Understand how women’s social and political activism in the 19th and early 20th centuries led to an expansion of their roles and rights; identify bias; support a point of view.

In the United States, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott called for suffrage at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, but it would be 72 years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Despite being criticized for believing they should be allowed voting rights, women remained politically active. Fighting for causes such as abolition and temperance moved them beyond the traditional roles of Victorian domesticity. Women’s influence increased during the progressive era as they headed reform movements in education and workers’ rights. Their participation in the war effort during WWI led President Woodrow Wilson to conclude that women’s right to vote could no longer be denied.

• CA  11.5-4; 11.10-7; 11.11-3
• TX  113.32-4A, 4B; 113.33-18C, 21A, 21C, 25C, 25E
• FL  SS.A.5.4-2, 3, 4
• NCSS  Ia, Id; IIb; IVg, h; Va, b, d, g; VIa; Xb, c, e

2 class periods

• Activity Sheet, Women’s Roles and the 19th Amendment
• Timeline, 1870-1900 
• Graphic Organizer, 4-Column Table

Students have the opportunity to write a Research Paper (see Extension below).

Should women be given the right to vote?

Point of View Students will hold a debate in which they argue for and against expanding rights for women. Group members will research the political and social reform movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Have students research the topic using the provided links. Encourage them to use the suggested graphic organizer as they read the articles.

1909 political cartoon of a women’s rights activist portrayed as selfish and unnatural.

To start students thinking about the social and political climate of the period, have them examine the political cartoon.

Key questions students should answer are:

• How did the artist portray the women’s rights activist in this political cartoon?
• How does this portrayal reflect society’s attitude about women who wanted voting rights?

Divide the class into two groups—those who will argue for expanding women’s rights and those who will argue against it. Distribute the Student Activity sheet.

• Abolitionism
• Suffrage
• WWI Work Force
• Education Reform
• Labor Movement
• Temperance Movement
• Separate Spheres for Men and Women

Tell students that you will act as the moderator. Review rules for the debate. Explain that each group will give an opening statement and have time for a rebuttal and closing argument.

Use the Debate Rubric to assess students’ performance.

Have students reflect on their performance and use the list of expectations to judge how well they met the criteria.

Ask students: Which movement most greatly affected women’s rights? Why?

Expository Writing Have students use Daily Life Online to research and write about the effects of the 19th Amendment on the position of women in society.