SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT AND NATIONAL WOMAN'S PARTY

During the early 1900's, various groups of parties, organizations, and societies aroused to fight particularly for the right of a woman to vote. Among such was the National Woman's Party (NWP). Originally form in 1913 by Alice Paul and other women with the same point of view she possessed as Congressional Union later became NWP in 1917,(Feminist Politics in the 1920S: The National Woman's Party).

It was made up of only 50000 members, nothing compared to the 2 million members from the NAWSA (national woman's party). Alice Paul and other members on the NWP broke away from NAWSA, due to some issues and the ways NAWSA was handling the suffrage movement. Unlike many other suffrage parties and organizations whose targets and focus was on the individual state legislature to pass an amendment state by state, NWP target was on a congressional amendment to the constitution. Their core enemy or focus was the President himself, Woodrow Wilson. They believe that with the support of the most powerful in the world, that's the president of United State, the path to their goals will be much smoother and faster.

Alice Paul and her supporters believed that women needed to be more militant in their demands for equal rights, (national woman's party). The NWP also allowed African American women and men willing to volunteer to partially participate in the movement. But the African American women were not allowed in making decisions or talking during the meeting.

Most of their tactics originated from the British suffrage campaign, a campaign that Alice Paul herself took part in before coming to the states to campaign. They also used the old fashioned lobbying and petitioning, civil disobedience, and never before picketing of the White House. Their tactic for getting at the president was parade, demonstration, and picketing of the white house, an act of demonstration never before done by any past protesters and demonstrators.

Upon their appointing Alice Paul and Lucy Burn as the National American Woman Suffrage Association's Congressional Committee, their first action was to organize a large and emphasized suffrage parade in Washington D.C. on March 3, 1913, the eve of President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. The parade was led by Inez Milholland Boissevain. The theme of the parade was "The Allegory", which was carried out or portrayed by a feminist pageant designed by a famous pageant designer Hazel Mackaye. She was responsible for all the pageants used in the movement. She believed pageant was the best way of passing out a message. Pageant was an historical and attractive art with messages within. The purpose of the pageant on that parade was to attract attention and new members. Afterwards, the women gathered at Lafeyeffe park and burnt pictures and speeches written by Wilson, while a group of about seven to thirteen women took their place in front of the White House, with the "watch fire of freedom" burning and banners consisting of messages such as "the time has come to conquer or submit for there is but one choice" (picketing), "Mr. President, How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty" (women of protest); reminding Wilson of his pledge to support amendment. Apart of the harsh weather, the women also suffer mob attack during the World War I, the mob felt the President should be left alone to focus on the war rather than worry about some voting amendments for women.

The women were arrested and charged with violation of traffic laws and were all sentenced to six months in prison. With the white house out of reach, in the fall of 1917, the women while in prison, led by Alice Paul decided to confront the issue with another tactic, civil disobedience. They refused to do their assigned sweatshop sewing and manual labor. Then they all went on hunger strike which resulted in forced feeding by the authority. Tubes were forced through their nose instead of their mouth, a brutal and torturous act. This treatment led to injury and bleeding. They were also threatened to be sent to an institution for insanity. The authority also tried talking them out of it, but failed. These actions brought more political and national attention to the movement. It showed the women's strong devotion to the party and movement. Afraid that their death in prison due to lack of feeding and harsh treatments could aggravate more resolution against the government and also because of public outcry, the local government offered pardon for their sentencing on November 1917.

Once again, upon their release, the women took their place in front of the White House, with their banners and continued the picketing. More members were arrested and they too used the tactic of civil disobedience, later in 1918. A prison tour came afterward, with all former inmates going around the country telling the story of their experience in jail. This tour brought more massive support for the movement. But Wilson refusal to support the amendment was due to the fact that he didn't want to offend his party. But with constant pressure, he declared that the issue of women voting should be handled locally. With the president on their side, the NWP proceeded to the lower ranks like senators, the congress, and candidates running for a congressional office. Representatives from NWP were lobbying at the congress, trying to persuade any senator on site to support the passage of the amendment. They also visited senators in their offices to persuased them individually. They also used petitioning-the gathering of signatures in support of resolutions and the formal presentation of these documents to political representatives-in order to demonstration graphically the will of the people, (Tactics and Techniques of the National Woman's Party Suffrage Campaign). They presented this petitions to the congress during their meetings. They also attended some congressional session uninvited carrying banners with the messages concerning the amendment, to remind congress of the issue.

As the campaign progresses, NWP lobbying of the congress was shifted to the state level. They also tried persuading state legislature into supporting the amendment. They also targeted local candidates running for office in the congress. Persuading their (candidates) voters to demand equal rights for all citizens, by using male members from the NWP, since women couldn't vote. In states where the votes were very close, lobbying by NWP representative was crucial in convincing the conflicted or undefined to support the amendment (Tactics and Techniques of the National Woman's Party Suffrage Campaign).

With so much support behind them, the proposal for the amendment was passed to individual states for ratification. On August 26 the nineteenth amendment granting women the right to vote was signed by secretary of state Bainbridge Colby. The amendment states as follows; "[The right of citizens shall not be denied because of sex]. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. [Congress given power to enforce this article]. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."(George Anastaplo, 1995:191).

The passage of the amendment though didn't not apply to African American women in the southern part of the country, even those that have participated in the movement. Most suffrage leaders in the south refused to support African American women suffrage. They (southern white women) supported the "educated suffrage" which basically prohibited African Americans in general from voting. In the "educated suffrage" system, every African American voter was test on some history questions, but regardless of how good any of them did, they all fail. This issue was presented to the NWP through a minority resolution that persuaded the NWP to pressure the congress to investigate violation of the amendment, but the NWP turned it down. It feared to loss its support from southern representative. Many letters were written to the NWP from various African American women, complaining about they were denied from registering or even voting. But there was nothing NWP could do. The leader of the party Alice Paul stated that "disenfranchisement of black women was solely a race issue not women's" (How Did the National Woman's Party Address the Issue of the Enfranchisement of Black Women). But whether that was a true statement or just a way of avoiding the issue so as not to offend the southern members of the party, it's still a conflict. But nothing was really done to help African American women exercise their voting right.

But the party instead proposes the equal right amendment for women in general. It publicly proposed the amendment at a major conference held in Seneca Falls on July 21, 1923, on the 75th anniversary of the original feminist Declaration of Principles (Social Revolution and the Equal Rights Amendment). The proposal dealt with the ways women were treated socially, at work, at their homes, and as property. Also included in the proposal were the rights for women to make contract, own a land, fight for custody of children and file for divorce, own a bank account. They used pretty much the same tactics from the suffrage movement to approach this issue. But as the 1920s progresses, the NWP began to fade away due to the great depression that swept the country and the opposition of the proposal by many women organization themselves, who felt it was just crossing the line asking for another amendment. But the leader of NWP, Alice Paul, who had made ERA her life, continued with the proposal. The opposers in the congress argued that the wordings were not right in the sense that it favored mostly women. Changes were made to the wordings in the proposal, reviewed and approved by the Supreme Court.

After long, bittering debates for nearly two years; it was passed into law in 1972. The equal right amendment originally stated; "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction."(Social Revolution and the Equal Rights Amendment). Later in the years, NWP members started to withdraw due to old age and death. Some redrew right after the voting amendment, some after the ERA passage, while some died while still servicing as a member. But the greatest member of all though was Alice Paul. She was the one who upheld NWP. She was the heart of the party. Her leadership through strong unbreakable determination helped lead the party to victory. She gave it hope whenever there was none, her spirit of devotion and dedication was what increased the life span of NWP, to achieve more than it had planned to achieve. Though not heard of very much, it was the trouble, struggle and achievements of NWP that women of today are enjoying; struggles and achievements that open another chapter in history. Though not the biggest, most popular, and richest suffrage movement party, its accomplishments and achievements were the greatest of all. The National Woman's Party; a party not to be forgotten.

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