Early Women's Activism and the Fight for Suffrage

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Suffrage

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Terms in this set (41)

Suffrage

The right to vote in public elections.

Universal Suffrage

A term generally used to support the right to vote for all adults, regardless of race or gender. After 1870, when African American men secured the Federal right to vote with the 15th Amendment, the term "suffrage" became more commonly associated with the women's suffrage movement (ca. 1848–1920).

Suffragist / Suffragette

A person who supports extending the right to vote to others, especially a person who worked to get women the right to vote. Women who worked in the movement were also known as suffragettes.

Women's Rights Movement

The reform movement in which women worked to gain equal rights for women. In 1848 women did not have equal rights under the law. They couldn't own property, inherit money, go to college, make speeches at public meetings, or vote. The only jobs open to women were teaching, cleaning, and factory work, and they earned less money than men in the same jobs.

Seneca Falls Convention

This convention occurred July 19-20, 1848 and is widely considered to be the start of the women’s suffrage movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott spearheaded the two-day conference "to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman." Participants at the conferences signed a Declaration of Sentiments urging women to work for the right to vote, among many other reforms.