A Study Of The Origins And Implications Of US Women's Suffrage Movement

Whether women's rights can be guaranteed is an important benchmark to measure a country's democracy. Women take up half of the population, and they play a crucial role in the historical development of society. However, American women were long in the state of being oppressed and discriminated after the independence of this nation. As women played a more and more important role in daily life and in the development of the nation, many women became conscious of their own conditions and their rights were put on the agenda, thus triggering the first wave of women's movement in US history. From the first convention in Seneca Falls in 1848, US women made persistent and courageous struggles to win their voting rights until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.Women's movements are an important part of American history and have great influence on the social, economic and cultural development of America. So women's study provides sufficient materials to the analysis of American society. There are two large-scale women's movements in US history. The first wave of feminist movement, also called Suffrage Movement took place in the middle of the 19th century and ended in 1920, with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Then women's movement almost died down during the Great Depression in the 1930s and devastating WWII in the 1940s. However, in the 1960s, accompanied with the black Civil Rights Movement, US women launched the second wave of feminist movement with the goal to win equal rights with men. The second movement touched nearly every aspect of women's lives and brought substantial benefits to women. It was also larger than the suffrage movement in terms of scale and social influence. Later in the 1980s, women's movement experienced the low ebb. However, due to the rapid development of society, especially with the emergence of information technology, women's struggles take on new features today. This thesis focuses on US women's Suffrage Movement by analyzing its origins, historical development and social implications. By discussing the significance of women's Suffrage Movement, the author has dwelled on women's political empowerment, educational attainment and employment opportunities from today's perspective, so that it can be concluded that US women's Suffrage Movement has left invaluable social heritage to the cause of women's liberation.