Essay Example on Women's Suffrage Movement: 1848 - Fight for the Right to Vote

The movement started in 1848 when women's right convention meeting and the purpose of the meeting was to launch the movement (Van & Van, 2016). The action involved the fight for the right of women to vote in political elections and run the office (The movement supporters educated the public about the importance of woman suffrage. The women in the movement wanted to reform the legislation, but due to political issues, the politicians were not willing to listen to their opinions (Van & Van, 2016). For these reasons, they realized to win the voting rights; it has to be a mass movement. Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Candy were the leaders of the movement. The purpose of this paper is discusses the Women's Suffrage Movement and how media is involved in societal change.

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In the 20th century, the leaders of the movement introduced two organizations, which are the National American Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association (Van & Van, 2016). Carrie Catt led the National American Women Suffrage Association. The organization undertook the campaign responsible for the constitution amendment for universal suffrage in America (Van & Van, 2016). The organization also campaign for women's rights, such change divorce laws and pay discrimination, and raised money and trained women. The organization held many campaigns and allies wearing a white uniform, which drew the attention of crowds and media reporters.

In 1914 Lucy Burns and Alice Paul formed congress union, which focused on establishing a democratic party, and it was to be more radicalize and militant than the National American Women Suffrage Association (Van & Van, 2016). The association was later renamed National Woman's Party and began its campaign for suffrage and holding demonstration in the streets. The leaders led to the final push of the constitutional amendment in Washington in 1916 (Lumsden, 2019).

The State's rights advocate, politician, police, and lobbying groups, such as liquor distillers, opposed the movement. In 1920 the constitutional amendment was approved (Van & Van, 2016). The women's right to vote was attained through state, national, and local efforts of the associations. The movement faced many challenges, such as the police did not support them during the campaigns; men insulted the marchers, the mob ripped banners from young girls, and tore their clothes. The press investigation and congressional debate led to the reintroduction of the movement as a political movement.

The media coverage of the Women's Suffrage Movement understood when the movement began, and it gave suffragist credibility and real momentum for the final push towards suffrage (Lumsden, 2019). The newspaper reports put suffragettes on the front page, giving women a chance to have their views on the movement and creating national attention. For example, the newspaper reporters took pictures of men dragging women in the parade, which led to the press investigating the matter and later reintroduction of the movement. The women behind the movement were interviewed, which increased tension among the politician and national leaders that were responsible for the movement (Lumsden, 2019). The politician did not support the motion, but through the national coverage, the women's suffrage movement attained rights to vote.

The media led to societal change through reporting of news about the movement. The anti-suffragist reported in media that women's suffrage movement would interfere with the political decision and lead to society's downfall (Lumsden, 2019). The women marching in the streets were a sign that it could contribute to social chaos between the women and the opposition team. The arguments were the movement could lead to socialism, radicalism, and raise the rate of domestic violence that could impact the States negatively. They also believed that women stepping out to protest were damaging the traditional home life role of women.

The media did not give false news about the challenges the women in the movement faced. For example, in 1912, the newspaper reporters reported the brutal treatment of women in the protest parade who were unprotected by the police (Lumsden, 2019). The anti-suffragist said in media that the women's suffrage protest movement would interfere with political decisions in the government.

The media sought information from the women suffrage movement leaders through interviews to investigate about the challenges they faced and news from the newspaper reporters were correct (Lumsden, 2019). They agreed they met brutal treatment, which leads to one police commissioner being fire due to a lack of protecting the women in the protest movement. The press and national government also investigated the incident.

The interest groups tried the frame the issue in the media, and they were not successful. The movement received support from a different organization. The Women's suffrage Movement managed to attained constitutional amendment of voting rights after the battle with the anti-suffragist.

The policy agenda emerged to protect the women in the movement. After the brutal treatment by the police, the press and national investigated the matter, which led to the nineteenth amendment and reintroduction of the movement as liberate political force (Lumsden, 2019). The victory was considered the highest achievement in the women's progressive era. The policy agenda emerged to protect the women in the movement. In our current period, all these protest challenges have changed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the movement was aimed to fight for the constitutional amendment of women voting right. The leaders of the movement formed two organizations, which supported the women toward achieving voting rights. The media played a role in giving women a chance to have their views on the movement and creating national attention. The ant-suffragist protested that the campaign could lead to societal change, such as an increase in socialism, radicalism, and domestic violence. The policy agenda emerged to protect the women in the movement.

References

Lumsden, L. J. (2019). Historiography: Woman Suffrage and the Media. American Journalism, 36(1), 4-31. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08821127.2019.1572405

Van Wingerden, S., & Van Wingerden, S. A. (2016). The women's suffrage movement in Britain, 1866-1928. Springer. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=uUa_DAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR10&dq=the+women+suffrage+movement&ots=mi8EASJAgD&sig=v56viO6tDq2q-uZFxrGmQz_ejJI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20women%20suffrage%20movement&f=false