Women Win the Vote

* Reviews *

This slim volume documents in narrative fashion the struggle to gain womens right to vote in the United States. The story is told through the lives of women who played major roles in moving this battle forward, from Abigail Adams (who reminded her husband John to remember the ladies in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence) to Alice Paul (founder of the Congressional Union, who was finally able to get a suffrage amendment before Congress in 1914). This story is certainly about getting the right to vote for women, but is also an essential part of the story about the end of slavery, as the supporters of womens suffrage were some of the most influential advocates for abolition in the U.S. and abroad. How bitterly ironic then that Congress passed the 15th amendment, giving African American men the right to vote, fifty years before that right was granted to women. Additionally, the suffrage movement had strong connections to expanding educational access for women in this country, to the Temperance movement, and to womens rights efforts in Europe. Along the way, the suffragettes were opposed by women in the elite classes who didnt want their positions of privilege threatened, by the well-funded alcohol interests who saw the empowerment of women as a threat to legal drinking, and even by President Woodrow Wilson, although he later changed his position. This entry in the Americas Living History series is well-illustrated with photos of key players (e.g., Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stoner), as well as reproductions of primary materials (e.g., petitions, brochures). Source notes, a chronology, a list of book and Internet sources, and an index all add value to this work. This would be a solid addition to any school or classroom library, as well as a great resource for informing adult second language learners about this critical political evolution in America., Children's Literature