Women's suffrage: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 15:14, 23 November 2006

The movement for women's suffrage is a social, economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage—the right to vote—to women. The suffrage movement was led by suffragists, defined as anyone, man or woman, who supports the extension of suffrage to women, and by suffragettes, the feminine form of the title given only to women who campaigned for the right of suffrage. The early suffrage movement advocated equal suffrage (abolition of graded votes) rather than universal suffrage (abolition of all discrimination, for example, due to race), which was considered too radical at the time.

The small British colony of the Pitcairn Islands (2006 population: 50) extended suffrage to women in 1838.

In 1866 the Isle of Man became the first national parliament to grant equal voting rights to men and women, based on property ownership.

In 1869, Wyoming Territory in the United States extended equal suffrage to women; that same year, the legislature in the Utah Territory passed an act giving women in Utah the right to vote. These rights were later revoked by the US congress in the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887.

In 1893, New Zealand was the first country to introduce universal suffrage, following a movement led by Kate Sheppard. Women first achieved the right to stand for public office in South Australia in 1894, along with suffrage in that state.

Overview

File:Punchsuffrage.png

The argument over women's rights in Victoria was lampooned in this Melbourne Punch cartoon of 1887

Women's suffrage has been granted (and been revoked) at various times in various countries throughout the world. In many countries women's suffrage was granted before universal suffrage, so women (and men) from certain races and social classes were still unable to vote.

The first women's suffrage (with the same property qualifications as for men) was accidentally granted (the word "people" was used instead of "men") in New Jersey in 1776 and rescinded in 1807. The Pitcairn Islands granted women's suffrage in 1838. Various countries and states granted restricted women's suffrage in the latter half of the nineteenth century, starting with South Australia in 1861. The 1871 Paris Commune granted voting rights to women, but they were taken away with the fall of the Commune and would only be granted again in July 1944 by Charles de Gaulle.

The first unrestricted women's suffrage in terms of voting rights (women were not initially permitted to stand for election) in a major country was granted in New Zealand. The women's suffrage bill was adopted mere weeks before the general election of 1893.

The first to grant universal suffrage and allow women to stand for parliament was South Australia, in 1894. The first European country to introduce women's suffrage was Finland, where women were granted the right both to vote (universal and equal suffrage) and to stand for election in 1906. The world's first female members of parliament were also in Finland, when in the 1907 parliamentary election 19 women were elected to Parliament of Finland.

In the years before the First World War, Norway (1913) and Denmark also gave women the vote, and it was extended throughout the remaining Australian states. Canada granted the right in 1917 (except in Quebec, where it was postponed until 1940), as did the Soviet Union. British women over 30 and all German women had the vote in 1918 and American women were allowed in 1920. Women in Turkey were granted voting rights in 1926. In 1928 suffrage was extended to all British women. The Spanish Republic established it in 1931. In Latin American countries, women's suffrage was granted in Brazil (1934), El Salvador (1939), the Dominican Republic (1942), Guatemala (1945), and Argentina and Mexico (1946). In the Philippines women have voted since 1937, in Japan since 1945, in mainland China since 1947. Most major powers extended the franchise prior to World War II with the exception of France and Japan, where women voted in the first election in 1945, after World War II. Belgium granted suffrage to women in 1946. In Switzerland, however, women were denied the vote in federal elections until 1971.

The last Western state to extend suffrage was Liechtenstein in 1984. Since then only a handful of states have not extended the franchise to women, usually on the basis of certain religious interpretations. Bhutan allows one vote per property, a policy many claim in practice prevents women from voting.

In the United States

The effort to obtain women's suffrage in the United States has a long and complicated history.

File:Stamp-ctc-19th-amendment.jpg

American women earned the right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920

It is notable that New Jersey, on becoming a Federal State after the American Revolution, placed only one restriction on the general suffrage—the possession of at least £50 (~USD250) worth of cash or property. The election laws referred to voters as "he or she." In 1790 the law was revised to include women specifically. However, female voters became so objectionable to some professional politicians, that, in 1807, the law was revised to exclude them. Politicians compromised with federal officials to ban women's suffrage in order to receive highway funding. Later, the 1844 constitution banned women from voting. Although the 1947 version passed one hundred years later allowed women to vote, the point was moot since the provision had earlier been added to the federal constitution.

During the early part of the century, however, agitation for equal suffrage was carried on by only a few individuals. The first of these was Frances Wright, a Scottish-born woman who came to the country in 1826 and advocated women's suffrage in an extensive series of lectures. In 1836 Ernestine Rose, a Polish American woman, came to the country hearing before the New York Legislature, though her petition bore only five signatures. She was shortly afterward joined in her efforts by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis. At about the same time, in 1840, Lucretia Mott and Margaret Fuller became active in Boston, the latter being the author of the book The Great Lawsuit; Man vs. Woman.

During the Civil War and immediately thereafter, little was heard of the movement, but in 1869 the National Woman's Suffrage Association was formed, with the object of securing an amendment to the Constitution in favor of woman suffrage. Another organization, the American Women's Suffrage Association was also formed at this time by those who believed that suffrage should be brought about by constitutional amendments within the various States. In 1890 these two bodies united into one national organization, known as the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

In 1900 regular national headquarters were established in New York City, under the direction of the president, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. Three years later headquarters were removed to Warren, Ohio, but were brought back to New York shortly afterward and opened there on a much bigger scale. Anna Howard Shaw served as its president for eleven years (1904-1915). Mrs. Catt both preceded her and succeeded her as president. The organization obtained a hearing before every Congress, from 1869 to 1919.

Meanwhile, local experiments in woman suffrage had already been made. The first Territorial legislature of Wyoming granted woman suffrage in 1869. In the following year, Utah Territory granted women's suffrage. However, in 1887, the US Congress disenfranchised Utah women in the Edmunds-Tucker Bill. [1] In 1890, Wyoming came into the Union as the first woman suffrage state. In 1893, voters of Colorado made that State the second of the woman suffrage states. In 1895, Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of woman suffrage. In 1896 Idaho voters approved women's suffrage as well.[2]

In 1912, Grace Wilbur Trout, then head of the Chicago Political Equality League, was elected President of the state organization. Changing her tactics from a confrontational style of lobbying the state legislature, she turned to building the organization internally. She made sure that a local organization was started in every Senatorial District. One of her assistants, Elizabeth Booth, cut up a Blue Book government directory and made file cards for each of the members of the General Assembly. Armed with the names, four lobbyists went to Springfield to persuade one legislator at a time to support suffrage for women. In 1913, first-term Speaker of the House, Democrat Champ Clark, told Trout that he would submit the bill for a final vote, if there was support for the bill in Illinois. Trout enlisted her network, and while in Chicago over the weekend, Clark received a phone call every 15 minutes, day and night. On returning to Springfield he found a deluge of telegrams and letters from around the state all in favor of suffrage. By acting quietly and quickly Trout had caught the opposition off guard.

After passing the Senate, the bill was brought up for a vote in the House on June 11, 1913. Trout and her team counted heads and went as far as to fetch needed male voters from their homes. Watching the door to the House chambers, Trout urged members in favor not to leave before the vote, while also trying to prevent "anti" lobbyists from illegally being allowed onto the House floor. The bill passed with six votes to spare, 83-58. On June 26, 1913, Illinois governor Edward F. Dunne signed the bill in the presence of Trout, Booth and union labor leader Margaret Healy.

Women in Illinois could now vote for Presidential electors and for all local offices not specifically named in the Illinois Constitution. However, they still could not vote for state representatives, congressmen or the governor and they still had to use separate ballots and ballot boxes. But, by virtue of this law, Illinois had become the first state east of the Mississippi to grant women the right to vote for President. Carrie Chapman Catt wrote:

"The effect of this victory upon the nation was astounding. When the first Illinois election took place in April, (1914) the press carried the headlines that 250,000 women had voted in Chicago. Illinois, with its large electoral vote of 29, proved the turning point beyond which politicians at last got a clear view of the fact that women were gaining genuine political power."

Besides the passage of the Illinois Municipal Voting Act, 1913 was also a significant year in other facets of the women's suffrage movement. In Chicago, African American anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells-Barnett founded the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first such organization for Negro women in Illinois. Although white women as a group were sometimes ambivalent about obtaining the franchise, African American women were almost universally in favor of gaining the vote to help end their sexual exploitation, promote their educational opportunities and protect those who were wage earners. On March 3, 1913, over 5000 suffragists paraded in Washington, D.C. When Wells tried to line up with her Illinois sisters, she was asked to go to the end of the line so as not to offend and alienate the Southern women marchers. Wells feigned agreement, but much to the shock of Trout, she joined the Illinois delegation once the parade started.

As the suffragists started down Pennsylvania Avenue, the crowd became abusive and started to close in, knocking the marchers around. With local police doing little to keep control, the cavalry was called in as 100 women were hospitalized. Many suffragists now concluded that public protests might be the quickest route to universal franchise.

One after another, western states granted the right of voting to their women citizens, the only opposition being presented by the liquor interests and the machine politicians. New York State joined the procession in 1917.

Many groups were opposed to women's suffrage at the time.

Meanwhile efforts to obtain an amendment to the Constitution had not abated. Finally, on January 12, 1915, a bill to this effect was brought before the House of Representatives, but was lost by a vote of 174 against 204. Again a bill was brought before the House, on January 10, 1918. On the evening before President Wilson made a strong and widely published appeal to the House to pass the bill. It was passed with one more vote than was needed to make the necessary two-thirds majority. The fight was now carried into the Senate. Again President Wilson made an appeal, and on September 30, 1918, the question was put to the vote, but two votes were lacking to make the two-thirds majority. On February 10, 1919, it was again voted upon, and then it was lost by only one vote.

There was now considerable anxiety among politicians of both parties to have the amendment passed and made effective before the general elections of 1920, so the President called a special session of Congress, and a bill introducing the amendment was brought before the House again. On May 21, 1919, it was passed, 42 votes more than necessary being obtained. On June 4, 1919, it was brought before the Senate, and after a long discussion it was passed, with 56 ayes and 25 nays. It only remained now that the necessary number of States should ratify the action of Congress. Within a few days Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, their legislatures being then in session, passed the ratifications. Other States then followed their examples, Tennessee being the last of the needed 36 States to ratify, in the summer of 1920. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was now an accomplished fact and the Presidential election of November, 1920, was therefore the first occasion on which women in all of America were allowed to exercise their right of suffrage. This had the effect of overriding local laws which confined the right to vote to males only. However, even now some of those laws are still on the statute book.

The movement in South Carolina

Women's suffrage in South Carolina began as a movement in 1898, nearly 50 years after the women's suffrage movement began in Seneca Falls, New York. A woman from Fairfax, Virginia named Durant Young was the first to try. In 1892 she organized the South Carolina Equal Rights Association. It boasted of memberships in Frogmore (Beaufort County), Columbia, and Charleston. In 1895, Cora S. Lott addressed the South Carolina constitutional convention, asking for women's suffrage. She was denied, but women in South Carolina did win the right to control their own property during the convention.

Not until 1912, when CJ came out of the closet, when the New Era Club was created in Spartanburg, was there an association in South Carolina whose one and only goal was to win the right to vote for women. A few years later, Abbeville, Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia all had their own suffrage organizations. The separate groups merged in 1915 to form the South Carolina Equal Suffrage League, led by Eulalie Chaffee Salley of Aiken and Susan Pring Frost of Charleston. After four years of action, twenty-five communities had leagues of their own. Aiken's suffrage league, in 1917, held the first ever women's suffrage march in South Carolina. Only two years later, in 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment and sent it to the individual states to be ratified. The South Carolina General Assembly rejected the amendment 93-21 in the House and 32-3 in the Senate. The amendment was not officially passed until 1969 when governor Robert McNair signed a bill making the amendment "law".

There are many arguments as to why South Carolina was so far behind the rest of the nation in organizing suffrage organizations. One of these arguments is that the women of South Carolina still believed in the ideal of the "Southern Lady." This ideal encouraged women to be subservient to their husbands and to take pride in their place in the home as mother and homemaker. This ideal did not allow for women to take the time to fight for their right to vote. Another idea is that the evangelical Protestant church did not support female members in fighting for their right to vote. Since the church was such a big part of the lives of South Carolinians (91% of church-goers in South Carolina in 1888 were either Methodist or Baptist), they were discouraged from joining the suffrage movement.

In the United Kingdom

Votes For Women

Obtaining universal Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom followed great campaigning efforts spanning over 50 years. Before this time, although there were some suggestions of feminism (although the term 'feminism' was not coined until 1890), women had very few rights in the United Kingdom. Women were not formally prohibited from voting until the 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act. It was in 1832 that reinstating became on some level a political topic, although it would not be until 1872 that it would become a national movement with the formation of the National Society of Women's Suffrage and later the more influential National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. Little victory was achieved in this constitutional campaign in its earlier years up to around 1905. It was at this point that the militant campaign began with the formation of the Women's Social and Political Union. The outbreak of the First World War led to a halting of almost all campaigning, but some argue that it was the competence of women war workers that led to the extension of the franchise to single women over the age of 30 in 1918. Universal suffrage for all adults over 21 years of age was not achieved until 1928.

Women had the franchise in local government, School Boards (see London School Board), and health authorities from the late 19th century. Their successes in these areas contributed to their acquiring parliamentary suffrage.

Timeline

1832 – Suffrage Reform Act - women expressly forbidden from voting
1865 – John Stuart Mill elected as an MP showing direct support for women’s suffrage
1867 – Reform Act - Male franchise extended
1869 – The first Territorial legislature of Wyoming grants woman suffrage
1869 – The Utah Territory grants woman suffrage
1882 – Married Women's Property Act passed, allowing women to own property on their own terms
1883 – Conservative Primrose League formed
1886 – Suffrage Reform Act - More working class men enfranchised
1887 – The US Congress disenfranchises Utah women via the Edmunds-Tucker Act
1893 – Independent Labour Party formed
1894 – Local Government Act (women could vote in local elections, become Poor Law Guardians, act on School Boards)
1895 – Women's Suffrage reinstated in Utah by state constitution
1897 – NUWSS formed (led by Millicent Fawcett)
October 1903 – First meeting of WSPU (led by Emmeline Pankhurst)
1905 – Militancy began (Christabel Pankhurst interrupted a Liberal Party meeting and spat at a policeman)
February 1907 – NUWSS “Mud March” – largest open air demonstration ever held (at that point)
1908 – Herbert Asquith became Prime Minister (personally opposed to votes for women)
1907, 1912, 1914 – major splits in WSPU
1905, 1908, 1913 – 3 phases of WSPU militancy (Civil Disobedience – Destruction of Public Property – Arson/Bombings)
July 5, 1909 – Marion Wallace Dunlop went on the first hunger strike – was released after 91 hours of fasting
September 1909 – Force Feeding introduced in prisons
1910 – Lady Constance Lytton disguised herself as a working class criminal, Jane Wharton, and was arrested and endured force feeding to prove prejudice in prisons against working class women. Lady Lytton was instrumental in reforming conditions in prisons. The force feeding shortened her life considerably
February 1910 – Cross-Party Conciliation Committee (54 MPs). Conciliation Bill (that would enfranchise women) passed its 2nd reading by a majority of 109 but Asquith refused to give it more parliamentary time
November 1910 – Asquith changed Bill to enfranchise more men instead of women
November 18, 1910 – Black Friday
February 1913 – David Lloyd George’s house burned down by WSPU (had previously supported the movement – after this he publicly opposed it^{[citation needed]})
April 1913 – Cat and Mouse Act passed, allowing hunger-striking prisoners to be released when their health was threatened and then re-arrested when they had recovered
June 4, 1913 – Emily Davison threw herself under the King’s Horse at the Epsom Derby
March 13, 1914 – Mary Richardson slashed the Velasquez in the National Gallery with an axe, protesting that she was maiming a beautiful woman just as the government was maiming Emmeline Pankhurst with force feeding
August 4, 1914 – First World War declared in Britain. WSPU activity immediately ceased. NUWSS activity continued peacefully - The Birmingham branch of the organisation continued to lobby Parliament and write letters to MPs.
1918 – The Representation of the People Act of 1918 enfranchised all women over the age of 30. This was probably so that women would not outnumber men in the voting process and most women over 30 were married so it was hoped they would vote as their husbands told them to.
1928 – Women received the vote on equal terms as men (over the age of 21)

The seeds of political feminism

Early political movement

Although the vast majority of women did not have the vote in 1832 (most regions at this time required some sort of land ownership), it was the Reform Act of the same year that explicitly banned women from participating in local and national elections. After the bill was passed, MP Henry Hunt argued that any woman who was single, a tax payer and had sufficient property should be allowed to vote. One such wealthy woman, Mary Smith, was used in this speech as an example.

The Chartist Movement, which began in the 1830s, has also been suggested to have included supporters of female suffrage. There is some evidence to suggest William Lovett, one of the authors of the People's Charter wished to include female suffrage as one of the campaign's demands but chose not to on the grounds that this would delay the implementation of the charter. Although there were female Chartists, they largely worked towards universal manhood suffrage. It must be noted that at this time most women did not have aspirations to gain the vote.

Outside pressure for women's suffrage was at this time diluted by feminist issues in general. Women's rights were becoming increasingly prominent in the 1850s as some women in higher social spheres refused to obey the sex roles dictated to them. Feminist campaigns at this time included the right to sue an ex-husband after divorce (achieved in 1857) and the right for married women to own property (fully achieved in 1882 after some concession by the government in 1870).

The issue of parliamentary reform declined along with the Chartists after 1848 and only reemerged with the election of John Stuart Mill in 1865. He ran for office showing direct support for female suffrage and was an MP in the run up to the second Reform Act.

Early suffragist societies

In the same year that John Stuart Mill was elected, the first Ladies Discussion Society was formed, debating whether women should be involved in public affairs. Although a society for suffrage was proposed, this was turned down on the grounds that it might be taken over by extremists.

However, later that year Leigh Smith Bodichon formed the first Women's Suffrage Committee and within a fortnight collected 1,500 signatures in favour of female suffrage in advance to the second Reform Bill.

The Manchester Suffrage Committee was founded in February 1867. The secretary, Lydia Becker wrote letters both to Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and to The Spectator. She was also involved with the London group, and organised the collection of more signatures.

However, in June the London group split, partly a result of party allegiance, and partly the result of tactical issues. Conservative members wished to move slowly to avoid alarming public opinion, while Liberals generally opposed this apparent dilution of political conviction. As a result, Helen Taylor founded the London National Society for Women's Suffrage which set up strong links with Manchester and Edinburgh.

Although these early splits left the movement divided and often leaderless, it allowed Lydia Becker to have a stronger influence.

The formation of a national movement

Women's political groups

Although women's political party groups were not formed with the aim to achieve women's suffrage, they did have two key effects. Firstly, they showed women who were members to be competent in the political arena and as this became clear, secondly, it brought the concept of female suffrage closer to acceptance.

The Primrose League

The Primrose League was set up to promote Conservative values through social events and supporting the community. As women were able to join, this gave females of all classes the ability to mix with local and national political figures. Many also had important roles such as bringing voters to the polls. This removed segregation and promoted political literacy amongst women.

The Women's Liberal Associations

Although there is evidence to suggest that they were originally formed to promote female franchise (the first being in Bristol in 1881), WLAs often did not hold such an agenda. They did, however, operate independently from the male groups. They became more active when the came under the control of the Women's Liberal Federation, and canvassed all classes for support of women's suffrage.

External groups

The campaign first developed into a national movement in the 1870s. At this point, all campaigners were suffragists, not suffragettes. The term suffragette is only used to describe those who used violent protest, although the term is widely misused to describe all campaigners. Up until 1903, all campaigning took the constitutional approach. It was after the defeat of the first Women's Suffrage Bill That the Manchester and London committees joined together to gain wider support. The main methods of doing so at this time involved lobbying MPs to put forward Private Member's Bills. However such bills rarely pass and so this was an ineffective way of actually achieving the vote.

In 1868, local groups amalgamated to form a series of close-knit groups with the founding of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (NSWS). This is notable as the first attempt to create a unified front to propose women's suffrage, but had little effect due to several splits, once again weakening the campaign.

Up until 1897, the campaign stayed at this relatively ineffective level. Campaigners came predominantly from the landed classes and joined together on a small scale only. However, 1897 saw the foundation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) by Millicent Fawcett. This society linked smaller groups together and also put pressure on non supportive MPs using various peaceful methods.

The suffragette

The title of suffragette was given to members of the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom. The word was originally coined to describe a more radical faction of the suffrage movement in the UK Suffragist is a more general term for members of the movement, whether radical or conservative, male or female. American women preferred this more inclusive title, but people in the United States who were hostile to suffrage for the American woman used the UK word.

In Canada, this same issue was brought up but was quickly revised into the Canadian legislation as women's rights were gained. This gave the women more motivation to work in factories and wartime production during World War I.

The term suffragette comes from the word suffrage, which means the right to vote. Suffragettes carried out direct action such as chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to the contents of mailboxes, and smashing windows. One suffragette, Emily Davison, died after she stepped out in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby of 1913. Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes, during which they were restrained and forcibly fed (see Force-feeding).

The so-called Cat and Mouse Act was passed by the British government in an attempt to prevent suffragettes from obtaining public sympathy; it provided the release of those whose hunger strikes had brought them sickness, as well as their re-imprisonment once they had recovered.

Nevertheless, protests continued on both sides of the Atlantic. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns led a series of protests against the Wilson Administration in Washington that referred to "Kaiser Wilson" and compared the plight of the German people with that of American women (see picture).

During World War I, a serious shortage of able-bodied men ("manpower") occurred, and women were required to take on many of the traditional male roles. This led to a new view of what a woman was capable of doing. Political movement towards women's suffrage began during the war and in 1918, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed an act granting the vote to: women over the age of 30 who were householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, and graduates of British universities. The right to vote of American women was codified in the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Finally, women in the United Kingdom achieved suffrage on the same terms as men in 1928.

Anti-suffragism

Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed mainly of women, begun in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in the United States and Great Britain. It was closely associated with "domestic feminism", the belief that women had the right to complete freedom within the home.

List of countries

Women's suffrage denied or conditioned

Bhutan -- One vote per house. Although this applies to both men and women, in practice it currently prevents many more women from voting than men. If the new proposed constitution is voted & ratified, then no restrictions will apply by 2008. [3]
Lebanon -- Partial suffrage. Proof of education required for women, not required for men. Voting compulsory for men, optional for women.
Brunei -- No suffrage for women. This country is ruled by a monarchy. Neither men nor women have the right to vote or to stand for election (lost it in 1962).
Saudi Arabia -- No suffrage for women. The first local elections ever held in the country occurred in 2005. Women were not given the right to vote or to stand for election.
United Arab Emirates -- No suffrage for women. The Parliament is officially appointed and there are no elections. NOTE: This will change by Dec. 2006 [4]
Vatican City -- No suffrage for women, the only elections ever held there are Papal conclaves, which involve only (male) Cardinals.

Timeline of women's suffrage by country

In the list below, countries marked with "¹" means that the right was subject to conditions or restrictions at the corresponding date. Marked with "²", means that restrictions or conditions were lifted. In occasions, a listing of a country may occur more than once, this reflects the stages in the granting of rights (particularly in previously colonised states and in federations with federal legislation), these will have the "*" mark. For a timeline with more detailed information, see Timeline of women's suffrage.

1893- New Zealand (to vote)
1902- Australia¹
1906- Finland
1907- Norway (to stand for election) ¹
1913- Norway²
1915- Denmark, Iceland¹
1917- Canada* (to vote) ¹, Netherlands (to stand for election)
1918- Austria, Canada* (to vote) ¹, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland¹, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russian Federation, United Kingdom¹
1919- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium (to vote for municipal elections) ¹, Georgia, Luxembourg, Netherlands (to vote), New Zealand (to stand for election), Sweden¹, Ukraine
1920- Albania, Canada* (to stand for election) ¹, Czech Republic, Iceland², Slovakia, United States of America* (to vote)
1921- Belgium (to stand for election) ¹, Sweden²
1924- Kazakhstan*, Mongolia, Saint Lucia, Tajikistan
1927- Turkmenistan
1928- Ireland², United Kingdom²
1929- Ecuador¹, Romania¹
1930- South Africa* (Whites), Turkey (to vote), Greece (to vote for municipal elections)¹
1931- Chile¹, Portugal¹, Spain, Sri Lanka
1932- Thailand, Brazil, Maldives, Uruguay
1934- Cuba, Portugal¹, Turkey (to stand for election)
1935- Myanmar (to vote)
1937- Philippines
1938- Bolivia¹, Uzbekistan
1939- El Salvador (to vote)
1941- Panama¹
1942- Dominican Republic
1944- Bulgaria, France, Jamaica
1945- Croatia, Guyana (to stand for election), Indonesia, Italy, Japan*, Senegal, Slovenia, Togo
1946- Cameroon, D.P.R. of Korea, Djibouti (to vote), Guatemala, Liberia, Myanmar (to stand for election), Panama², Romania², The F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia
1947- Argentina, Japan*, Malta, Mexico (to vote), Pakistan, Singapore
1948- Belgium², Israel (same year of independence), Niger, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Suriname
1949- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile², China, Costa Rica, Syria (to vote) ¹
1950- Barbados, Canada* (to vote) ², Haiti, India
1951- Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Nepal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1952- Bolivia², Côte d'Ivoire, Greece¹, Lebanon
1953- Bhutan, Guyana (to vote), Mexico (to stand for election), Syria²
1954- Colombia, Belize, Ghana
1955- Cambodia, Ethiopia (and Eritrea*, as then part of Ethiopia), Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Greece²
1956- Benin, Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, Mali, Mauritius, Somalia
1957- Malaysia, Zimbabwe (to vote) ²
1958- Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria* (South)
1959- Madagascar, San Marino (to vote), Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania
1960- Canada* (Indian Canadians - to stand for election) ², Cyprus, Gambia, Tonga
1961- Bahamas¹, Burundi, El Salvador (to stand for election), Malawi, Mauritania, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone
1962- Algeria, Australia² (aboriginals), Monaco, Uganda, Zambia
1963- Afghanistan, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Papua New Guinea (to stand for election)
1964- Bahamas², Libya, Papua New Guinea (to vote), Sudan
1965- Botswana, Lesotho
1967- Democratic Republic of the Congo (to vote), Ecuador², Kiribati, Tuvalu, Yemen* (D.P.R.)
1968- Nauru, Swaziland
1970- Andorra (to vote), Democratic Republic of the Congo (to stand for election), Yemen* (Arab Republic)
1971- Switzerland*
1972- Bangladesh
1973- Andorra (to stand for election), San Marino (to stand for election)
1974- Jordan, Solomon Islands
1975- Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Vanuatu*
1976- Portugal²
1977- Guinea Bissau
1978- Nigeria* (North), Republic of Moldova*, Zimbabwe (to stand for election)
1979- Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Fed. States), Palau
1980- Iraq, Vanuatu*
1984- Liechtenstein, South Africa* (Coloureds + Indians)
1986- Central African Republic, Djibouti (to stand for election)
1989- Namibia
1990- Samoa, Switzerland*
1993- Kazakhstan*, Republic of Moldova*
1994- South Africa* (Blacks)
1997- Eritrea* (stipulated by sovereign constitution)
2002- Bahrain
2005- Kuwait

References

Baker, Jean H. Sisters: The Lives of America's Suffragists. Hill and Wang, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-8090-9528-9.
"Woman suffrage" in Collier's New Encyclopedia, X (New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company, 1921), pp. 403-405.

On the Suffragettes

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (New York: Merriam Webster, 1983) ISBN 0-87779-511-8
Suffragettes versus Suffragists - website comparing aims and methods of Women’s Social and Political Union (Suffragettes) to National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (Suffragists)
Suffragists vs. Suffragettes - brief article outlining origins of term "suffragette", usage of term and links to other sources.

External links

== [[Media:--68.160.159.177 20:02, 18 November 2006 (UTC)*[[Inter-Parliamentary Union: Women's Suffrage

CIA Yearbook: Suffrage
[5]].htm Press release wrt. Qatar and Yemen]
[6]]/aa091600a.htm "Winning the Vote" International Woman Suffrage Timeline]
FemBio – Biographies of Notable Women International
Legal Status Of Women In Iowa (1894) by Jennie Lansley Wilson, at Project Gutenberg.
"Monster Petition" of the Australian state of Victoria ==
Ada James papers and correspondence (1915-1918) a digital collection presented by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center. Ada James (1876-1952) was a leading a social reformer, humanitarian, and pacifist from Richland Center, Wisconsin and daughter of state senator David G. James. The Ada James papers document the grass roots organizing and politics required to promote and guarantee the passage of women's suffrage in Wisconsin and beyond.

@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 *[[August 4]], [[1914]] – [[First World War]] declared in Britain. [[WSPU]] activity immediately ceased. [[NUWSS]] activity continued peacefully - The [[Birmingham]] branch of the organisation continued to lobby Parliament and write letters to MPs.
 *1918 – The [[Representation of the People Act 1918|Representation of the People Act of 1918]] enfranchised all women over the age of 30. This was probably so that women would not outnumber men in the voting process and most women over 30 were married so it was hoped they would vote as their husbands told them to.
-*1920 – Women received the vote on equal terms as men (over the age of 21)
+*1928 – Women received the vote on equal terms as men (over the age of 21)
 ===The seeds of political feminism===