![]() Today I have an opportunity to practice one of my most valuable rights as a citizen of the United States of America. My parents were my role models in this area. They always voted. I remember just a few weeks before he died, my Dad was doing his homework on an upcoming election, studying the voter materials so that he could make an intelligent and informed decision. I consider it an honor to follow in his footsteps. Like my Dad, I study up on the propositions before I make my trek to the place I have been assigned to cast my ballot. I have several techniques that I use to do this. I read the arguments against a ballot measure first. This gives me a sense of what, if any, problems it has. Then I always look at who is supporting and who is not supporting the proposition. I have learned that when the League of Women Voters is listed as a supporter it is a good indication that this is a proposition I should vote for. It’s amazing to realize that not too long ago there was no League of Women Voters because there were no women voters. My grandmother cast her first presidential ballot in 1920. She was 27 years old. In that election, Warren G. Harding (Republican) defeated James Cox (Democrat) following the ratification of the 19th amendment to the Constitution that gave women the right to vote. I am grateful to all the women and men who fought to give me that right and this year I take great pleasure in casting my ballot. I have not made my liberal political views a secret (see my blog from 9/12/2015 “Confessions of a Flaming Bleeding Heart Liberal). I am happy that I will be voting for a potential presidential candidate who shares my political beliefs and I am very excited that this candidate is a woman! A HISTORY OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE It has been a long struggle for women to win the right to vote. The Scandinavian countries were some of the first countries to grant women this right, Finland being the first in 1863. In the years before WWI women won the vote in Australia (1894), Norway (1913), and Denmark (1915). Most European, Asian, and African countries did not pass women's suffrage until after the end of World War I (1918). Amazingly the fight still continues in countries around the world. It wasn’t until December 2015 that women in Saudi Arabia were first allowed to vote and then only in municipal elections. Women’s rights have a long history in the Americas. Marie Guyart, a French nun who worked with the First Nations peoples of Canada during the seventeenth century, wrote in 1654 about the suffrage practices of Iroquois women, "These female chieftains are women of standing amongst the savages, and they have a deciding vote in the councils. They make decisions there like the men, and it is they who even delegated the first ambassadors to discuss peace." Under British rule, Lydia Taft of Massachusettes became the first legal woman voter in colonial America in 1756. The New Jersey constitution of 1776 allowed all adult inhabitants who owned a specified amount of property to vote. Laws enacted in 1790 and 1797 referred to voters as "he or she," and women regularly voted. A law passed in 1807, however, excluded women from voting in that state.
In 1851 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, among others, began a seventy-year struggle to secure the right of women to vote in the United States. There was gradual progress as increasing numbers of territories and states adopted women’s suffrage. Wyoming Territory allowed women voters in 1869 and Utah in 1870. Colorado was the first state in the union to adopt women’s suffrage by popular vote. American women finally won the vote on the 26th of August, 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Leslie Masona woman in search of her post-retirement future Guess what! By subscribing, you get notices about the latest Little Old Lady with Cats posts sent to your mailbox!
* * *
The Book Naked Little Old Lady with Cats A collection of Little Old Lady with Cats blogs * * *
WHAT IS A LITTLE OLD LADY WITH CATS - REALLY?
(from an entry posted on 5/1/2015) “I definitely fit some of the characteristics of a little old lady with cats: Retired - check, Single - check, Like to knit - check, Have cats - check. . .I do not want to get stuck in my Little Old Lady persona, however. In fact, this blog is a risk taking experiment in exploring and redefining what I want my retired life to look like.” Categories
All
Archive
June 2024
|