A century of women’s suffrage in the US - Where are we now?
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This year’s political election in the US is unique, contentious, and historic for a myriad of reasons. Against the resulting backdrop of polarization and uncertainty there is also a historic moment to be celebrated, one from which we can draw tremendous inspiration - the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
Looking back at the history of the American women’s fight for the right to vote, the trials and tribulations facing the nation 100 years ago curiously mirror the circumstances today. The Spanish Flu, which arrived in 1918, cancelled plans, banned gatherings, and attempted to quell the efforts of the suffragist movement.
Carrie Chapman Catt, the leader of one of the largest organizations fighting for the 19th Amendment, was stricken with the Spanish Flu during the peak of the movement, however her concerns and focus remained on the campaign. Her friend wrote that Catt was, “chained to her bed like St. Lawrence to the gridiron.”
While the Spanish flu wreaked havoc across the country, Catt thought the work of the suffragettes would be severally derailed, explaining that, “this new affliction is bringing sorrow into many suffrage homes and is presenting a serious new obstacle in our referendum campaigns and in the Congressional and Senatorial campaigns.”
The Spanish flu affected and complicated much of the last two years of the women’s suffrage movement, which is considered the longest running political movement in history. In the spring of 1918, the first wave of the Spanish flu swept through the US. During this first wave, the southern Democrats were focused on maintaining a trend of disenfranchisement of the African-American woman’s vote. The vote was announced twice and subsequently canceled both times. The Senate continued to refuse to pass a bill that would send the suffrage amendment to the states for ratification. At this point the suffragists realized they were two votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed for the amendment to pass.
The suffragettes created a new, two-fold plan of attack. Their first plan was to increase voting rights beyond the twelve states where women already had the ability to vote. This would aid in votes once the referendum was held. Secondly, they would focus campaign interests and promote four candidates that had pledged support for the amendment, going against four senators who stood as opponents of the amendment.
As the movement and the Spanish flu pandemic raged on, new obstacles arose. Raising money became very difficult for the suffrage movement and many women went to work for the Red Cross in order to help mitigate the stress of the pandemic. Additionally, there was a ban on social gatherings forcing the movement to adapt to a new way of campaigning for their cause. A door to door, neighbor to neighbor approach was adopted, stressing the patriotism of women during the wartime and drawing on the praise of President Woodrow Wilson who argued that women deserved the right to vote after their valiant effort to support the troops.
While the Spanish flu presented a host of challenges to the movement, it also aided the movement in unlikely ways. Most viruses affect men more than women, this changed the social fabric of the United States as around 675,000 Americans were killed by the unprecedented flu. The number of women in the workforce was 25 percent higher following the war and by 1920, the workforce was 21 percent female. This is attributed to the effects of the Spanish flu more than the war itself.
With the increase of women in the workplace and the increased presence of women in jobs that had previously been occupied strictly by men, the opportunity arose for women to bring light to issues such as equal pay and social independence, along with the right to vote. Without the 1918 Spanish flu, it is unlikely that there would have been such a disruption in the social fabric allowing change to the American industrial sector. This was the groundwork, paving the way for equality among genders and further participation on behalf of women in society.
As we stand now, 100 years on from the ratification of the 19th Amendment, we are faced with another pandemic and a turbulent election that will be sure to affect the social framework of the United States for generations. Following the 2016 election, where Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential candidate, many were left focusing on the questions of ‘what women were allowed to achieve’ contrasted by ‘what men were allowed to get away with.’ This dichotomy seems anachronistic when placed in the context of the 19th Amendment being ratified a century ago.
Charlotte Alter wrote for Time in 2018 that, “to American feminists, the 2016 campaign offered bitter lessons. That the nation would look the other way on allegations of sexual assault. That women didn’t have the kind of cohesive political power that was needed to elect a female President. That in the brutal economy of he said, she said, some people’s words have more value than others’, and it is almost always her words that are valued less.”
The synopsis of where women in America stand following the 2016 US presidential election seems bleak. However, a glimmer of hope, amidst the tragedy of 2020, is that victory could mirror that of the victory achieved 100 years ago. The American women have shown more than once before that when the odds seem stacked against them, it is possible to still organize for success.
