Suffragists' Contributions to the Women's Rights Movement in the United States: A Comparative Analysis of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

Abstract

The women’s rights movement in the United States can be counted in history amongst the greatest events that changed the world. Behind this historic occurrence are exceptional women suffragists who began and developed the movement for women’s rights. Notably, the main pioneers of the movement are inadequately vaunted and the works they contributed towards woman suffrage is not thoroughly discussed in existing literature. This study focuses on the contribution of three main reformers; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and the relevance of their work to the movement for woman suffrage in America. It seeks to evaluate the role played by the three main reformers in initiating the organisation of the first ever, women’s rights movement in the United States. The main aim was to identify and analyse the prominent writings and publications of the main advocates, assessing their impact on the women’s rights movement. Although the three main suffragists died before the suffrage was won, it was the foundation they laid for the growth and development of the movement that led to its success. Document analysis of the main texts written by the reformers and interviews of historians who have written on the women’s rights movement were conducted. However, the researcher had limited or no access to some of the texts and had to rely on secondary sources analysis. Incrementing on existing data, the research shows that Mott, Stanton and Anthony were immensely fundamental to the founding of, and their works were invaluable to the movement for women’s rights. Examination of the primary sources showed that these respective women were the champions of woman suffrage and despite constant opposition, they were the first ones who were consistently dedicated to demanding equality for women. Even though the advocates differed in their modus operandi, they shared the same goal and they all contributed significantly to the movement. Based on the results, the research concluded that most of the writings and works by the suffragists attracted some negative responses and criticism mainly from their male audiences. Despite all of this, the works were widely read and published in America, raising awareness for the necessity of woman suffrage and thus, extended support for the movement for women’s rights. The women’s rights movement can be emphatically accredited to Mott, Anthony and Stanton, who devoted most of their lives to the advocacy for woman suffrage and made the movement.