Summary
Votes for women! It doesn’t sound so radical now, but it sure used to. For most of U.S. history, women didn’t participate in politics. Their sphere was supposed to be the home. But starting in the 1830s, some women were moved to step outside their usual roles in order to fight the greatest injustice of the day: slavery. The skills they learned in the abolition movement would later be applied in the battle to win suffrage, or the right to vote. Discover some of the major events of the suffrage movement, including the Seneca Falls Convention and the first political march on Washington, D.C. And meet some of the people who led the charge, like Sojourner Truth and the crusading Grimké sisters. Finally, learn about the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and what President Woodrow Wilson did to help it pass. Power to all the ladies!
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Women's Suffrage:
- What is one new thing you learned about women's suffrage?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining women's suffrage.
- Draw or give one example of your own.