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When this country began more than 200 years ago, almost everyone thought that a white woman’s job was to take care of her home and family.
Enslaved African-American women were expected to work in the fields or in plantation homes and take care of their own families.
Married women couldn’t own land or buildings. They couldn’t keep any money they made, either. If a couple got divorced, the father got to keep the children. Women couldn’t be on juries. They couldn’t defend themselves in court. They also couldn’t run for political office. They weren’t seen as smart enough to vote.
Many poor women had just come to America. They usually had to work outside the home. Even rich women often took care of their husbands’ businesses when the men were away. In the 1800s, more women began to see that they were just as skilled as men. They felt they should have the same legal rights. They realized that being able to vote was a big step toward getting other rights. They also knew that women themselves would have to lead the movement to win their suffrage—the right to vote. These women became the suffragists.
Check It Out!
The word suffrage means “the right to vote.” What is the difference between a suffragist and a suffragette?
Both terms refer to women who fought for the right to vote. The suffix -ette is sometimes put at the end of a word as a sign for a female. For example, an usherette is a female usher. Many women now feel the suffix -ette isn’t needed. They also feel that it’s insulting, especially since it also means “small.” For example, a small statute is called a statuette.
◀ John Adams had signed the Declaration of Independence. His wife, Abigail, was smart and funny. When John was at the 1776 Continental Congress, she wrote: “By the way, in the new code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would 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.” John wrote a joking reply. But he later wrote to a male friend: “But why exclude women [from the vote]? You will say because their delicacy renders them unfit for practice and experience in the great businesses of life, and the hardy enterprises of war....” John knew better. Abigail had run their farm for months while he was away.
The Constitution was written in 1787. Each state got to decide who could vote in their state. There were 4 million people in the original 13 states. But only 4 percent of them could vote. That’s because 2 million women and 1 million enslaved persons couldn’t vote. No one under the age of 21 could vote. Neither could anyone who didn’t own property. ▼
The Constitution can be changed. These changes are called amendments. Some suffragists worked to get individual states to let women vote. Others fought for an amendment to the Constitution that would give voting rights to all women in the U.S. ▶
