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Welcome to Civics and Coffee, a history podcast. The show all about United States history delivered to you in the time it takes to enjoy your morning cup of coffee. I'm your host, Alicia, a historian trained in United States history with a passion for telling both the known and unknown parts of America's past. So grab your coffee and get ready for some bite sized history. Hey everyone. Welcome back. Women had been waiting a long time for recognition as equal political actors in the United States. Even in the earliest days of the Republic, women sought recognition as engaged and concerned participants, trying to convince their political husbands of the benefits of having their voices in the room. Famously, former first lady Abigail Adams wrote to her ornery husband to remember the ladies before there was even a Constitution. Hundreds of women gathered in seneca Falls in 1848 to declare their rights and women had engaged in political activism on behalf of the enslaved, fighting for abolition in the run up to the Civil War. Thus, when the war ended, there was a new hope, a belief in the promises of a new nation, and women across the country were ready to step into the political light and finally take their place as politically active citizens. Yet the activists who were once so hopeful would once again find themselves locked out of the halls of power as the 14th amendment introduced the word male into the Constitution for the first time. The fight for women's suffrage was a decades long affair that took many twists and turns. It was filled with starts and stops, with a diverse spread of personalities and opinions. I've covered the battle for women's suffrage tangentially in episodes throughout the show, but I thought it was time I focused specifically on the long road towards securing women's right to the vote. So this week I am diving into the fight for women's suffrage. How did it evolve during and after Reconstruction? Who are some of the key figures? And where does it land in the Gilded Age? Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let's do this. Because women's suffrage is such a significant topic, both in terms of the timeline and who is involved, this episode is really only a minor piece of a very, very large pie. I plan on revisiting this topic and several of the individuals mentioned today in future episodes. But please, if you do hear something specific in today's episode that you want maybe a little bit more information on, please let me know. If I can. I'll be happy to add it to the queue if it's not already in there, and dive deeper into these histories. So with that, let us back up in our historical timeline a bit as it became clear that The Civil War was in its final stages. Activists began establishing equal rights associations throughout the country. As historian Susan Goodyear describes, there were generally done in response to the national debates, often marked by bitter and often violent disagreements about how the United States would reconstruct once the Civil War had ended. In 1865, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony collaborated to organize one such organization titled the American Equal Rights association, which advocated for universal suffrage, meaning voting rights for both black men and all women. This was a biracial coalition and included Louisa Jacobs among its membership. Jacobs, who was the daughter of Harriet Jacobs, known for her book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, had spent her youth in Boston and had been exposed to the abolitionist activists at a young age. She helped her mom operate the Jacobs School to educate freed people from January 1864 to the end of 1865, before she was hired on as a lecturer with the American Equal Rights Association. As Susan Goodyear astutely recognizes, the American Equal Rights association was, quote, unquote, radical in pushing the idea that all citizens, no matter their race or their gender, should have access to the franchise. This idea, writes Goodyear, quote, thrilled attendees and prompted immediate action to win over the public more broadly. End quote. However, it was not universally supported. There were some in the movement who believed that advocating for the woman's vote was nothing more than a distraction, that the real work should be focused on securing the franchise for black men, and that the two efforts should should be separated lest they risk losing both fights. For those in support of divorcing the fight for black men's voting rights from women's suffrage, they argued that black men had a stronger case since they had just defended the Union. Putting their lives on the line for their country, the thinking went, should go a long way in convincing any remaining skeptics of the merit in granting black men the right to vote. At the war's conclusion, there was a concerted effort to ensure full political recognition for freedmen. Despite the fact that Congress passed the Civil Rights act of 1866, astute observers recognized that laws were fickle and could be amended or repealed, and that the best way to ensure full citizenship was to pass a constitutional Amendment. When the 14th Amendment passed introducing the word male into the Constitution for the first time, it female activists were told they would get the vote when they were, according to an article by historian William o', Neill, quote, sufficiently alive to the need for it, end quote. The debate about whether minimal progress was better than no progress created a lot of tension within the movement. For some white Women. There was no middle ground. They wanted the vote, period. The question was not so easy for black women. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper indicated her willingness to delay access to the franchise if it meant black men could finally achieve political parity, while others, like Sojourner Truth, felt differently, saying simply, quote, I am glad to see that men are getting their rights, but I want women to get theirs. End quote. For the members of the American Equal Rights association, the tensions would bubble over on May 15, 1869, when the group held a meeting at Steinway hall in New York. At this point, the 15th Amendment had already cleared Congress and had been ratified by 14 of the requisite 28 states. Some members of the organization, including Lucy Stone, were in favor of the amendment, seeing any progress as a win. Yet others in the organization were displeased, feeling left behind, and angered that so many were in support of manhood suffrage while leaving women out to dry. Some in attendance called for a completely new organization, one that better represented the demands and reforms they were calling for. And despite indicating otherwise during the meeting, two of the most prominent activists of the movement responded in a major way. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, two women who made their lives about advancing the cause of women, formed a new organization, the National Woman Suffrage Association. As the name of the group suggests, their focus was national. They wanted to secure the vote for women through a federal amendment to the Constitution. Perhaps blinded by their desire to see women finally recognized as full political citizens, Stanton and Anthony made some arguably questionable calls. For example, they chose to partner with George Francis Train, a rich but racist eccentric, and were accepting of what were then considered radical views, such as support for easier access to divorce for women. These tangential causes, some argue, detracted from the strength of their case and distracted from their messaging. As one historian observed, Elizabeth Cady Stanton's personal relationships with people like Free love supporter and 1872 presidential candidate Victoria Woodle were also a source of trouble for the group. The organization was also willing to engage in racist stereotypes if it meant getting the job done. Historian William o' Neill asserts that Stanton and Anthony were willing to align themselves with racist Democrats if it increased the likelihood of getting the vote for women. And this decision only further fractured the relationship between the duo and their colleague Lucy Stone. Stone, for her part, had her own feelings about the best course of action for securing the vote for women. By September of 1869, Stone and Henry Blackwell had established the American Woman's Suffrage association, which sought to achieve women's suffrage by pushing for the franchise on a local State by state basis. While the two organizations both sought the same outcome franchise for women, they saw different avenues to get there and had different philosophies about the best approach. Stanton and Anthony's NWSA felt that the only measure of success was a constitutional amendment that clearly provided the vote for women. But for Stone's organization, incremental progress was progress, and there was hope that suffrage for women could be secured locally through state initiatives. The two groups also disagreed in their support over the 15th Amendment. While Stone's American Woman Suffrage association supported its ratification, the NWSA was of a different opinion, as described by historian Robert Regal, quote, Ms. Anthony exclaimed despairingly that 2 million more men were now made tyrants over an equal number of women who had formerly been equals, end quote. Riegel asserts this opposition was a miscalculation for the NWSA since it, quote, antagonized many people who would otherwise might have been sympathetic to women's rights, end quote. As historian Alison Lang highlights, despite the star power behind the nwsa, Stone's Boston based American Woman Suffrage association took the lead as the most popular suffrage organization in the country. This was thanks in large part to Stone's dedication to staying focused on a single mission, woman's suffrage, and staying clear of colorful or controversial figures, something that Elizabeth Cady Stanton seemed unable to do. Stanton was often a controversial figure and frequently touted the notion that female suffrage not be put in a subordinate position to that of freedmen. As historian and Stanton biographer Laurie Ginsberg explains, Stanton made some troubling and outright racist comments in her quest for female suffrage. Quote, what will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse than our Saxon fathers? End quote. Although she would not be singular in her attitude, Stanton was also often dismissive of the concerns brought forth by black women and instead focused on how worthy, educated white women like herself were of the franchise, even if it ultimately meant sacrificing the push for universal suffrage she once claimed to support. In 1872, Stanton ally Susan B. Anthony made news when she violated New York state law by voting in the presidential election. Citing the 14th Amendment, Anthony demanded she be allowed to register, arguing that as a citizen she was constitutionally eligible under the parameters of the amendment to participate in the voting process. She and 14 others who casted a ballot on Nov. 5 were later arrested, and Anthony faced charges of violating New York law that precluded women from voting. Her case was tried the following year where again Anthony tried unsuccessfully to argue that the 14th Amendment granted her the right to vote as a citizen of the United States. A jury did not agree with Stanton's arguments, and she was found guilty of violating New York State law, which only allowed voting for adult men, and issued a fine totaling $100. Stanton never paid it. Stanton was not the only person who argued the 14th Amendment gave women a backdoor to the franchise. Several suffragists took to this belief, which came to be known as the New Departure movement. As a result, several women tried to test the limits of the Constitution by casting a ballot. While some of them succeeded, others like Stanton, were jailed and fined. One woman in St. Louis, Virginia, minor, challenged the decision of one registrar's office who refused to let her register to vote. Using the New Departure logic, Minor argued that she should be allowed to register as a citizen of the United States, since voting was part of the privileges of national citizenship. Unfortunately, Minor's argument fell flat with the court, and in their 1875 decision in minor v. Happersett, the Court held that while women were citizens of the United States, voting was not a right of citizenship and thus women had no such right. Writing partially quote, the Constitution does not define the privileges and immunities of citizens. For that definition we must look elsewhere. In this case we need not determine what they are, but only whether suffrage is necessarily one of them. It certain is nowhere made so in express terms, end quote. The Justices then laid out in their opinion when and how voting takes place, highlighting the dominant role states played in choosing electors for federal offices. In their estimation, the 14th Amendment did not add additional access or rights to any citizen of the United States, and it, quote, simply furnished an additional guarantee for the protection of such as he already had. No new voters were necessarily made by it, end quote. The opinion also asserted that if voting was as universal as Minor and people like her believed, there would have been no need to pass the 15th Amendment, which precluded race based discrimination for voting. The Court found that, quote, for 90 years the people have acted upon the idea that the Constitution, when it conferred citizenship, did not necessarily confer the right to suffrage. If uniform practice, long continued, can settle the construction of so important an instrument as the Constitution of the United States confessedly is, most certainly it has been done here. Our province is to decide what the law is, not to declare what it should be, end quote. Just a year later, as the nation was celebrating its centennial, Elizabeth Cady Stanton requested time to speak at Philadelphia's July 4th celebrations, only to be told that the program was already full. Initially, Stanton was willing to sit this fight out. But after some encouragement from fellow NWSA members, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony decided to take a stand. After a speech by Richard Henry Lee, a descendant of one of the revolutionaries, Susan B. Anthony and a handful of other organization members made their way to the front of Independence hall, where Anthony read the Women's Declaration while other NWSA members distributed copies to people in the crowd. Anthony reminded those in the crowd that for all the celebrating, it was important to remember that women were still locked out of the process, saying partially. Yet we cannot forget, even in this glad hour, that while all men of every race and clime and condition and have been invested with the full rights of citizenship under our hospitable flag, all women still suffer the degradation of disenfranchisement. End quote. Closing her speech with a simple plea, Anthony reminded those present that women did not want special treatment. We ask of our rulers at this hour no special favors, no special privileges, no special legislation. We ask justice. We ask equality. We ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever. End quote. After chasing the goal of women's suffrage on separate tracks for two decades, the National Woman's Suffrage association and the American Woman's Suffrage association did finally vote to reunify in 1890. There were some within the NWSA who felt that the two organizations should not be reunified. But perhaps, seeing that there was better chances at success with unity, the leaders put their differences aside and joined forces to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This group would continue the efforts started by women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone to help women across the finish line with a federal amendment to the Constitution in 1920. But that will be for another episode. The fight for suffrage was a long, steep road filled with roadblocks and debates over the correct course of action. Women throughout the history of the movement made questionable decisions in the name of securing progress, which too often left black women and other women of color outside of the conversation entirely. And their decisions illuminate the fraught tension between gender and race and the struggle for political equality. Thanks, peeps. I'll see you next time. Thanks for sitting down with me as I explored this chapter of American history. If you liked what you heard, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends. I look forward to our next cup of coffee together.