Examining the Women's Suffrage Movement and Voting Rights After 1877

This essay explores the significant changes in voting rights following the Reconstruction era, focusing on the women's suffrage movement after 1877. It details the introduction of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, granting equal protection and voting rights to men regardless of race, and the subsequent withdrawal of federal troops from the South. The essay examines the historical context, including the end of slavery and the rise of discriminatory 'black codes,' which limited the freedoms of African Americans. It highlights the struggles women faced in their fight for suffrage, including societal resistance rooted in traditional values and religious beliefs. The essay chronicles the decades-long struggle, the denial of voting rights, legal battles, and the eventual achievement of the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote. It also touches upon the intersection of race and gender in the suffrage movement, and the contributions of African American women. The essay concludes by emphasizing the long and arduous journey towards equality and the significance of the events in American history related to women's rights.

Running head: VOTING RIGHTS AFTER 1877
Women’s Suffrage Movement after 1877
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

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VOTING RIGHTS AFTER 1877
The Second Reconstruction or the civil rights movement began after Reconstruction was
withdrawn from South. With the introduction of the fourteenth amendment, equal protection of
the laws in 1868 was ensured and the fifteenth amendment gave all male, the equal rights to vote
irrespective of their races in 1870. Troops deployed in North started assembling in the South to
ascertain the abolition of slavery. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Slavery in the continent of
America was anticipated to end, as a practice carried out for ages. At this time, over two lakhs
slaves were relieved by the arrival of news in Texas that Civil War had come to a close, two
months ago. Finally, after a prolonged period of exploitation and misery, the Thirteenth
Amendment was brought to put end slavery1. Soon after the prohibition of slavery, there was turn
of events with some new codes coming into action which restricted the freedom of the
immediately freed slaves. Thus, to improve the scenario, a series of reconstruction acts were
passed which distinguished the earlier confederacy into military districts to ensure the
availability of rights to the slaves liberated from the bondage. Reconstruction soon ends eroding
the basic rights for African Americans which compelled thousands of them to migrate out of the
country with the onset of the new President.
Rutherford B. Hayes who was a Republican got elected and took charge as the President
in US with an agreement with the democrats, which included the withdrawal of federal troops
from South2. The military troops, who were deployed in order to provide protection to the freed
slaves, soon were asked to come back. The negotiation was made by the Democrats in South
1 Bateman, David A., Joshua D. Clinton, and John S. Lapinski. "A House Divided? Roll Calls, Polarization,
and Policy Differences in the US House, 1877–2011." American Journal of Political Science 61, no. 3
(2017): 698-714.
2 Bloom, Jack M. Class, race, and the civil rights movement. Indiana University Press, 2019.

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VOTING RIGHTS AFTER 1877
which included a few compromises. This unified the black states in the South as a whole to
manage affairs on their own. As a result, the Democrats had complaints to make after having
been betrayed by their own people.
Until the civil war, the rights to vote were reserved with white males of 21 years or
above. After over a decade, the African Americans were free citizens who could now go on to
claim their rights to cast their votes. The civil wars reshaped the attitudes of African Americans
greatly as they witnessed the evils of slavery from the closest quarters. However, while the male
African Americans were in the pathway to gaining their rights to have their votes casted as
citizens, the ‘black codes’ still discriminated them from the rest3. These codes were informal but
posed strong opposition to normalization of situation. Such codes despised off marriages
between African Americans and whites as being offensive. They considered the blacks as
belonging to an inferior race and hence out casted them from society.
At this time, when the black males were gaining their rights to vote, the women could see
opportunities for placing their cause. There were powerful forces curbing the rights of women to
vote or move forward with their cause as it was assumed that the women’s suffrage would loosen
the traditional family values. The Catholics and conservative churches thought that an attack was
being made on the traditional beliefs and practices with the women taking their demands
forward. They laid out instructions made in the Bible which stated that the authority in a house
Bynum, Victoria E. The Free State of Jones, Movie Edition: Mississippi's Longest Civil War. UNC Press
Books, 2016.
3 Cole, Leonard A. Blacks in power: A comparative study of black and white elected officials. Vol. 4983.
Princeton University Press, 2017.

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rested with the man and hence, women were supposed to submit to the authority in a household.
The Women’s Suffrage was assumed to be against such family and traditional values which gave
rise to conflicting beliefs and attitudes within the society4. Thus, this friction meant, a
dismantling of the existing structure in a family leading to an upheaval in the society as a whole.
It was also believed that if women earned their rights to vote, they might pose greater restrictions
on the sale and consumption of alcohol which would further make situations hostile for men and
their ways.
The path which led women to earn their rights to vote were not easy and studded with
hurdles. The discrimination made on the basis of race and skin color even made their struggle
harder. The doubly colonized state of women made things more miserable and hard to achieve
their fundamental rights. First, they had to liberate themselves from the exploitative bondage in
the form of slavery and then from gender discrimination5. The patriarchal and traditional
shackles put on women restricting them to the domain of home or household were equally hard
to break. These Women suffragists tried to cast their vote assuming that it is their constitutional
right to do so, but they were denied any such rights and turned away. These efforts to obtain
what they thought were rightfully theirs compelled them to file lawsuit. The steps were taken as
they were held away from what they esteemed as their fundamental rights. Yet Supreme Court
ruled out the lawsuit filed in accordance with the circumstances for the demand of right to vote.
4 DeBoer, Clara Merritt. His truth is marching on: African Americans who taught the freedmen for the
American Missionary Association, 1861-1877. Routledge, 2016.
5 Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. Black Reconstruction in America: Toward a history of the part which
black folk played in the attempt to reconstruct democracy in America, 1860-1880. Routledge, 2017.

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VOTING RIGHTS AFTER 1877
This was a prolonged struggle for the women as they were looked down upon by the authorities
and much easily dismissed too. So, the struggle continued for over decades after which the
amendment was brought into action, which granted them the rights to have their votes casted.
Finally, the sense of being counted as citizens was ensured to women, which they fought for
tirelessly. The movement was not an easy one and was spread out to different states rather than
being centered to one force fighting for the cause entirely6. There was a period of seventy-two
years between the culmination of civil war and women finally getting their rights to vote. Till
1860, the primary demands were not just to cast their vote but were mainly about economic
rights and privileges too, which they were entitled to, as wives, daughters or heirs. This meant
having their rights to inherit and hold property and also earn their bread, which they were not
allowed to have access to, by men previously. They were conventionally, as a result of practices,
considered to be subjects to the authority, generally which adhered to a man. The same scenario
persisted everywhere in society where women were supposed to submit to the will and control of
men. Thus, women were seeking for the basic identity of being a citizen, which the men already
had qualified for. Women’s suffrage proved to be a prolonged process, quite equivalent to other
constitutional wars7. It was assumed primarily thought that rights were to be fought for and won
at each state to establish a federal electorate but soon it witnessed uproar everywhere pertaining
6 LaFeber, Walter, and Nancy Woloch. The American Century: A History of the United States Since the
1890s. Routledge, 2015.
7 Ross, Michael A. "The Supreme Court, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the Civil War." J. Sup. Ct.
Hist. 41 (2016): 275.

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to the similar dissent and demand8. The American history of federal constitutionalism witnessed
the most fluctuating periods of amendments and battles.
Women activists vehemently objected to the qualification stated for determining
representation in the electorate, which had the word ‘male’ mentioned. Thus the outrage poured
in and petitions were submitted to Congress while the amendment was still being drafted9. The
protests and activities by women were strongly criticized but also received the recognition it
aimed for, thereafter.
Black women reached out to get heard and thus delivered speeches at religious and
political gatherings, where they had access to the public. They also arranged rallies to advance
with their cause and protests. The political engagement of the Blacks mostly was directed
towards the whites who were outside as well as within their suffrage campaigns10. This was
carried out after South was emancipated from slavery, exploitation and betrayal.
The African American Suffragists also aimed to address the social, economic issues of
the age to strengthen their voice and purpose11. Hence, they adapted ways to protect their
8 Verney, Kevern. The debate on Black civil rights in America. Oxford University Press, 2017.
9 Harmon, David A. Beneath the Image of the Civil Rights Movement and Race Relations: Atlanta, GA
1946-1981. Routledge, 2019.
10 Shi, David E., and George Brown Tindall. America: A narrative history. WW Norton & Company, 2016.
11 Tate, Katherine. Black faces in the mirror: African Americans and their representatives in the US
Congress. Princeton University Press, 2018.

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political identity and stance and organized the suffrage movement. Alongside, they also voiced
against the atrocities carried out against the blacks, directed by the Whites, who esteemed
themselves as superior. Though, African American women are often looked past, while
scrutinizing history of suffrage, mostly concerning that of the women but it led to important
reforms in Constitutional Laws and politics12. These reforms finally found its way to the
nineteenth amendment which ratified Women’s Suffrage in 1920.
A close look at the changing scenario of women and their access to rights would reveal a
vast timeline of struggle they had to go through, in order to reach what exists today. The
Amendment of 1920 was the product of the tiring fight they put up against authority and
establishment. Since 1877, we can trace a gradual slope of events unfolding in succession,
eventually culminating to the endowment of the Suffrage rights to women. These events in the
history of America are very significant in the context of Women fighting for their rights to
equality in society and its different spheres.
12 Walton, Hanes, Robert C. Smith, and Sherri L. Wallace. American politics and the African American
quest for universal freedom. Routledge, 2017.

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VOTING RIGHTS AFTER 1877
References
Bateman, David A., Joshua D. Clinton, and John S. Lapinski. "A House Divided? Roll Calls,
Polarization, and Policy Differences in the US House, 1877–2011." American Journal of
Political Science 61, no. 3 (2017): 698-714.
Bloom, Jack M. Class, race, and the civil rights movement. Indiana University Press, 2019.
Bynum, Victoria E. The Free State of Jones, Movie Edition: Mississippi's Longest Civil War.
UNC Press Books, 2016.
Cole, Leonard A. Blacks in power: A comparative study of black and white elected officials. Vol.
4983. Princeton University Press, 2017.
DeBoer, Clara Merritt. His truth is marching on: African Americans who taught the freedmen for
the American Missionary Association, 1861-1877. Routledge, 2016.
Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. Black Reconstruction in America: Toward a history of the
part which black folk played in the attempt to reconstruct democracy in America, 1860-1880.
Routledge, 2017.
LaFeber, Walter, and Nancy Woloch. The American Century: A History of the United States
Since the 1890s. Routledge, 2015.
Ross, Michael A. "The Supreme Court, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the Civil War." J.
Sup. Ct. Hist. 41 (2016): 275.

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VOTING RIGHTS AFTER 1877
Verney, Kevern. The debate on Black civil rights in America. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Harmon, David A. Beneath the Image of the Civil Rights Movement and Race Relations: Atlanta, GA
1946-1981. Routledge, 2019.
Shi, David E., and George Brown Tindall. America: A narrative history. WW Norton & Company, 2016.
Tate, Katherine. Black faces in the mirror: African Americans and their representatives in the US
Congress. Princeton University Press, 2018.
Walton, Hanes, Robert C. Smith, and Sherri L. Wallace. American politics and the African
American quest for universal freedom. Routledge, 2017.