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Suffrage Parade
Parade, New York City, 1913 		"Women, Their Rights and Nothing Less"
The Suffrage Movement from 1840-1920
Eliza Hamrick and Donna Levene 		Kids in suffrage parade
Suffrage parade, New York City, May 6, 1912
"Principle not policy; Justice, not favors. Men, their rights, and nothing more; Women, their rights and nothing less."
The Revolution, edited by Susan B. Anthony (Hymowitz, 161)

Women obtained the right to vote nationwide in 1920. Before 1920, only criminals, the insane, Native Americans, and women were denied the vote. The modern woman's suffrage movement began in the 1840s with the Seneca Falls Convention. You've come a long way, baby. How did it happen and why?

Objectives

 After completing this unit, students will be able to:
  • understand the importance of primary sources in historical inquiry;
  • use keyword searching strategies;
  • understand the societal role of women from 1840 to 1920 and reforms women wanted;
  • describe and compare methods used by suffragists to pass the 19th amendment at the national level;
  • understand the importance of altering methods for achieving reforms in response to changing times and barriers; and
  • compare the states' methods for achieving suffrage with the national methods; analyzing reasons for their differences.

Time Required

 Two weeks

Recommended Grade Level

 Grades 9-12

Curriculum Fit

 U. S. history, American studies, state history, women's studies, politics

Standards

McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks

Historical Understanding
Standard 1. Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
Standard 2. Understands the historical perspective

Language Arts
Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media

US History
Standard 29. Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties.

Resources Used

 American Memory Collections:

Print Sources:

Evans, Sara. Born for Liberty. New York: The Free Press, 1989.

Hymowitz, Carol and Michaele Weissman. A History of Women in America.New York: Bantam Books, 1978.

Ward, Geoffrey C. Not for Ourselves Alone; the Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, an Illustrated History. New York: Knopf, 1999.

Lessons

Lesson One: Analyzing Primary Sources

After discussing the definition and value of primary sources in analyzing an historical time period, students, divided into groups by time period, analyze sources using the Material Culture Analysis Guide to determine a woman's role in society.

Lesson Two: Changing Methods and Reforms of the Suffrage Movement from 1840-1920.

Having determined the perceptions of women's roles in each of the three time periods, students analyze primary sources that outline the methods used and reforms demanded by the woman's suffrage movement in each time period. Students then put the information into the Time Period Analysis Chart. Using the timeline, students also determine what historical events affected the progress of the movement.

Lesson Three: Timeline and Reflection on Woman's Suffrage

Using the suffrage timeline, students will determine the major events and participants during each period of the suffrage movement and search the American Memory collections for sources to compile a Primary Sources Timeline. The culminating activity is a reflection paper by each individual summarizing the progression of the movement.

Evaluation

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Last updated 09/26/2002