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Assignment #12: Women’s Suffrage and Reform Movements

Lecture video (can skip through to find points): https://dcccd.yuja.com/V/Video?v=1252688&node=4712…

Documentary (can watch only the parts asked about): https://dcccd.yuja.com/V/Video?v=751705&node=31270…

American yawp: http://www.americanyawp.com/text/10-religion-and-r…

Section A: Professor’s Lecture

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was a social activist and leader in the early women’s rights movement. In 1840, when she was a young newlywed, Stanton attended the World Anti-Slavery Society convention in London, which her husband was attending as a delegate. It was there that Stanton met Lucretia Mott (1793-1880). At the convention, the women delegates from the United States were denied seats after some of the male U.S. delegates vehemently objected. Mott, in response, demanded that she be treated with the same respect accorded any man—white or black. During these heated discussions, Stanton marveled at the way Mott, a woman of forty-seven, held her own in the argument, “skillfully parried all their attacks…turning the laugh on them, and then by her earnestness and dignity silencing their ridicule and jeers.”

Following the Civil War, Stanton refused to support the passage of the 15th amendment, which gave voting rights to black men but not to women. She argued that the amendment essentially was based on the fallacy of false dilemma—either black men get the vote (but not women) or only white men can vote. Instead, she pointed out that there was a third option: both men and women should have the right to vote. Unfortunately, her line of argument and her challenges to traditional beliefs about the role of women were ridiculed. Although black men received the vote in 1870 with passage of the 15th amendment, it would be another 50 years before women were given the right to vote in the United States. Nevertheless, Stanton’s persistence and refusal to back down in her fight for equal opportunity for women paved the way for the final passage of this amendment so that other women could achieve their life plans of equal participation in the political life of the country.

What else did you learn in this lecture? In what ways did women play a vital role in the Reform movements of the 1800s? Please share 2-3 examples and reflect on them.

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Section B: Reflections on Documentary

What is your impression of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in the documentary? Can you begin to see why it took so long for women to be considered US citizens and not the property of men? What does Susan B. Anthony mean by “Failure is impossible” when it comes to women’s suffrage?

Elizabeth Cady Stanton had close friends such as Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony in her fight for women’s rights. Discuss ways in which having a support network of people who are skilled critical thinkers can enhance your ability not to use or fall for faulty reasoning. Discuss ways in which you do, or could serve as a critical-thinking mentor to others.

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Section C: Howard Zinn and American Yawp Textbook

Option #02: What other reform movements did you learn about in the American Yawp textbook? How does the Great Awakening and the role of religion play a role in these reform movements? Please provide specific examples from the chapter.