Women’s right to vote
by Diane Rockall
In an early September presentation at the Stockbridge Library, Carlos Villegas-Castaneda discussed how women fought and continue to fight for women’s right to vote. The crowd was small, but highly interested in his knowledgeable presentation.
Mr. Villegas-Casteneda, an instructor of Spanish language, literature and culture at Adrian College, began his talk with highlights of efforts in Great Britain and in the United States, starting in the middle of the nineteenth century. Women in Great Britain put up a fierce and forceful battle and won the right nationwide in 1918.
Women in the United States actually started their push for suffrage earlier, but it took them longer because federal law requires changes to voting rights have Constitutional Amendments. As a result, women’s right to vote needed state by state approval. Only after enough states agreed, could the amendment be ratified nationwide.
Michigan men voted to give women the right on Nov. 5, 1918. So as of Nov. 2018, women in Michigan will have enjoyed voting rights for 100 years. Of note, they couldn’t vote in national elections until two years later, for while they had the state right, they lacked the national right.
Finally in 1920, the amendment garnered enough support to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Villegas-Castaneda’s discussion continued with highlights of the rest of the world. Other nations followed suit, he said, but not in some cases until quite recently. Of course, there are still nations where no one has the authentic right to vote. Still other nations continue to exclude women from that right.
India and Israel were the first nations to have women leaders. Indira Gandhi led India from 1966-1977, while Golda Meir led Israel from 1979-1974.
Villegas-Casteneda concluded with a brief summary of worldwide activists for women’s rights from the 19th through the 21st century.
How do US women rank in terms of voting rights with other groups?
- 1868: Citizenship is guaranteed to all male persons born or naturalized in the United States by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, setting the stage for future expansions to voting rights.
- 1870: The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents states from denying the right to vote on grounds of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
In other words, the Civil War gained blacks the right to vote, but an additional 50 years passed before women had the same rights.
