Answer to Question 1
The suffragistsworked for years to get women the right to vote. From the beginning,this reform was judged to be crucial. If women voted, it was felt, other reforms wouldquickly follow. The struggle took so long that many of the initial advocates of women'ssuffrage died before victory was reached. In 1879, an amendment to the Constitution wasintroduced that would have given women the right to vote but it was finally passed in 1919 and ratified the following year as the Nineteenth Amendment to theConstitution.
The opposition to giving women the vote came from all directions. Liquor interestsand brewers correctly feared that women would assist in passing laws restricting or prohibitingthe sale of their products. The South feared the influence that more Black voters(that is, Black women) might have. Southerners had also not forgotten the pivotal rolewomen had played in the abolitionist movement. Despite the opposition, the suffragemovement succeeded in gaining women the right to vote, a truly remarkable achievementbecause it had to rely on male legislators to do so.
The Nineteenth Amendment did not automaticallylead to other feminist reforms. Women did notvote as a bloc and have not been elected to office inproportion to their numbers. The feminist movementas an organized effort that gained nationalattention faded, regaining prominence only in the1960s. Nevertheless, the women's movement didnot die out completely in the first half of the century.Many women carried on the struggle in newareas, such as the effort to lift restrictions on birthcontrol devices.
Answer to Question 2
b