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Keep Woman in Her Sphere
(Auld Lang Syne)
by D. Estabrook
This song is found in numerous suffrage songbooks,
and was widely sung at rallies.
I have a neighbor, one of those
Not very hard to find
Who know it all without debate
And never change their mind
I asked him”What of woman’s rights?”
He said in tones severe--
“My mind on that is all made up,
Keep woman in her sphere.”
I saw a man in tattered garb
Forth from the grog-shop come
He squandered all his cash for drink
and starved his wife at home
I asked him “Should not woman vote”
He answered with a sneer--
“I’ve taught my wife to know her place,
Keep woman in her sphere.”
I met an earnest, thoughtful man
Not many days ago
Who pondered deep all human law
The honest truth to know
I asked him”What of woman’s cause?”
The answer came sincere --
“Her rights are just the same as mine,
Let woman choose her sphere.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Historical Background on Women's Suffrage in America
Throughout history women struggled to have equal rights with men. In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John, urging him not to “forget the ladies” when he was helping to write the Declaration of Independence in terms of granting women equal rights in the newly forming country. Women were not treated as well as men during Revolutionary times. She helped women’s rights grow more. She ccompanied her husband on trips and gave him advice to help women. Abigail wrote many letters to her husband. She was deeply committed to women having a right to an education and a say in the government. She was also against slavery.
The continued struggle for women’s suffrage was voiced in 1829 with the writings of Fanny Wright. She wrote a book called Course of Popular Lectures in 1829. She also wrote in the Free Enquirer, which supported the abolition of slavery, the woman’s right to vote, free education with the church, easier laws to get a divorce, and for birth control. These were huge topics for women back in those days. Unfortunately, Fanny Wright received no support for her books.
The next significant happening in women’s suffrage took place in 1840. Two members of the “Society of Friends,” or Quakers, traveled to London, England, to the World Anti-Slavery Convention. These two women were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. They were very irate when they were not allowed to speak at the convention. Not only couldn’t they speak, but women from Great Britain were refused also. It took eight years for these two women to form the “Women’s Rights Convention” at Seneca Falls, New York. They said the following: “the duty of the women of this country is to secure to themselves the sacred right to the elective franchise.” This resolution was passed, and it became the main concern of this group over the next few years.
In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone established the American Equal Rights Association. It became active in Kansas in 1867 because women suffrage there was decided by popular vote. The voters did reject their ideas when they voted.
In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed another organization the “National Woman Suffrage Association”(NWSA) This organization argued that the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of the Constitutions were not fair. This organization wanted equal pay and employment discrimination, easier divorces, and the right to vote.
Another group was formed in Boston. It was called the “American Woman Suffrage Association” (AWSA). Its leaders were Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe. Its main concern was to obtain the woman’s right to vote. Their plight would soon be defeated by Congress in 1878 when an amendment concerning women’s suffrage was defeated.
There were two rival women’s groups going against each other. They negotiated things out and decided to merge into one huge group. It was called the “National American Woman Suffrage association” (NAWSA). Over the next twenty years, many famous women joined in on the fight. Some of these women were Jane Adams, Helen Keller, Mary McDowell, and many others.
Women wrote many journals to explain why women should be as equal to men. Some of these journals were called Women Voter, Woman Citizen, The Masses, and The Women’s Journal.
The journals wanted state legislatures to submit to their voters’ amendments to state constitutions conferring full suffrage to women. Some states slowly yielded to the demands. Wyoming was the first state to grant women the vote in 1869. Other states over the next nineteen years also yielded to the demands. The following states yielded: Utah, Idaho, Washington, California, Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, Illinois, Nevada, and Montana.
Alice Paul also joined in on the fight to end women’s suffrage. While studying in London, she joined the “Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). She was arrested three times for her fight for women. Alice went on a hunger strike and was force-fed food. She went home eventually in 1913 to form the “Congressional Union for Women Suffrage” with Lucy Burns and Olympia Brown. This organization picketed the White House and held huge demonstrations. These protests led to five hundred women being arrested and half of them being jailed. Alice Paul was sentenced for seven months and went on another hunger strike. She would be later released. This was another woman fighting for the suffrage of women.
On August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed by Congress which gave women the right to vote. Today, women have equal rights just as men. We have women in all professions. We even had a woman for the first time running for president of the United States. Times have certainly changed!
Women Who Fought for Their Rights
Abigail Adams — wife of John Adams, our second president of the United States who wanted women to have an education, fought against slavery, and wanted women to have a say in the government.
Susan B. Anthony — she fought against slavery and organized associations for women’s rights to vote. She campaigned endlessly for a federal woman suffrage amendment through the National Woman Suffrage Association (1869–90) and the National American Women Suffrage Association (1890–1906).
Elizabeth Cady Stanton — (November 12, 1815–October 26, 1902) was an American social activist and leading figure of the early women’s movement
Lucretia Mott — (January 3, 1793–November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker minister, abolitionist, social reformer and proponent of women’s rights.
Sojourner Truth — (1797–November 26, 1883) was the self-given name, from 1843, of Isabella Baumfree, an American abolitionist and women’s rights activist.
Julia Ward Howe — (May 27, 1819–October 17, 1910) was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet most famous as the author of “The Battle of the Republic.”
Alice Paul — American feminist who founded (1916) the separatist National Woman’s Party and wrote (1923) the first equal rights amendment to be considered by the U.S. Congress.
Carrie Chapman Catt — an Iowa State alumna who devoted most of her life to the expansion of women’s rights around the world.
Jeannette Rankin — the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress — and one of
the first women in the world to be elected to a major legislative body.
Alice Duer Miller — campaigner for women’s suffrage and wrote articles and poems for women’s rights.
Maud Younger — (1870–1936) was a leading figure in the women’s rights movement in the early part of the twentieth century.
Caroline Severance — one of the founders of the following women’s suffrage organizations: Equal Rights Associations, Free Religious Association, New England Woman’s Club, and the Woman Suffrage Association.
Helen Kendrick Johnson — She contributed in articles for women’s suffrage, and the founder of the anti-suffrage Guidon Club.
Emmeline Pankhurst — (1858–1928) led the movement for women’s suffrage in Great Britain.
Millicent Garrett Fawcett — British women's suffrage activist, known for her constitutional approach.
Emily Davies — British suffrage worker and educator.
Barbara Bodichon — artist and women’s rights activist.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson— a pioneering physician and political campaigner, the first Englishwoman to qualify as a doctor.
