Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Audience

This document had three separate but significant audiences: suffragists, politicians, and the general public. The first were its proponents; the second initially were in opposition. The public remained, in many ways, observers. All three responded in distinct ways to the document and shifted their attitudes over time.

The suffragists reacted to the amendment differently according to the period of time. Prior to the American Civil War, suffrage represented one of a number of significant women's rights issues. The leaders of the movement saw it as intertwined with married women's property rights, divorce standards, contract rights, and the right to bear witness in court. During Reconstruction and through the first decade of the 1900s, suffrage alone became their objective. Other issues faded into the background as a significant number of the suffragists became more conservative in their pursuits. In the years after World War I, however, the movement's leadership became increasingly convinced that suffrage alone was not sufficient.

The attitudes and reactions of politicians also changed, although less dramatically. Their relationship with the suffragists was a strained one. Male politicians had to be persuaded to grant rights and privileges to a group of individuals who could not vote for them. Furthermore, politicians who supported woman suffrage ran the risk of alienating the more conservative of their constituencies. The majority came to support woman suffrage only as the suffragists themselves became more mainstream. President Wilson's decision to change his stance on suffrage after World War I is typical of this shift. Catt explained the relationship in an address to the NAWSA in 1920: “The only way to get things in this country, is from the inside of the political parties. More and more the parties have become the agencies through which powerful things have been accomplished. It is not a question of whether it is right for us but rather a realization of the fact. They are powerful.”

For the general public the issue of woman suffrage was firmly tied to notions of traditional female interests. Those opposed to suffrage for women were convinced that voting would damage women's femininity. They feared that by transgressing beyond their traditional sphere in the social and cultural realms, women would cease to be nurturers and caretakers and lose the softer sides of their characters. Supporters suggested that rather than abandoning their social consciences, women would bring a more humanitarian character to political activities and concerns.