Women's Suffrage: Crash Course US History #31

Summary

In this Crash Course episode, John Green explores the pivotal role of women during the Progressive Era, focusing on their fight for suffrage and broader societal changes. The script delves into the economic and political advancements of women, their involvement in reform movements, and the impact of legal changes that allowed them greater autonomy. It also discusses the significant contributions of organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the National Consumers League. The episode highlights key figures in the suffrage movement, the challenges they faced, and the eventual passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The 'women's era' between 1890 and 1920 saw women gaining greater economic and political opportunities, including the right to own property and control their wages.
• 🏆 By 1900, nearly 5 million women worked for wages, primarily in domestic service or light manufacturing, highlighting their significant economic contributions.
• 🗳️ Women's involvement in reform movements, such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), played a crucial role in pushing for political change, including the right to vote.
• 💼 The growth of the consumer society in the 1890s led to new opportunities for women, especially in the use of 'labor-saving' devices and their influence as primary consumers.
• 🔗 The National Consumers League, led by Florence Kelley, used consumer power to advocate for products made without child or sweatshop labor, demonstrating women's economic leverage.
• 🏭 As more women entered the workforce, particularly in office and telephone operator roles, technology created new opportunities and shifts in gender roles.
• 🌐 The birth control movement, advocated by figures like Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman, was a radical shift in women's rights, focusing on reproductive freedom and sexual autonomy.
• 🏡 Settlement houses, such as Hull House founded by Jane Addams, were instrumental in addressing social issues and served as incubators for the field of social work, where women were heavily involved.
• ✍️ The suffrage movement was marked by fragmentation, with groups like the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Women's Party pushing for women's right to vote with varying tactics.
• 🗽 The ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote, was a significant milestone, though it did not immediately lead to substantial legislative changes to improve women's lives.

Q & A

What is the significance of the period between 1890 and 1920 for women in the United States?

The period between 1890 and 1920 is often referred to as the 'women's era' because it was a time when women began to have greater economic and political opportunities. This era saw women gaining the right to own property, control their wages, and make contracts and wills. It also marked the rise of women's involvement in reform movements and politics, leading to significant changes in their social and economic status.

How did the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) influence the women's suffrage movement?

The WCTU, under the leadership of Frances Willard, embraced a broad reform agenda that included pushing for women's right to vote. The organization believed that women's participation in politics would be instrumental in passing local laws to reduce alcohol consumption, as they felt men were unlikely to vote for such measures.

What was the role of the National Consumers League in the Progressive Era?

The National Consumers League, led by Florence Kelley, sponsored boycotts and shaped consumption patterns, encouraging consumers to buy products made without child or sweatshop labor. This organization played a significant role in advocating for workers' rights and better working conditions.

How did the growth of the economy and the expansion of the upper-middle class impact women's opportunities during the Progressive Era?

The growing economy and the expansion of the upper-middle class led to more educational opportunities for women. This, in turn, resulted in a growing group of college-educated women who became leaders in new reform movements, pushing for social and political changes.

What was the significance of birth control advocacy during the Progressive Era?

Birth control advocacy was significant for several reasons: it put women at the forefront of debates about free speech, it was a public health issue, and it was a concern that cut across class lines, uniting women from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Advocates like Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman fought for women's right to control their reproductive health and to enjoy sex without the fear of unwanted pregnancies.

Why was the Settlement House movement important for women's involvement in social reform?

The Settlement House movement, spearheaded by Jane Addams and others, provided a platform for women to address the problems of the poor and to engage in social work. Settlement houses served as community centers that offered services and support to the urban poor, and they became incubators for social work as a professional field, in which women played a significant role.

How did World War I impact the women's suffrage movement?

World War I had a complex impact on the women's suffrage movement. While it split the movement, with some suffragists supporting the war effort and others opposing it, the war also helped to advance the cause of women's suffrage. Women's contributions to the war effort, such as working in wartime industries, demonstrated their capabilities and helped to sway public opinion in favor of granting them the right to vote.

What were the tactics used by Alice Paul and the National Women's Party in their fight for women's suffrage?

Alice Paul and the National Women's Party used aggressive tactics in their fight for women's suffrage, including protests that led to imprisonment, public denunciations of the patriarchy, and hunger strikes during prison sentences. These tactics were inspired by the more militant women's rights activists in Britain and were seen as radical at the time.

Why was the 19th Amendment a significant event in American history?

The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was significant because it marked a major milestone in the long struggle for women's suffrage. It was a hard-won victory that came after decades of activism and advocacy, and it represented a fundamental shift in the understanding of women's rights and their place in society.

What was the role of the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in the suffrage movement?

NAWSA, led primarily by middle to upper-class women, played a crucial role in the suffrage movement by organizing and advocating for women's right to vote. However, some of its members used nativist arguments to support their cause, which highlighted a darker side of the movement and should be acknowledged.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Women's Progress in the Progressive Era

This paragraph introduces the topic of women's roles and advancements during the Progressive Era in U.S. history. It discusses how women were not just seeking the right to vote but were also demanding recognition as full citizens. The period between 1890 and 1920 is highlighted as a time of significant economic and political opportunities for women, with legal changes allowing them to own property and control their wages. The Women's Christian Temperance Union's influence on women's rights advocacy is mentioned, along with the growing number of women in the workforce, particularly in domestic service and light manufacturing. The paragraph also touches on women's historical contributions to the economy and their involvement in reform movements, which led to political engagement before the Progressive Era.

05:01

📚 The Impact of Education and Consumerism on Women

The second paragraph delves into the impact of education and the growing consumer society on women's roles and opportunities. It notes the rise of college-educated women who became leaders in new social movements. The 1890s are identified as the beginning of mass consumer society, with products aimed at women, especially labor-saving devices like washing machines. The National Consumers League's role in advocating for ethical consumption is discussed, along with the shift in gender roles as more women entered the workforce. The paragraph also covers the new opportunities for native-born white women in office work and the significance of technology in creating jobs for women, such as telephone operators. The changing dynamics of women's work and its implications for family structures and young women's independence are also explored.

10:01

🗳️ The Fight for Women's Suffrage and Social Reform

The final paragraph focuses on the fight for women's suffrage and the broader social reforms of the era. It discusses the Mystery Document segment, where the author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is identified. The paragraph emphasizes the radical idea that women should have jobs for personal expression and financial independence. The birth control movement and its advocates, such as Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman, are highlighted for their efforts to give women control over their reproductive rights. The Settlement House movement, led by Jane Addams, is mentioned as a key part of social work and progressive ideas. The paragraph also covers the suffrage movement's fragmentation, the role of the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Women's Party, and the tactics used to push for women's right to vote. The influence of World War I on the suffrage movement and the eventual passage of the 19th Amendment is also discussed, along with the aftermath and the ongoing fight for women's rights and social change.

Keywords

💡Progressive Era

The Progressive Era refers to a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States that lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s. It was characterized by efforts to address the social and political problems that arose during the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the country. In the video, the Progressive Era is highlighted as a time when women began to gain more economic and political opportunities, such as the right to own property and to vote.

💡19th Amendment

The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women the right to vote. It was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. The video discusses the significance of this amendment, noting that it was a result of the long struggle by women's suffrage activists and marked a major milestone in women's rights and political participation.

💡Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

The Women's Christian Temperance Union was a powerful organization founded in 1874 that sought to promote abstinence from alcohol and to improve the status of women. Under Frances Willard's leadership, the WCTU grew to be the largest female organization in the U.S. and played a significant role in advocating for women's suffrage, as mentioned in the video.

💡Florence Kelley

Florence Kelley was a prominent social reformer and one of the main figures in the Progressive Era. She is highlighted in the video for her work with the National Consumers League, where she advocated for consumer rights and against child labor. Her efforts to shape consumption patterns and promote ethical labor practices exemplify the broader theme of women's involvement in social and economic reform during the era.

💡Consumer Activism

Consumer activism involves using the power of purchasing decisions to influence corporations and policies. In the video, it is mentioned that women, as primary consumers in the household, had significant leverage to effect change. This is exemplified by Florence Kelley's work with the National Consumers League, which encouraged consumers to boycott products made with exploitative labor practices.

💡Settlement House Movement

The Settlement House Movement was a reform effort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries aimed at improving conditions for the urban poor. Settlement houses provided social services and educational opportunities in impoverished neighborhoods. Jane Addams, mentioned in the video, was a key figure in this movement, establishing Hull House in Chicago, which became a model for other settlement houses.

💡Birth Control

The term 'birth control' refers to methods or devices used to prevent pregnancy. In the video, the discussion of birth control advocates like Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman highlights the radical shift in attitudes towards women's sexuality and reproductive rights during the Progressive Era. Their efforts to provide access to birth control were part of a broader struggle for women's autonomy and health.

💡National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

The National American Women's Suffrage Association was an organization formed in 1890 to advocate for women's right to vote. The video describes how NAWSA, led primarily by middle and upper-class women, played a significant role in the suffrage movement. It also notes the sometimes controversial tactics used by some members, such as nativist arguments to justify women's suffrage.

💡National Women's Party

The National Women's Party was a more radical organization that emerged in the early 20th century, advocating for women's rights beyond suffrage. Led by Alice Paul, as mentioned in the video, the party used more aggressive tactics, including protests and civil disobedience, to push for the vote and later for an Equal Rights Amendment.

💡Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that aimed to guarantee legal equality for all American citizens regardless of sex. It was first introduced in 1923 but was not ratified. The video discusses how Alice Paul and the National Women's Party championed the ERA, although it faced opposition from other women's groups who feared it could undermine certain protections for women.

Highlights

The progressive era saw women demanding to be seen as full citizens of the United States.

The period between 1890 and 1920 is referred to as the 'women's era' due to increased economic and political opportunities for women.

Legal changes allowed women to own property, control their wages, and make contracts and wills.

By 1900, almost 5 million women worked for wages, primarily in domestic service or the garment industry.

American women have always been vital contributors to the economy as producers and consumers.

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), led by Frances Willard, pushed for women's right to vote to influence local laws on alcohol.

The role of women in politics expanded during the Progressive era, with many reformers being middle and upper-class women.

The 1890s marked the beginning of the American mass consumer society, with many new products aimed at women.

Florence Kelley, head of the National Consumers League, encouraged consumers to buy products made without child or sweatshop labor.

African American women and immigrant women primarily worked as domestic servants or in low-paying factory labor.

Technology created new opportunities for women, such as telephone operators, which were almost exclusively female.

Birth control advocates like Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman argued for women's right to enjoy sex without having children.

The fight over birth control put women at the forefront of debates about free speech in America.

Jane Addams and the Settlement House movement addressed the problems of the poor and spearheaded social work.

Women's involvement in social movements at the turn of the 20th century led them to electoral politics.

The suffrage movement was fragmented, with different groups advocating for women's right to vote using various tactics.

The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920, a recent historical event at the time of the transcript.

The right to vote did not immediately lead to significant legislation improving women's lives, but it did increase their autonomy in the consumer marketplace.

Women's rights and political activism reached a high point during the Progressive Era, culminating in the 19th Amendment, but the fight for equality continued.

Transcripts

Episode 31: Feminism and Suffrage

Hi, I’m John Green, this is Crash Course U.S. history and today we’re going to talk

about women in the progressive era.

My God, that is a fantastic hat.

Wait, votes for women??

So between Teddy Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, and all those doughboys headed off to war,

women in this period have sort of been footnoted shockingly..

Mr. Green, Mr. Green.

I’d NEVER make a woman a footnote.

She’d be the center of my world, my raison d’etre, my joie de vivre.

Oh, Me from the Past.

I’m reminded of why you got a C+ in French 3.

Let me submit to you, Me from the Past, that your weird worship of women is a kind of misogyny

because you’re imagining women as these beautiful, fragile things that you can possess.

It turns out that women are not things.

They are people in precisely the same way that you are a person and in the progressive

era, they demanded to be seen as full citizens of the United States.

In short, women don’t exist to be your joie de vivre.

They get to have their own joie de vivre.

intro So, it’s tempting to limit ourselves to

discussion of women getting the right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment, but

if we focus too much on the constitutional history, we’re gonna miss a lot.

Some historians refer to the thirty years between 1890 and 1920 as the “women’s

era” because it was in that time that women started to have greater economic and political

opportunities.

Women were also aided by legal changes, like getting the right to own property, control

their wages and make contracts and wills.

By 1900 almost 5 million women worked for wages, mainly in domestic service or light

manufacturing, like the garment industry.

Women in America were always vital contributors to the economy as producers and consumers

and they always worked, whether for wages or taking care of children and the home.

And as someone who has recently returned from paternity leave, let me tell you, that ain’t

no joke.

And American women were also active as reformers since, like, America became a thing.

And those reform movements brought women into state and national politics before the dawn

of the progressive era.

Unfortunately, their greatest achievement, Prohibition, was also our greatest national

shame.

Oh, yeah, alright, okay.

It’s actually not in our top 5 national shames.

But, probably women’s greatest influence indeed came through membership AND leadership

in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

The WCTU was founded in 1874 and by 1890 it had 150,000 members, making it the largest

female organization in the United States.

Under the leadership of Frances Willard, the WCTU embraced a broad reform agenda.

Like it included pushing for the right for women to vote.

The feeling was that the best way to stop people from drinking was to pass local laws

that made it harder to drink, and to do that it would be very helpful if women could vote.

Because American men were a bunch of alcoholic scoundrels who darn well weren’t going to

vote to get rid of beer hoses.

In 1895 Willard boldly declared, “A wider freedom is coming to the women of America.

Too long has it been held that woman has no right to enter these movements (…) Politics

is the place for woman.”

But the role of women in politics did greatly expand during the Progressive era.

As in prior decades, many reformers were middle and upper class women, but the growing economy

and the expansion of what might be called the upper-middle class meant that there were

more educational opportunities and this growing group of college-educated women leaned in

and became the leaders of new movements.

Sorry, there was no way I was gonna get through this without one “lean in.”

I love that book.

So as we’ve talked about before, the 1890s saw the dawning of the American mass consumer

society and many of the new products made in the second wave of industrialization were

aimed at women, especially “labor-saving” devices like washing machines.

If you’ve ever had an infant, you might notice that they poop and barf on everything

all the time.

Like, I recently called the pediatrician and I was like, “My 14-day-old daughter poops

fifteen times a day.”

And he was like, “If anything, that seems low.”

So the washing machine is a real game-changer.

And many women realized that being the primary consumers who did the shopping for the home

gave them powerful leverage to bring about change.

Chief among these was Florence Kelley, a college-educated woman who after participating in a number

of progressive reform causes came to head the National Consumers League.

The League sponsored boycotts and shaped consumption patterns encouraging consumers to buy products

that were made without child or what we now would call sweatshop labor.

Which at the time was often just known as “labor.”

And there was also a subtle shift in gender roles as more and more women worked outside

the home.

African American women continued to work primarily as domestic servants or in agriculture, and

immigrant women mostly did low-paying factory labor, but for native-born white women there

were new opportunities, especially in office work.

And this points to how technology created opportunities for women.

Like, almost all the telephone operators in the U.S. were women.

By 1920 office workers and telephone operators made up 25% of the female workforce, while

domestic servants were only 15%.

A union leader named Abraham Bisno remarked that working gave immigrant women a sense

of independence: “They acquired the right to personality, something alien to the highly

patriarchal family structures of the old country.”

Of course this also meant that young women were often in conflict with their parents,

as a job brought more freedom, money, and perhaps, if they were lucky, a room of one’s

own.

Oh, it’s time for the Mystery Document?

Please let it be Virginia Woolf, please let it be Virginia Woolf.

The rules here are simple.

I guess the author of the Mystery Document.

I’m either right or I get shocked.

Alright, let’s see what we’ve got.

“The spirit of personal independence in the women of today is sure proof that a change

has come … the radical change in the economic position of women is advancing upon us…

The growing individualization of democratic life brings inevitable changes to our daughters

as well as to our sons … One of its most noticeable features is the demand in women

not only for their own money, but for their own work for the sake of personal expression.

Few girls today fail to manifest some signs of the desire for individual expression …”

Well, that’s not Virginia Woolf.

Stan, I’m going to be honest, I do not know the answer to this one.

However, it has been Woodrow Wilson for the last two weeks.

You wouldn’t do that again to me, or would you?

I’m gonna guess Woodrow Wilson.

Final answer.

DANG IT.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the book Women and Economics?

What?

Aaaaaah!

The idea that having a job is valuable just for the independence that it brings and as

a form of “individual expression” was pretty radical, as most women, and especially

most men, were not comfortable with the idea that being a housewife was similar to being

a servant to one’s husband and children.

But of course that changes when staying at home becomes one of many choices rather than

your only available option.

And then came birth control.

Huzzah!

Women who needed to work wanted a way to limit the number of pregnancies.

Being pregnant and having a baby can make it difficult to hold down a job and also babies

are diaper-using, stuff-breaking, consumptive machines.

They basically eat money.

And we love them.

But birth control advocates like Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman also argued that women

should be able to enjoy sex without having children.

To which men said, “Women can enjoy sex?”

Believe it or not, that was seen as a pretty radical idea and it lead to changes in sexual

behavior including more overall skoodilypooping.

Goldman was arrested more than 40 times for sharing these dangerous ideas about female

sexuality and birth control and she was eventually deported.

Sanger, who worked to educate working class women about birth control, was sentenced to

prison in 1916 for opening a clinic in Brooklyn that distributed contraceptive devices to

poor immigrant women.

The fight over birth control is important for at least three reasons.

First, it put women into the forefront of debates about free speech in America.

I mean, some of the most ardent advocates of birth control were also associated with

the IWW and the Socialist Party.

Secondly, birth control is also a public health issue and many women during the progressive

era entered public life to bring about changes related to public health, leading the crusade

against tuberculosis, the so-called White Plague, and other diseases.

Thirdly, it cut across class lines.

Having or not having children is an issue for all women, regardless of whether they

went to college, and the birth control movement brought upper, middle, and lower class women

together in ways that other social movements never did.

Another group of Progressive women took up the role of addressing the problems of the

poor and spearheaded the Settlement House movement.

The key figure here was Jane Addams.

My God, there are still Adamses in American history?

Oh, she spells it Addams-family-Addams, not like founding-fathers-Adams.

Anyway, she started Hull House in Chicago in 1889.

Settlement houses became the incubators of the new field of social work, a field in which

women played a huge part.

And Addams became one of America’s most important spokespeople for progressive ideas.

And yet in many places, while all of this was happening, women could not technically

vote.

But their increasing involvement in social movements at the turn of the 20th century

led them to electoral politics.

It’s true that women were voting before the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920.

Voting is a state issue, and in many western states, women were granted the right to vote

in the late 19th century.

States could also grant women the right to run for office, which explains how the first

Congresswoman, Jeannette Rankin, could vote against America’s entry into World War I

in 1917.

That said, the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment is a big deal in American

history.

It’s also a recent deal.

Like, when my grandmothers were born, women could not vote in much of the United States.

The amendment says that states cannot deny people the right to vote because they are

women, which isn’t as interesting as the political organization and activity that led

to its passage.

Alright, let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

The suffrage movement was extremely fragmented.

There was a first wave of suffrage, exemplified by the women at Seneca Falls, and this metamorphosed

into the National American Women’s Suffrage Association, or NAWSA.

Most of the leadership of NAWSA was made up of middle to upper class women, often involved

in other progressive causes, who unfortunately sometimes represented the darker side of the

suffrage movement.

Because these upper class progressives frequently used nativist arguments to make their claims

for the right to vote.

They argued that if the vote could be granted to ignorant immigrants, some of whom could

barely speak English, then it should also be granted to native born women.

This isn’t to say that the elitist arguments won the day, but they should be acknowledged.

By the early 20th century a new generation of college-educated activists had arrived

on the scene.

And many of these women were more radical than early suffrage supporters.

They organized the National Women’s Party and, under the leadership of Alice Paul, pushed

for the vote using aggressive tactics that many of the early generation of women’s

rights advocates found unseemly.

Paul had been studying in Britain between 1907 and 1910 where she saw the more militant

women’s rights activists at work.

She adopted their tactics that included protests leading to imprisonment and loud denunciations

of the patriarchy that would make tumblr proud.

And during World War I she compared Wilson to the Kaiser and Paul and her followers chained

themselves to the White House fence.

The activists then started a hunger strike during their 7-month prison sentence and had

to be force-fed.

Woodrow Wilson had half-heartedly endorsed women’s suffrage in 1916, but the war split

the movement further.

Most suffrage organizations believed that wartime service would help women earn respect

and equal rights.

But other activists, like many Progressives, opposed the war and regarded it as a potential

threat to social reform.

But, in the end, the war did sort of end up helping the cause.

Patriotic support of the war by women, especially their service working in wartime industries,

convinced many that it was just wrong to deny them the right to vote.

And the mistreatment of Alice Paul and other women in prison for their cause created outrage

that further pushed the Wilson administration to support enfranchising women.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

So, women’s long fight to gain the right to vote ended with the ratification of the

19th Amendment in 1920.

But, in some ways, the final granting of the franchise was a bit anti-climactic.

For one thing, it was overshadowed by the 18th Amendment, Prohibition, which affected

both women and men in large numbers.

Also Gatsbys.

You could say a lot of bad things about Prohibition, and I have, but the crusade against alcohol

did galvanize and politicize many women, and organizations such as the WCTU and the Anti-Saloon

League introduced yet more to political activism.

But, while the passage of the 19th amendment was a huge victory, Alice Paul and the National

Women’s Party were unable to muster the same support for an Equal Rights Amendment.

Paul believed that women needed equal access to education and employment opportunities.

And here they came into contact with other women’s groups, especially the League of

Women Voters and the Women’s Trade Union League, which opposed the ERA fearing that

equal rights would mean an unraveling of hard-won benefits like mother’s pensions and laws

limiting women’s hours of labor.

So, the ERA failed, and then another proposed amendment that would have given Congress the

power to limit child labor won ratification in only 6 states.

So in many ways the period between 1890 and 1920, which roughly corresponds to the Progressive

Era, was the high tide of women’s rights and political activism.

It culminated in the ratification of the 19th amendment, but the right to vote didn’t

lead to significant legislation that actually improved the lives of women, at least not

for a while.

Nor were there immediate changes in the roles that women were expected to play in the social

order as wives and mothers.

Still, women were able to increase their autonomy and freedom in the burgeoning consumer marketplace.

But it’s important to note that like other oppressed populations in American history,

women weren’t given these rights, they had to fight for the rights that were said to

be inalienable.

And we are all better off for their fight and for their victory.

Women’s liberation is to be sure a complicated phrase and it will take a new turn in the

Roaring 20s, which we’ll talk about next week.

I’ll see you then.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller.

Our script supervisor is Meredith Danko.

The associate producer is Danica Johnson.

The show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer, Rosianna Rojas, and

myself.

And our graphics team is Thought Café.

Every week there’s a new caption to the Libertage.

You can suggest captions in comments where you can also ask questions about today’s

video that will be answered by our team of historians.

Thanks for watching Crash Course and as we say in my hometown, don’t forget to be awesome.

I’m gonna go this way, Stan, just kiiidding!

Suffrage -