The Suffrage Movement: Would You Have Joined?

By Deborah Stapleton

4th-5th grade (gifted)

AHTC Summer Institute 2008

 

 

Day 1 –  Pro-Suffrage

Some of the images such as photos and political cartoons may be projected on a screen while the text documents should be photocopied for students to closely read. If time does not allow for all students to engage in discussion of all the documents listed below, the teacher may choose to jigsaw the documents and invite cooperative groups to each present their analysis to the whole group. (Photos will not be analyzed.)

 

1.         Students need to examine closely the first essential question in order to

develop a frame of mind that is reflective of the early 1900’s. Invite small groups to discuss, compare and record on a t-chart women’s roles in the early 1900’s and now. Entering this frame of mind will help students answer the question, “If you lived in the 1900’s would you have supported the women’s rights movement?”

 

2.         The first document for students to explore is a pro-suffrage document called a Declaration and Protest of the Women of the United States . This is a document dated 1876 that calls for much more than simply the right to vote. Guiding question for group discussion: “What did women want in 1876 that they didn’t have?”

 

3.         The next pro-suffrage document is an original letter plus transcription written by Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton after Anthony’s indictment for illegal voting in the 1872 federal election. Lithographs of the two women are available too as well as a photo of a parade march. A guiding question for this document is, “Who or what made the 19th amendment happen?”

 

4.         Students will examine a U.S. map showing the order of ratification of the 19th amendment. As students work cooperatively they should keep the following question in mind: “Do you see a pattern in the ratification process? What conclusion might be made about the southeastern area?”

 

5.         Next students will examine an image of the envelope addressed to Tennessee Senator Harry Bum from his mother and a photo of Harry Bum after the ratification. Included in the caption is the segment of the letter that historians believe influenced Sen. Bum’s vote.  “How is the women’s right to vote a civil issue?”

6.         Finally in this set of pro-suffrage materials is a political cartoon. As students work cooperatively, they should keep the following question in mind: “Who or what made the 19th amendment happen?”

 

Annotated list of materials and resources for the lesson:

Day 1 - Documents with a positive point of view:

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/nation/jb_nation_mott_3_e.html  Declaration and Protest of the Women of the United States

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/voteletters.html  Original letters plus transcriptions written  by Susan B. Anthony after her indictment for illegal voting in 1872.

http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/douglass/131.htm  lithograph of Susan B. Anthony

http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/douglass/180.htm  lithograph of Elizabeth Cady Stanton

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/nineteentham.htm photo of women’s rights advocates marching in a parade

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/ratifmap.html  U.S. map showing the order of ratification of the 19th amendment

http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/cgi/b/bib/bib-idx?type=simple&c=vvs-bib&q1=D.25&rgn1=vvcat  image of the original letter Harry Bum received from his mother the day he cast the tie breaking vote in the Tennessee legislature

http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/students/h_4  a photo of Harry Bum and the contents of his mother’s letter

http://idserver.utk.edu/?id=200700000001450  political cartoon in support of the 19th amendment