American Protest Literature

142 Women's Rights and suffragism / THE LITERATURE

ale, stinging tobacco, and a girl in a smart dress ~re the best things " tradesman in Goethe's Faust. "There are exceedingly good point ' says lhe

. th I sabou Turks· chibouks coffee and as many wives as ey P ease. Under th . t lhe , · , ' e1r s

be me as gentle as docile, and as tractable as any dome . Ysteiii women co , Stic an· says Stephens, in his "Incidents of Travel." "Such a thing may happen :1,• the woman, not the man,_ m~; be in the right, (I mean when both are g that but ordinarily it is otherwise, says John Bunyan .... And all this co Od!y},

. II mesunn.. us in consequence of our having been systematica y excluded from the ,..,,

sions, the trades, the arts, the sciences, the halls of legislation; in a Wort:es. all the pursuits that are best calculated to enlarge the mind to ' IIJ

. ' occupy it profitably, and to raise it above mean and petty sub1ects of thought. Professor

Lewis asks whether, if wives and daughters voted, their influence Would

Potent and healthy as it now is. I do not think the mere act of voting be as • WOuJd make any difference, one way or the other; but I do thmk the education th

would gradually acquire by taking a part in public affairs would make the:

more instructive and more interesting as household companions. I believe the domestic bond will never reach its possible hight of perfection till womenoc.

cupy their thoughts and feelings with all that occupies the thoughts and feel-

ings of men. The astronomer and the chemist would find home more satisfac-

tory with wives who could understand their investigations and feel interested

in their discoveries. The architect would find himself both enlivened and aided

by a companion who had an eye for form and color, and a talent for inventing

conveniences. If mothers, wives, and daughters were more generally interested

in the ethics of politics, our statesmen would not so often waste their abilities

on games of compromise, risking the interests of freedom on the hazard of their play.

How many such struggles we have witnessed as this concerning admitting

Colorado and Nebraska into a free republic with a deep taint of despotism in

their constitutions! And how very rare are legislators like Charles Sumner, who

can never be induced, by any amount of reproach or persuasion, to sacrifice

eternal principles to temporary expediency! What a stainless record he is leav• ing for history!

There is an obvious fallacy in Professor Lewis's statement that women do vote in the same way that all our people vote for President: that is, they choose their elector to vote for them. The circumstances of the times are always chant ing, requiring new men and new measures, and when men vote for eJectoll

to choose a President, they vote for such electors as are suited to the pres-

ent emergency. But, admitting that, when a woman marries, and thu~ be-d comes "dead· th l ,, t mawfol m e aw, she chooses an elector to vote for her; wha er changes may take place in affairs, and in his character, if they Jive wgetb twenty or thirty y , H e to repre-

ears. ow many chances there are that he will ceas . sent her views e 'f h · ely &saP-

, ven I e does not vote for measures that she entir

II

Lydia Maria Child I Women and Suffrage 14 3

fes sor again observes: "Women choose their electors or he is

fhe pro . . ' P roves. by one of the most precious ordmances of God and Nature."

•J d for them . . P rovt,.e father should become an atheist or an mfidel, while his wife

band or a ff a hU5 f mature age wished to give their influence and a share of their ughters o and da th support of evangelical churches, would the Professor decide

~;ngs to e h . d' . I . d ear,p b nd and father was t eu 1vme y-appomte representative and the hUS a . . ,

that ht to act only through him? In large portions of Christendom that they ~ug that heads of the Church are divinely appointed to prescribe

le believe peoP 'th of other men. I once asked an acquaintance how he came to turn Ro- the fai

1 .. and he replied, "It is so convenient to have a bishop to think for

an cathO IC, m g lady once told me that she went to all the churches in Boston by e" Ayoun m · b use she did not want to decide till she knew what would be the reli-

wrns, eca . . . of the man she married. Some time afterward she mamed a Roman Cath-

gi~~ d having chosen him to do her believing, she joined his church. What ohc, an , . vitality can there be in a religion assumed under such cucumstances? The fact

is all conclusions are fallacious based on the hypothesis that one human soul can be merged in another soul. No human being can possibly think for me, or

believe for me, any more than he can eat for me, or drink for me, or breathe for

me. The family is a very sacred thing; but it appears to me that in a family of

true order each one would think, feel, and act, as an individual, with respectful

regard to the freedom of the other members, and a conscientious feeling of

duty concerning the influence exerted on their characters and happiness. I do

not see why difference in voting should necessarily produce dissension be-

tween husband and wife, any more than the mere difference of opinion which

so frequently exists without such result. Nor do I see why the mere circum-

stance of depositing a vote need to make women boisterous, or expose them to

rudeness. They are accustomed to press through crowds to go to theaters and operas, and meetings at Faneuil Hall; they go with the throng to hear orators

and statesmen, and nobody treats them uncivilly, or considers their presence

an unbecoming intrusion. Their appearance at the polls would soon cease to

be a novelty, and the depositing of a vote might be done as easily and as qui-

etly as leaving a card at a hotel. 1 respect the fears of kind and conscientious conservatives, like Professor

LeWis, although I do not share them. There is one abiding consolation for all that class of th' k · h m ers. God has so wisely arranged the laws of the universe t at great changes · 1 · 1 cannot come till the way is prepared for them. History P am Y shows his ha d · · d' 'd a1· . n contmually preparing the way for the complete m 1V1 u iz- ing of th G . e masses. Paul spoke for a much larger audience than the churches of

alatia whe h · · 'th b d ' n e said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there 1s ne1 er on nor free the . . J ,, W

. . ' re is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Chnst esus. ~~ - h w 1

. asmg knowledge the work goes on with accelerated speed; butt e or dis far

enough yet from the great festival of ALL SOULS.

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~ - National Woman Suffrage Association \ Declaration and Protest 145

NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE Assoc, - - . AlloN ~

From Declaration and Protest of the

women of the United States

1876

1876 five women charged the rostrum at the Centennial celeb t· On July 4, , . ra ions in P!i· . El' b thCadyStanton(1815-1902)andthe Nat1onalWomanSutt 1la.

delph1a. 1za e rage Ass . . (NWSA) had written a declaration, based on the 1848 Seneca Falls "D

I oc,~

~ ~~ . ts,, and Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) now presented it to Vi ~

Sent1men , ice Presid F P le

-faced he bowed and accepted it in silence. The women turned a d I

ent erry. a , . n ert, SQI,

tering copies of their Declarat10~. Then they headed for George_ Washington's sta1ue where, standing in the statesman s shadow, Anthony read the manifesto aloud.

The NWSA women had wanted to read it inside. Stanton recalled· "We th . · ought 1 would be fitting ... immediately after that of the Fathers was read, as an impeachment~ them and their male descendants." But instead she asked for permission to present Iii! document silently. The authorities refused, commenting: "to-morrow we propose toe~.

ebrate what we have done in the last hundred years; not what we have failed to do.'

Though Stanton's request was denied, the NWSA officers decided to act, inspired by what Stanton called "that heroic spirit which has ever animated lovers of liberty." They wanted "to place on record for the daughters of 1976, the fact that their motheijof 1876 had asserted their equality of rights."

While writing the Declaration, Stanton remembered the abolitionists: "All through w

Civil War the slaves ... had an abiding faith that the terrible conflict would result in free-

dom." Yet it was this new freedom of slaves that had brought the NWSA to the pointol

no return. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment defined "voters" as "male," and in 1870

the Fifteenth Amendment made no reference to sex. The "republican cry of manhood

suffrage created an antagonism between black men and all women," Stanton realized. !JI

1869, debates over the Amendments split the women's movement, too. Stanton and An-

thony organized the NWSA, and Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe established the more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association. The organizations didn't rejoinun~ 1890, when they became the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Frederick Douglass once questioned why women were excepted from the principlesd the Declaration of Independence, and suggested that history would have been leli "bloody'' had b . . d y thatli,t

women een allowed more influence in world affairs. On the a ~ women interrupted the celebrations in Philadelphia history looked bloody indeed:

3 ~,

1 the pat · r ' wd u• . no ic speeches and the NWSA protest word reached the Centennial cro , ,.,i,

Sioux and Chey . ' psatu1'" B" enne warnors had defeated George Custer and his cavalry troo ed ftOCII

19 Horn. And in Hamb S I revent ' urg, .C., black Civil War veterans were violent Y P

d Several were killed in the incident and those responsible

. a July 4 para e. . ,t,ing in . d ·n a sham trial.

rriar acqurtte 1 later

were The Year of the Century (1966); Alana Jeydel, Political ding: oee Brown,

t,er rea furt (2004).

~ . . buoyant with patriotism, and all hearts are attuned to

Nation 1s Wbile the w we come to strike the one discordant note, on this

. . with sorro , . . . Praise, it is . ry of our country s birth. When sub1ects of Kings, Em-dth anniversa hundre from the Old World, join in our National Jubilee, shall the

perors, and cza;:, ublic refuse to lay their hands with benedictions on the na- rnen of the p . . . . 'ft h wo ving America's Expos!tlon, surpassmg m magm cence t ose

, head? surve' - rton s · . and Vienna, shall we not rejoice at the success of the youn-

1.,ondon Pans, of ' g the nations of the earth? May not our hearts, in unison with est rival amon

g ' th pride at our great achievements as a people; our free speech, free all swell WI

' hools free church, and the rapid progress we have made in mate- press tree sc , . ' Ith trade commerce, and the inventive arts? And we do rejoice, in the

nal wea , , thus far of our experiment of self-government. Our faith is firm and success ,

unwavering in the broad principles of human rights, proclaimed in 1776, not

only as abstract truths, but as the comer stones of a republic. Yet, we cannot

forget, even in this glad hour, that while all men of every race, and clime, and

condition, have been invested with the full rights of dtizenship, under our hospitable flag, all women still suffer the degradation of disfranchisement.

Our history, the past hundred years, has been a series of assumptions and

usurpations of power over woman, in direct opposition to the principles of just

government, acknowledged by the United States at its foundation . .. And for

the violation of these fundamental principles of our Government, we arraign

our rulers on this 4th day of July, 1876,-and these are our ARTICLES OF IM- PEACHMENT.

BILLS OF ATTAINDER have been passed by the introduction of the word

"male" into all the State constitutions, denying to woman the right of suffrage, and thereby m ki . . a ng sex a cnme-an exercise of power clearly forbidden in Ar.-

ticle 1st Secti 9 h ' ons t and 10th of the United States Constitution.

an:8El WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, the only protection against lettres de cachet, a 1 forms of u · t · •

not b n1us 1mpnsonment, which the Constitution declares "shall

safetyedsuspeud ed, except when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public emands it ,, · h 1 . marri d ' is e d moperative in every State in the Union, in case of a

e womana · in au c . gamst her husband,-the marital rights of the husband being

asespnma d . THE RI ry, an the rights of the wife secondary.

GHT OF TRIAL BY A JURY OF ONE'S PEERS was so jealously guarded

..

146 Women's Rights and Suffragism j THE LITERATURE ~ ti al woman Suffrage Association \ Declaration and Protest Na on 147

fu d to ratify the original Constitution, until it wa that States re se . . s 8Uar d t And yet the women of this nation haven ante.,, by the 6th Amen men · . . ever b '"

lowed a jury of their peers-being tned_ I~ all cases by men, native and f:e~ at, d . ant virtuous and vic10us ... And not only are reign educated an 1gnor , . . Worne ,

. . f th . peers but in some cases, 1ury tnal altogether n de. med a 1ury o en • · • . TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION, the immediate cause of h . . . f h . t ere"-

1. f the Colonies against Great Bntam, is one o t e gnevous w "1!}, 10n o . h tongs f thl·s country have suffered dunng t e century. Deploring the women o . War .

all the demoralization that follows in_ its tram, we have ~ee_n taxed to s~ "'1th

d. rm·es with their waste of hfe and wealth. BeheV1ng in te PPort stan mg a 1 , . . rnperan we have been taxed to support the vice, cnme, and pauperism of the Li uce,

T ffi And moreover we are taxed to support the very leoislat q or ra c . . . , ' o• ors a . d ho make laws and render decisions adverse to woman ' nd 1u ges, w , • . .

UNEQUAL CODES FOR MEN AND WOMEN. Held by law a perpetual . .. h"d. Intno1 deemed incapable of self-protection, even m t e m ustnes of the world ,

, Wom. an is denied equality of rights. The fact of sex, not the quantity or qu

1 .

. . a tty of work in most cases, decides the pay and pos1t10n; and because of this i·n· .

, Justice thousands of fatherless girls are compelled to choose between a life of sh

ame or starvation . ..

THE ADVANCE LEGISLATION FOR WOMAN has placed us in a most anoma. lous position. Women invested with the rights of citizens in one section-vot-

ers, jurors, office-holders-crossing an imaginary line, are subjects in the next. In some states, a married woman may hold property and transact business in

her own name; in others, her earnings belong to her husband. In some states, a

woman may testify against her husband, sue and be sued in the courts; in oth- ers, she has no redress in case of damage to person, property, or character. In

divorce, on account of adultery in the husband, the innocent wife is held to

possess no right to children, or property, unless by special decree of the court.

But in no state of the Union has the wife the right to her own person, or to any

part of the joint earnings of the co-partnership, during the life of her husband.

In some States women may enter the law schools and practice in the courts; in

others they are forbidden. In some universities, girls enjoy equal educational

advantages with boys, while many of the proudest institutions in the laod

deny them admittance, though the sons of China, Japan and Africa are wel- comed there . ...

REPRESENTATION FOR WOMAN has had no place in the nation's thought.

Since the incorporation of the thirteen original states, twenty four have been

admitted to the Union, not one of which has recognized woman's right of self· government . . .

. UNIVERSAL MANHOOD SUFFRAGE, by establishing an aristocracy of ~ex, imposes upon the women of this nation a more absolute and cruel despotlSfn

. that woman finds a political master in her father husband chy·in ' ' '

(1 monar ' !stocracies of the old world are based upon birth wealth

tt1a O

The ar . . ' , 01

tier, so · t· n nobility, brave deeds of chivalry; m this nation on sex bf

I educa 10 , . ,

e ft11emen ' b te force above moral power, vice above virtue, ignorance r \ting ru

10oe; exa . d the son above the mother who bore him.

•

a d cauon, an above e u RY OF THE NATION has proved itself but the echo of the party

JuDICIA . rttE b upholding and enforcmg laws that are opposed to the spirit and i!l power, Y t·tution. When the slave power was dominant, the Supreme

f the cons 1 .. 1etter O . th t a black man was not a atizen, because he had not the right

decided a court h n the constitution was so amended as to make all persons citi- te· and w e tov0 ' h"gh tribunal decided that a woman, though a citizen, had not the same I . . . .

zeos, . t Such vascillating mterpretations of const1tut10nal law unset- i ht to vo e. . . .

thef g . h . i·udicial authority, and undermme the hbert1es of the whole tie our fa1t in

p~~~E ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST OUR RULERS we now sub- . h impartial judgment of the people.

rn1t tot e And to all these wrongs and oppressions woman has not submitted in si-

d res ignation. From the beginning of the century, when Abigail Ad-

\eoce an th

e wife of one President and the mother of another, said, "we will not ams, hold ourselves bound to obey laws in which we have no voice or representa- tion," until now, woman's discontent has been steadily increasing, culminat-

ing nearly thirty years ago in a simultaneous movement among the women of

the nation, demanding the right of suffrage. In making our just demands, a higher motive than the pride of sex inspires us; we feel that national safety and stability depend on the complete recognition of the broad principles of our

government. Woman's degraded, helpless position is the weak point in our in-

stitutions to-day; a disturbing force everywhere, severing family ties, filling our asylums with the deaf, the dumb, the blind, our prisons with criminals, our cit-

ies with drunkenness and prostitution, our homes with disease and death.

It was the boast of the founders of the republic, that the rights for which they contended, were the rights of human nature. If these rights are ignored in

the case of one half the people, the nation is surely preparing for its own

downfall. Governments try themselves. The recognition of a governing and a

governed class is incompatible with the first principles of freedom. Woman has

not been a heedless spectator of the events of this century, nor a dull listener to the grand arguments for the equal rights of humanity. From the earliest his-

tory of our country, woman has shown equal devotion with man to the cause

of freedom, and has stood firmly by his side in its defence. Together, they have made th· is country what it is. Woman's wealth, thought and labor have ce- mented th t . e s ones of every monument man has reared to liberty.

And now, at the close of a hundred years, as the hour hand of the great clock

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