Free
When this country began more than 200 years ago, almost everyone accepted the idea that a white woman’s job was to take care of her home and family.
Enslaved African-American women were expected to do hard labor in the fields or work in plantation homes as well as take care of their own families.
Married women could not own property, such as land and buildings. Nor could they keep any money they might earn. In rare cases of divorce, the father received custody of the children. Women could not sit on juries, defend themselves in court, or run for political office. They were considered intellectually unfit to vote.
Of course, poor free women, many of them recent immigrants, usually had to work outside the home. Even wealthy women often took care of their husbands’ businesses when the men were away. In the 1800s, more and more women came to see that they were just as capable as men. Therefore, they believed, they deserved the same legal rights that men had. They realized that being able to vote was a crucial first step to obtaining other rights. They also knew that they themselves would have to lead the movement that would win them suffrage—the right to vote. These women became the suffragists.
Check It Out!
The word suffrage means “the right to vote.” So 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 placed at the end of a word to designate a female. For example, a female usher is called an usherette. However, many women now consider the suffix -ette to be unnecessary and belittling, especially since it also means “small,” for example, statuette.
◀ John Adams was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His wife, Abigail, was an intelligent, self-educated, witty woman. In 1776, while John was at the Continental Congress, Abigail wrote to him: “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 penned a joking reply to her, 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 otherwise. His wife had run their farm for months at a time while he was away on government business.
When the Constitution was written in 1787, the framers let each state decide who could vote in that state. There were 4 million people in the original 13 states. However, only 4 percent of them could vote. Among those not allowed to vote were 2 million women, 1 million enslaved persons, anyone under the age of 21, and anyone who didn’t own property. Slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person in determining how many representatives a state would get in Congress. ▼
The Constitution allows for changes. A change to the Constitution is called an amendment. Some suffragists worked to get individual states to let women vote, while other suffragists fought for an amendment to the Constitution that would give the right to vote to all women in the United States. ▶
