Political Football

DID YOU KNOW?

The Republican Party Played a Leading Role in Securing the Right to Vote for Women.

In 1776 the Declaration of Independence declared “all men are created equal” however, some believed that because it did not use the word *women*specifically that women should not be included. Therefore half the population of the United States suffered silently for the next 72 years before the first women’s rights conference was held in Seneca, New York.

Supporters of Suffrage for Women continued the long hard-fought battle for another 72 years before women won the right to vote.

In 1896 the Republicans were the first major political party to support women’s suffrage when Republican Senator A. A. Sargent of California introduced a proposal to grant women the right to vote. Sadly the proposal was defeated four times in the Democrat-controlled senate.

When the Republicans regained control of Congress, the Equal Suffrage Amendment finally passed (304 to 88). The  amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification and 26 of the 36 states that ratified the 19thAmendment had Republican-controlled legislatures. Of the ten states that voted *against* ratification, eight were controlled by Democrats. The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, upon its ratification by Tennessee, the thirty-sixth state to do so. US Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26, 1920.

It is interesting to note that twelve states, *ALL* with Republican-controlled legislatures, had granted women full suffrage BEFORE the amendment was finally ratified.

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