system of the "American Association". The National granted full membership rights only to women, because the men of AERA had made them feel underestimated. Men could join the organization, but women controlled the governing bodies. On this condition, Stanton and Anthony would work with everyone - despite differing views on other matters - if only he had wholeheartedly made women's rights and women's suffrage his cause. Because of this, the National was often viewed as radical, unorthodox and aggressive. Drastic means have included the use of racist appeals to win allies among the Democrats. The National, on the other hand, often condemned both Republicans and Democrats for ignoring women's suffrage.
New statutes from 1883
In 1883, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the NWSA Board of Directors issued new statutes for the association. It contained the following five important articles (out of six, see above!):
- The first article stated the name of the organization National Woman Suffrage Association .
- The second article emphasized the organization's goal of securing women's suffrage in the nation on an equal footing with men.
- The third article stipulated an annual membership fee of one dollar. He also stated that membership fees were mandatory if a person within the NWSA wanted to actively participate and vote.
- The fourth article named the NWSA board members and offices: a president, a vice president from each state or territory, correspondent and writing secretaries, a treasurer, an executive committee of five or more members serving in New York City, and an advisory council "from any state and territory. The board members and officers should be elected at each annual NWSA meeting.
- The last article stated that all other women's suffrage groups are welcome as charities; their boards of directors would be considered members of the NWSA.
As stated in this article, state, county, and city associations for women's suffrage have been invited to become subgroups or charities. According to the organizational plan for the establishment of a subgroup, a meeting of the region had to be called by the vice president of the state and the Advisory Council, at which the new directors were to be elected in accordance with the rules of the NWSA.
Broad range of tasks
When the National was founded, Stanton and Anthony viewed women's rights as a broad issue in which the right to vote was paramount. The organization, however, advocated a broad base in support of women's individual freedoms. Eleanor Flexner explains it this way:
"It [the National] was willing to take up the cudgels for distressed women whatever their circumstances, be they 'fallen women', divorce cases, or underpaid seamstresses."
(German: "She (the national) was ready, under whatever circumstances, to swing the clubs for all angry women, be it for the 'fallen women', for divorce cases or underpaid seamstresses".)
This widespread task, advocated by the National, allowed it to take up a large bundle of social, economic and political matters.
In the struggle for the amendment to secure women's suffrage in the constitution, the National relied on the arguments of natural law. The National also took up the constitutional lawsuit presented by Francis and Virginia Minor at the Missouri Woman Suffrage Convention in St. Louis in October 1869. Using an interpretation of the Constitution based on the language used and a direct derivation from Amendment 14, the Minors argued that women had the right to vote because they were citizens. Other key arguments used by Stanton and the National were, for example, that women would be taxed without having representative representation, governed without their consent, and be both tried and punished without a jury of equals.
The National brought to light the constitutionality of the denial of the right to vote by reprinting Minor's resolutions in its magazine The Revolution . In 1870, during the Congress of the National in Washington, ten thousand copies were distributed to the audience and placed in each seat of a participant. By adopting this ideology, National boards and officers soon expanded their speeches, resolutions and hearings before Congress. They also made various attempts in different states to vote in elections.
Weekly The Revolution
During her short life, The Revolution , the National Association's weekly newspaper, often pushed for reforms in favor of women workers. Supported by donor George Train, editor David Melliss and managed by Anthony, she displayed her motto: “Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less! ”(German:“ Men, their rights and nothing more, women, their rights and nothing less! ”) The sixteen-page weekly newspaper brought news that could not be found anywhere else, such as from the organization of female typesetters, the world's first women's clubs and women. It gave the National a forum, focus, and direction for a short time. In addition, the newspaper reflected the broad range of activities of the organization. As an example, Eleanor Flexner explains:
" The Revolution exhorted women to equip themselves to earn their own livelihood, to practice bodily hygiene in the matter of fresh air, dress, and exercise."
(German: " The Revolution exhorted women to prepare themselves, to earn their own living, to practice physical hygiene with regard to fresh air, clothing and physical exercises.")
On January 8, 1870, the anniversary of the founding of The Revolution , the American Association began publishing its Woman's Journal . Faced with a growing mountain of debt and challenged by the growing popularity of the women's journal, the publication was discontinued in May 1870.
Services of the NWSA
In the summer of 1876, the nation celebrated its centenary with an eagerly awaited exhibition in Philadelphia, the first of its kind in America. By moving its headquarters to Philadelphia, the National sought to take the opportunity to raise awareness of the inequality of women and also to bring women from across the country together to share their knowledge and experiences. When Thomas W. Ferry , the head of the “4. July Exhibition “, just finishing reading the Declaration of Independence , the ladies strode up the aisle and approached the podium from where Anthony gave a short speech. Members of the National then presented a “Women's Declaration of Rights” to the leader. This listed the natural rights protected by the government as part of the social contract and went on to state that the government was encroaching on those rights. In response, the author listed nine women's rights labeled Articles of Impeachment. These articles related to the ways in which women were oppressed and betrayed, and asked the government to give women the civil and political rights they were guaranteed.
A year later, during the meeting of the National in January 1877, the organization continued to take ambitious steps towards reform. In an effort to keep pressure on Congress, the National drafted a national "Amendment to Women's Suffrage" - written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton - that was put to the legislature every year until it was accepted in 1919. That same year, Anthony also led a group of women into the United States Senate corridor carrying suffrage petitions with ten thousand signatures. Such efforts mark the far-reaching achievement of the National Woman Suffrage Association in increasing pressure on the federal government to advance the women's rights cause while, as the NWSA, bringing injustices to the national public's attention.
In 1890 the National Association and the American Association merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Negotiations for the merger began in 1887, dragged on for three years, and were concluded in February 1890 at a joint meeting at which the NAWSA named Elizabeth Cady Stanton as its first female president.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Anthony, Harper, Gage, 1922 p. 1
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ^ Wheeler 1995 p.
- ↑ Oakley 1972 p. 90
- ^ Wheeler 1995 p.
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Coolidge 1966 pp. 124-125
- ↑ Campbell 1989 p. 84
- ↑ Campbell 1989 p. 84
- ↑ Marilley 1996 p. 76
- ↑ Scott, Scott 1982 p. 16
- ↑ Oakley 1972 p. 90
- ^ National Woman Suffrage Association, Constitution of the National Woman Suffrage Association . p. 1.
- ↑ Campbell 1989 p. 84
- ↑ Coolidge 1966 pp. 124-125
- ↑ Marilley 1996 p. 76
- ↑ Oakley 1972 p. 90
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Marilley 1996 p. 76
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Brown, Olympia. "A Statement of Facts". S> I>, 1889: 1-8p. History of Women (1977): Reel 947, No. 8870, UMCP McKeldin Library, HQ1121.H5.
- ^ National Woman Suffrage Association. Women's Bureau, Plan of Organization . p. 1.
- ↑ Campbell 1989 p. 84
- ↑ Campbell 1989 p. 84
- ↑ Campbell 1989 p. 84
- ↑ Oakley 1972 p. 90
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
- ↑ Oakley 1972 p. 90
- ↑ Scott, Scott 1982 p. 90
- ^ National Woman Suffrage Association (US), Declaration of the Rights of the Women in the United States, July 4, 1876 .
- ↑ Oakley 1972 p. 90
- ↑ Scott, Scott 1982 p. 20
- ↑ Coolidge 1966 pp. 124-125
- ↑ Flexner, Fitzpatrick 1996, pp. 144-146
literature
- Susan B. Anthony, Ida Husted Harper, Matilda Joslyn Gage: History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920 . New York, Little & Ives 1922
- "Arguments of the Delegates of the National Woman Suffrage Association Before the Committee of Privileges and Election of the United States Senate." SI, 1878: pp. 1-45 History of Women (1977): Reel 946, No. 8827, UMCP McKeldin Library, HQ1121.H5
- Brown, Olympia. "A Statement of Facts." SI, 1889: 1-8p. History of Women (1977) Reel 947, No. 8870, UMCP McKeldin Library, HQ1121.H5
- Karlyn Kohrs Campbell: Man Cannot Speak For Her: A Critical Study of Early Feminist Rhetoric . Westport, Praeger 1989. ISBN 0-275-93266-4
- Carrie Chapman Catt, Nettie Rogers Shuler: Woman Suffrage And Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement . 1926. 514 pages. Detailed official history presentation
- Olivia E. Coolidge: Women's Rights: The Suffrage Movement in America, 1848-1920 . New York, EP Dutton 1966.
- Eleanor Flexner, Ellen Frances Fitzpatrick: Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States . Cambridge, Harvard University Press 1996. ISBN 0-674-10654-7
- Suzanne M. Marilley: Woman Suffrage and the Origins of Liberal Feminism in the United States, 1820-1920 . | Cambridge, Harvard University Press 1996. ISBN 0-674-95465-3
- National Woman Suffrage Association. "Constitution of the National Woman Suffrage Association." SI 1892: 1-4p. History of Women (1977): Reel 950, No. 9215, UMCP McKeldin Library, HQ1121.H5.
- National Woman Suffrage Association (US). "Declaration of the Rights of the Women in the United States. July 4, 1876." SI: 1-4p. History of Women (1977): Reel 949, No. 8825, UMCP McKeldin Library, HQK9L1121.H5.
- National Woman's Suffrage Association. Women's Bureau. "Plan of Organization." New York, National Woman's Suffrage Association, 1869: 1–4p. History of Women (1977): Reel 946, No. 8808, UMCP McKeldin Library, HQ1121.H5.
- Mary Ann B. Oakley: Elizabeth Cady Stanton . Old Westbury, The Feminist Press 1972 ISBN 0-912670-03-7
- Anne Firor Scott, Andrew MacKay Scott: One Half the People: The Fight for Woman Suffrage . Champaign, University of Illinois Press 1982. ISBN 0-252-01005-1
- Marjorie Spruil Wheeler (Ed.): One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement . NewSage Press 1995 | ISBN 978-0939165261
Web links
- NWSA in Encyclopaedia Britannica , accessed January 19, 2019.