Summary
At the start of the 19th century, women had severely limited rights. They had no control of their earnings, could not divorce a husband, had no claim of property, could not speak at public meetings, and could not vote. The women's suffrage movement, a political campaign that sought to address these problems, began around 1800 and culminated in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Led by women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the members of this movement petitioned Congress, marched, and gave speeches in the face of public disapproval in an effort to achieve their goals.
Women's Suffrage in America, Updated Edition provides hundreds of firsthand accounts of the women’s movement—diary entries, letters, speeches, and newspaper accounts—that illustrate how historical events appeared to those who lived through them. Among the eyewitness testimonies included are those of Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Helen Keller, and John Quincy Adams. In addition to firsthand accounts, each chapter provides an introductory essay and a chronology of events. Critical documents such as the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments at Seneca Falls, the Emancipation Address of the Women's National League, the Constitution of the National Loyal Woman Suffrage Association, and the 19th Amendment are paired with capsule biographies of more than 80 key figures, making this reference extremely engaging and easy to use.
This updated edition contains nearly 50 more pages of material and includes additions to each chronology section, new primary source quotations, and an expanded appendix. Women's Suffrage in America, Updated Edition provides new information about individual topics, including court cases and legislation, and more than 20 additional black-and-white photographs.
Specifications
Black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Maps. Index. Appendixes. Bibliography. Chronologies. Notes.
About the Author(s)
Elizabeth Frost-Knappman holds a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and has done graduate work at the University of Wisconsin and New York University. She was formerly a senior editor at both William Morrow and Doubleday and an editor at the Natural History Press and William Collins & Sons. She is the author of the Clio Companion to Women's Progress in America and The World Almanac of Presidential Quotations. Frost-Knappman also collaborated with Cullen-DuPont as coauthor of Womens' Rights on Trial: 101 Historic Trials from Anne Hutchinson to the Virginia Military Institute Cadets.
Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, a graduate of New York University and an M.F.A. candidate at Goddard College, is a former writer for NOW-NY's NOW York Woman. Cullen-DuPont has received several awards in recognition of her work on behalf of women and their rights and has spoken about women's history at many high schools and colleges. For Facts On File, she has written Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Women's Liberty, selected by the New York Public Library as a "1994 Best Book for the Teen Age," and The Encyclopedia of Women's History in America, winner of the New York Public Library "Outstanding Reference Book of 1997 Award." Cullen-DuPont writes an on-line newsletter titled "This Month in Women's History." She is a member of the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Federation of Press Women, and New York Women in Communications.