The first country to grant national-level voting rights to women was the self-governing British colony of New Zealand, which passed the Electoral Bill in September 1893. Anthony was convinced that women would not obtain the rights listed in the Declaration of Sentiments or be effective in implementing social reforms until they had voting power. When World War I began, the woman suffrage organizations shifted their energies to aiding the war effort, and their effectiveness did much to win the public wholeheartedly to the cause of woman suffrage. Moreover, it will highlight key events and figures involved in the suffrage movement and suggest how both supporters and opponents of suffrage focused on the ways voting rights would affect women's abilities to bring about social change.Written in 1787 and adopted the following year, the U.S. Constitution granted each state the power to decide.Most women were prohibited from voting or exercising the same civil rights as men during this time based on the idea that "a married woman's legal existence was incorporated into that of her husband" (Ibid., 138). Rooted in the abolition of slavery, the movement promoted civic action among newly enfranchised women through organizations like the League of Women Voters and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. "The History Behind the Equal Rights Amendment." Famous suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first woman's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. While many of her contemporaries initially felt that woman's suffrage was inconceivable, Stanton and Anthony soon saw that achievement of their other goals regarding women's rights was only possible through suffrage and the political advances and allies they would make along the way (Carter 1996; Weatherford 1998). This viewpoint reflected a widespread ideology of "separate spheres" for men and women; the many people who adopted this perspective argued that the place for women was at home and not in the affairs of the government (Robb 1996). ",Carter, Rosalynn. The liquor industry feared that if women voted, prohibition laws would be passed, which would make it illegal to make or sell alcoholic beverages (Hossel 2003). "The Legacy of Public Work: Educating for Citizenship. The Alice Paul Institute.General Federation of Women's Clubs. These two associations remained separate entities until 1890, when they merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. "The Politics of the League of Women Voters,",Boyte, Harry C., and Nan Skelton. The early suffragists did not see voting privileges as their primary goal; rather they saw suffrage as an opportunity to participate more fully in the public affairs of society through political engagement and civic action (Kraditor 1965).In the Declaration of Sentiments, Stanton proposed twelve resolutions, of which woman's enfranchisement was just one. By engaging in public works such as the establishment of community development organizations (the primary vehicle for development in low-income neighborhoods), women have been able to make contributions of lasting importance to their communities and to the greater society (Gittell, Ortega-Bustamante, and Steffy 2000). Nevertheless, the woman suffrage movement was aided by the efforts of three important black figures:NAWSA, Park helped organize similar leagues on other college campuses and in 1908 the National College Equal Suffrage League was formed to "promote equal suffrage sentiment among college women and men both before and after graduation" (Harper 1969, 661-2).Arnaud-Duc, Nicole. Though they faced obstacles and hardships, Robb points out,The years of hard work women put into making suffrage a reality taught them the full potential of democracy and how to employ that potential. In.United States Department of Justice. Along with anti-suffragist clerics, many women spoke against suffrage, arguing that marriage was a sacred unity in which the family was represented by the man; thus, women need not vote (Weatherford 1998).

Stanton drafted the "Declaration of Sentiments," a document declaring that "men and women are created equal" (.Susan B. Anthony, a Quaker and rising leader in the woman's suffrage movement, made nationwide suffrage a goal and recruited many supporters (Carter 1996; Weatherford 1998). The women’s suffrage movement made the question of women’s voting rights into an important political issue in the 19th century. The campaign for women’s suffrage began in earnest in the decades before the Civil War. Rooted in the abolition of slavery, the movement promoted civic action among newly enfranchised women through organizations like the League of Women Voters and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. According to.Other industries were opposed to woman's suffrage.

The British colony of South Australia granted full suffrage in 1894, giving women the right to vote and to stand for parliament. In,Clemens, Elisabeth S. "Organizational Repertoires and Institutional Change: Women's Groups and the Transformation of U.S.