The right of suffrage for women has been one of the major concerns in the 20th century. Indeed, while men could impact the political course of the country through elections, women who counted half of the population of the US, were denied that right. The situation brought about the emergence of many women’s suffrage movements, such as National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) or American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) (The nineteenth amendment). However, many people opposed the idea of women’s suffrage as they carefully weighted the impact such changes would make on their businesses and private life.
Among the staunchest opposers to women’s suffrage were the owners of breweries and their clients as they believed women would vote for a ban on alcohol drinking. Another category of people who were against the initiative were the top managers of companies that used child labour (The nineteenth amendment). Women of high social standing believed they should not interfere with politics and thus supported anti-suffrage organizations.
The constitutional amendment to guarantee women suffrage was introduced in the Senate in 1878, but it took about forty years for it to be adopted. Twice it was rejected in the Senate and could have not gotten the ratification much longer, had not women’s voting rights been linked to the US effort in World war I (The nineteenth amendment). Indeed, portraying the movement for suffrage as the organization that largely supported governmental initiatives provided a weighty argument for the authorities to grant voting rights to women. Thus, though initially opposed by many social layers, the ideas of equal voting rights for women as well as men were finally embodied into the US legislative system.
Reference
The Nineteenth Amendment. Khan Academy. Web.