The Fight for Womens Suffrage in Virginia: A Pivotal Struggle

Abstract

Suffrage in Virginia Virginia after the 18th century: Suffrage in Virginia Introduction Voting is a civil right that many Americans have fought for ever since time immemorial. It is a right whose history in Virginia runs back to the late 19th century when the Congress on February 26th 1869 passed the 15th Amendment. According to the 15th Amendment, African American men had the right to vote just like any white man regardless of their color. However, not all American women were in harmony with this Amendment as it did not serve the equality purpose that this gender anticipated thus leading to a huge split over the American women. The split brought about a women’s movement in 1848. Lucy stone serves as the pioneer of the American Women Suffrage Association that supported the 15th Amendment while rival National Women Suffrage Association led by Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony did not support the 15th Amendment but rather aimed at fighting for equal voting rights for the female gender in Virginia. The two groups later merged to form the United National Women Suffrage Association in 1890 whose main aim was to fight for the expansion of electorate to all American women to vote. The ratification of the 15th Amendment served as a clear dawn for a serious fight for equal voting right. Unlike the 14th amendment whose Section 2 ignored women citizenship thus rejected their privilege to vote, this Amendment paved way for American to vote without restrictions on the basis of color or race. In 1870, Anna Whitehead Bodeker efforts to organize the Virginia State Suffrage Association in the 1870 did not yield so much on women voting right as the organization withered after Anna’s effort to vote in Richmond an year later. Women experienced discrimination in voting right until the establishment of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia in 1909. The league aimed at fighting for electoral adjustments to enhance incorporation of women in the voting exercise just like their men counterparts. Unfortunately, the league faced so many critics as the anti-suffrage argued that such an opportunity would demean Virginian culture on gender pattern. It is a league that many thought would reduce the authority of Virginian men who had controlled this government for ages. To this effect, the league had a challenging time to convince the unmoved populace of its motive without expressing any ignorance of the treasured Virginian culture and heritage. However, with time, the league played a significant role in enlightening Virginian among other Americans the relevance of gender equality leading to the establishment of over a hundred other Equal Suffrage League chapters by 1916. Lila Meade Valentine served as the first president of the Equal Suffrage League and played a significant role in creating public awareness throughout the state on the main mission of the league. Unlike the assumption and claims from the anti-suffrage that this league aimed at offering the women of color control over election, this leader enlightened the public on the demerits of discriminating the people of color due to their skin as provided for by the passage of the 1902 state constitution constraining the blacks ability to vote which the league aimed at rectifying. Unfortunately, the federal law barred the confirmation of such initiative claiming that they would raise the levels of white supremacy as the league literally fought for the black women but rather paid so much emphasis on the white educated women right to vote and enjoy civil privileges enjoyed by their fellow white men. State representatives remained unmoved by the suffrages arguments on women voting right as other southern legislatures like [City, State] among others also voted to keep women away from voting making the leagues effort more challenging. One can argue that Virginia’s one party- rule complicated all the Equal Suffrage Leagues efforts making its manifestos quite impossible to succeed. The league toed the Jim Crow politics that ignored the worth of people of...