Fire in Firey Times for Sufferage

The Civil War Divisions

Women's Suffrage Before the 19th Amendment

In a period of time in which the United States was dealing with intense tension between the northern and southern states strong voices for women's rights had to be loud to be heard while everyone else who was discontent and shouting their opinions too.  In the states religion was being used to justify both sides of these issues and because the people of the United States were not yet so secularized and disillusioned with religion at many Europeans were becoming, their calls for change burned with the passion of religious fervor.  Appeal to authority from God and enlightenment ideals was a primary tactic of the women's suffrage writings I analyzed.  

Each also had to directly refer to and oppose the arguments made against their cause by specific men.  Consider how Elizabeth Stanton brings up the common argument that “the right of suffrage will make women masculine.”  She addresses the question head on and with an aggression that reminds me of Luther’s fiery response to Erasmus’ cool critique of his views on free will.  They could not simply argue the virtue of their ideas as they already felt that they had the disadvantage living in the society that they did.  They could not play the defensive or just throw ideas out, but, like Luther, they had to attack the current system directly and declare the ideas against their own as totally wrong.

Each also, in their own way, appeals to logic by stating that, if women are causing so much upset with respect to their desire to be active, this is evidence in itself that women are ready for this responsibility and right.  Think of Sojourner Truth’s opening line: “Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.”