History and Background

Iron Jawed Angels focuses on two women during the early 1900's- Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. Although this was set in the early 20th century, women's suffrage began in the late 1700's. While Paul and Burns are influential leaders of the suffrage movement, there were countless other women that played a role in the passing of the 19th amendment.

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE TIMELINE

1776 Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John, who is attending the continental Congress in Philadelphia, asking that he and the other men working on the Declaration of Independence “Remember the Ladies.” The Declaration’s wording specifies that “all men are created equal.”

1787 U.S. Constitutional Convention places voting qualifications in the hands of the states.  Women in all states except New Jersey lose the right to vote. 

1807 Women lose the right to vote in New Jersey, the last state to revoke the right.

1830's Formation of the female anti-slavery associations.

1836 Angelina Grimke appeals to Southern women to speak out against slavery.

1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other women barred from participating on account of their sex.

1848 First Women’s Rights convention in Seneca Fall, New York. Equal suffrage proposed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton after debate of so radical a notion, it is adopted.

1850 The first National Women’s Rights convention takes place in Worcester, Massachusetts attracting more than 1,000 participants.  National conventions are held yearly through 1860. 

1861-1865 Civil War Women put aside suffrage activities to help the war effort.

1867 Fourteenth amendment passes Congress, defining citizens as “male.” Susan B. Anthony forms Equal Rights Association, working for universal suffrage. 

1868 Fourteenth amendment ratified.  Fifteenth amendment passes Congress, giving the vote to black men.  Women  petition to be included but are turned down.  Formation of New England Woman Suffrage Association.  In New Jersey, 172 women attempt to vote; their ballots are ignored. 

1869 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association in November with Henry Ward Beecher as president.  Wyoming territory grants first woman suffrage since 1807.

1870 Fifteenth Amendment ratified. 42 women attempt to vote in Massachusetts, their ballots are ignored.  Utah territory grants woman suffrage. 

1871 The Anti-Suffrage Society is formed

1872 Susan B. Anthony and supporters arrested for voting. 

1874 US Supreme Court decides that being a citizen does not guarantee suffrage.

1876 On July 4, Susan B. Anthony reads The Declaration for the Rights of Women from a podium in front of the Liberty Bell.

1878 Woman suffrage amendment first introduced in the US congress.

1882 The House and Senate appoint committees on woman suffrage, both report favorably.

1886 Women protest being excluded from the dedication ceremonies for the Statue of Liberty. Suffrage amendment reaches the US Senate floor, it is defeated two to one.

1887 Utah women lose right to vote.

1890 The NWSA and the AWSA merge to form NAWSA.

1894 Despite 600,000 signatures, a petition for woman suffrage is ignored in New York.

1895 Utah women regain suffrage

1893 Colorado is the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote.

1896 Idaho grants woman suffrage. The National Association of Colored Women is formed, bringing together more than 100 black women’s clubs.

1900 Carrie Chapman Catt takes over the reins of the NASWA.

1903 The National Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) is established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions for women. 

1910 Washington (state) grants woman suffrage.

1911 California grants woman suffrage.  In New York City, 3,000 march for suffrage.

1912 Oregon, Arizona and Kansas grant woman suffrage.

1913 Women’s Suffrage parade on the eve of Wilson’s inauguration is attacked by a mob.  Hundreds of women are injured, no arrests are made.  Alaskan Territory grants suffrage. 

1916 Margaret Sanger opens the first U.S. birth-control clinic in Brooklyn, N.Y. The clinic is shut down 10 days later and Sanger is arrested. 

1917 Beginning in January, NWP posts silent “Sentinels of Liberty” at the White House.  In June, the arrests begin.  Nearly 500 women are arrested, 168 women serve jail time.  North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, and Michigan grant presidential suffrage; Arkansas grants primary suffrage.  New York, South Dakota, and Oklahoma state constitutions grant suffrage. 

1918 President Wilson declares support for suffrage.  Suffrage Amendment passes US House with exactly two-thirds vote but loses by two votes in the Senate.

1919 The federal woman suffrage amendment, originally written by Susan B. Anthony and introduced to Congress in 1878, is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate.  It is then sent to the states for ratification.  The battle for ratification by at least 36 states begins.

1920 The Nineteenth Amendment, called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, is ratified by Tennessee on August 18.  It becomes law on August 26.   The 19^th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, is signed by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

1923 The National Woman’s Party first proposes the Equal Rights amendment to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender.  It has never been ratified.

All facts and dates were compiled from these sources:
http://dpsinfo.com/women/history/timeline.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawstime.html
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/history/woman-suffrage-timeline

Women's Suffrage Today

Although women like Alice Paul fought for women’s equity, there is still a significant gap in gender equality in today’s world.  According to Time Magazine, “women today make up almost 60% or U.S. college students and earn the majority of doctorates and master’s degrees, and childless women in their 20s make more per dollar than their male peers.” Even though those numbers may seem as if gender inequality has disappeared altogether, other statistics prove otherwise.  Time also addresses the wage gap between men and women today.  “The wage gap persists overall between women working full time and men working full time: women earn a median weekly wage that’s only 81% of a man’s weekly median wage.  And, the percentage of managers who are women has risen from 35% to only 38% of the last twenty years.”  In 2010, women became half of the workforce but still don’t hold as many top management positions as men. In 2011, women ran only 12 of the Fortune 500 companies. 

It is clear there are large disparities among women in the work force; this also crosses over to other positions such as those in the government.  Today, in congress, women hold only 17 Senate seats out of the 100 and hold 92 out of the 435 House seats. 

According to the Harvard Business Review study, "almost 80% of women and men say they are convinced of the benefits of gender parity at all levels."  But with the figures correlated by Time, it is clear gender parity is still an issue in our country and world. 

http://www.trustwomenpac.org/2012/03/gender-inequality-in-the-u-s-today/

Although gender equality is still a problem, there are activists and groups who work hard in making sure women’s voices and rights are protected and advanced.

Some examples (to name a few) include:

Women Thrive Worldwide which, “advocates with the decision-makers in Washington, D.C., and globally to ensure that they are taking into account the needs of women living in poverty around the world, and hearing directly from women themselves about their priorities.”

http://womenthrive.org/

Women for Women international who’s mission is to “provide women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.  We’re changing the world one woman at a time.”

http://www.womenforwomen.org/about-women-for-women/we-support-women-survivors-globally.php

National Organization for Women (NOW) –taking action for women’s equality since 1966 whose goal has been to “take action to bring about equality for all women.  NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.”

 http://now.org/

Along with hundreds of women’s rights organizations there are also many significant figures who are great examples of woman empowerment and independence. According to "The Pixel Project's "16 for 16" Campain," some of these women include Oprah Winfrey, Hilary Clinton, Charlize Theron, and Nicole Kidman. 

Oprah Winfrey grew up as an impoverished black girl facing numerous disadvantages, but with hard work rose to the rank of cultural icon stemming from the “Oprah Winfrey Show.”  Her social activism and fight for women’s rights is extensive.  Through her talk show and humanitarian efforts, she has helped women and fought for their rights for over 22 years.  “I am where I am because of the bridges that I crossed.  Sojourner Truth was a bridge.  Harriet Tubman was a bridge.  Ida B. Wells was a bridge.  Madame C.J. Walker was a bridge. Fannie Lou Hamer was a bridge.  I don’t think of myself as a poor, deprived ghetto girl who made good.  I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make it good.”

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton who is associated with Women in the World Summit believes that the debate over women’s rights is a concerning issue.  “Yes, it is hard to believe but even here at home we have to stand up for women’s rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us because America needs to set an example for the entire world.”

"Charlize Theron is a UN ambassador for peace and a leader in the “Stop Rape Now” campaign.  'Hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been beated, tortured and raped- atrocities beyond anything that I have ever heard of or could imagine.  For a problem so bug and so complicated, where do you begin? What I have found and what I believe is that you begin somewhere, anywhere, but you must begin.  You must act.  As you read this, consider your humanity.  Consider for one moment if you or your sister, your mother or you daughter lived in such a dire situation- then act.'"

Nicole Kidman is a UN goodwill ambassador for the Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and has been an outspoken advocate for women’s empowerment.  “Violence against women is an appalling human rights violation.  But it is not inevitable.”

http://16days.thepixelproject.net/16-celebrities-supporting-and-fighting-for-the-cause-to-end-violence-against-women/

The 19th Amendment guarantees American women the right to vote.  Many heroic women fought for the right to vote, and it is clear many continue to fight for women's equality and continue to protect women's rights.


All sources used in this section include:

 http://now.org/
http://16days.thepixelproject.net/16-celebrities-supporting-and-fighting-for-the-cause-to-end-violence-against-women/

http://www.womenforwomen.org/about-women-for-women/we-support-women-survivors-globally.php

http://womenthrive.org/

http://www.trustwomenpac.org/2012/03/gender-inequality-in-the-u-s-today/