#603 Women's Suffrage and its Opponents

Women's suffrage activists picketing the White House, 1918.

Preparation:

• See assignment #603.

Discussion diagram:

• Begin by reviewing discussion diagram (for sections: HH250-09, HH250-15) from last class:
  • What observations might you make based on this chart?
  • What tweaks can we make as a class to improve our discussion?

“The Women’s Era” (1890-1920)

• Based on our homework last night, identify the new opportunities that emerged for women in the period.
• Based on our homework last night, identify some of the important social and political causes that women were involved with during this period.
• Explain the relationship between the opportunities and the activism mentioned above.
• How do you think non-activist Americans responded to the causes presented by women activists during this period? Why?

Anti-Suffragists:

• Together, read Document A (Google Doc).
• Together, discuss:
  • Sourcing:
    • Who wrote this?
    • When was it written?
    • What do you predict this person will say about suffrage?
  • Close reading:
    • What is her argument?
    • What evidence does she use to support her argument?
    • What words does she use to make her point stronger?
  • Contextualization:
    • What does this document suggest about the assumptions that people held about women in 1911?
• Next, read individually Documents B and C (Google Doc) and begin prepare for our class discussion by reviewing the following questions with a partner:
  • According to these documents, why were people opposed to woman suffrage?
  • Try to see things from the anti-suffragist perspective—(assume that they’re not just mean-spirited)—why is woman suffrage scary to them?
  • Are you surprised that many anti-suffragists were women? Why or why not?
  • Do you think the reasons for opposing suffrage were political (men did not want to lose their political positions) or social reasons (ideas about women’s place in society)?
  • What additional documents would you want to see to get a better picture of how people thought at that time?
  • Finally: After reviewing these alternative perspectives, what advice might you give to pro-suffrage activists?

Homework: #604.