Women's suffrage

In America at the time of the 1800's some rights allowed to single women were exempt to married women. The move for the abolition of all discrimination, for example, due to race or class, was seen to develop with the more radical and militant wings of this female movement.

The small British colony of the Pitcairn Islands (2006 population: 46) 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.

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, but this right was later revoked by the United States Congress in the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887.

In 1893, New Zealand was the first country to introduce universal suffrage, following a movement led by Kate Sheppard (see Women's suffrage in New Zealand). Women first achieved the right to stand for public office in South Australia in 1894, along with full suffrage in that state (previously granted restricted women's suffrage in 1861).

Women's suffrage has been granted (and been revoked) at various times in various countries throughout the world.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 granted in New Jersey by the state constitution of 1776 (the word "inhabitants" was used without qualification of sex or race). Since married women did not own property in their own right, only unmarried women and widows qualified. New Jersey women lost the vote in 1807, when the franchise was restricted to white males (partly in order to combat electoral fraud by simplifying the conditions for eligibility).

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 self-governing 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 Commonwealth of Australia provided this for women in Federal elections from 1902 (except Aboriginal women). 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 and Polish women had the vote in 1918 and American women in states that had previously denied them suffrage were allowed the vote in 1920. Women in Turkey were granted voting rights in 1926. In 1928, suffrage was extended to all British women. One of the last jurisdictions to grant women equal voting rights was Liechtenstein in 1984. Since then only a handful of countries have not extended the franchise to women, usually on the basis of certain religious interpretations. Bhutan allows one vote per property, a policy that many claim in practice prevents women from voting (although it's planned to be changed once the newly proposed Constitution is accepted before 2008).

Women's suffrage by country

File:Punchsuffrage.png

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

Australia

The first election for the Parliament of the newly-formed Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 was based on the electoral provisions of the six States, so that women who had the vote and the right to stand for Parliament at State level (in South Australia and Western Australia) had the same rights for the 1901 Federal election. In 1902 the Commonwealth Parliament passed its own electoral Act that extended these rights to women in ALL States on the same basis as men. However, the Commonwealth legislation excluded all Aboriginal men and women from the Commonwealth franchise, which in theory some of them had enjoyed in 1901 (State Parliaments generally had property qualifications for the franchise, which in practice few Aboriginals would have met). This was not corrected until 1962, through an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act (it was not, as is commonly but mistakenly believed, an outcome of the 1967 referendum that gave the Commonwealth Parliament the power to legislate specifically on Aboriginal matters).

New Zealand

In 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to give women the vote. Although the Liberal government which passed the bill generally advocated social and political repenisform, the electoral bill was only passed due to a combination of personality issues and political accident. The bill granted the vote to women of all races. New Zealand women were not given the right to stand for parliament, however, until 1918.

United Kingdom

Women's suffrage did not become a political issue in the United Kingdom until 1832, when the 1832 Reform Act specifically disenfranchised women. From this point the suffrage movement campaigned for voting rights for women. The suffragette movement in the United Kingdom was particularly militant, with some of its members committing vandalism and assault. Some suffragettes firebombed churches (see Modern World History textbook), threw axes at Prime Minister Asquith, smashed windows and terrorised many Liberal MPs as well as other men. Some Liberal MPs who had supported women's suffrage moved away from the movement due to the violence. A number of activists were imprisoned and then force-fed when they went on hunger strikes. The First World War brought a halt to the public campaign. It is possible that women's war work, working in munitions factories and putting their lives at risk, contributed to women over the age of 30 getting the vote in 1918 (men could vote at 21). Women were given the vote on the same conditions as men in 1928.

United States

American women were pioneers in the women's suffrage cause, advocating votes for women from the 1820s. Some early victories were had in the territories of Wyoming (1869) and Utah (1870), although Utah women were disenfranchised by the U.S. Congress in 1887. The push to grant Utah women suffrage was at least partially fueled by outsiders' belief that, given the right to vote, Utah women would get rid of polygamy. It was only after Utah women exercised their suffrage rights in favor of polygamy that the U.S. Congress disenfranchised Utah women.^[1] Other territories and states granted women the right to vote in the late 19th and early 20th century, but women were not allowed to vote in federal elections until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. Today CAWP (Center for American Women in Politics) keeps alive the push for more women to continue to participate in the government.

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 and ratified, then no restrictions will apply by 2008. [1]
Lebanon — Partial suffrage. Proof of elementary education is required for women, but not for men. Voting is compulsory for men, but optional for women. [2]
Brunei — No suffrage for women. Neither men nor women have the right to vote or to stand for election since 1962, as the country is governed by an absolute monarchy.
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 — Limited, but will be fully expanded by 2010. [3]
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

File:€2 commemorative coin Finland 2006.jpg

Finnish €2 commemorative coin celebrating the 2006 centennary of the introduction of universal and equal suffrage

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. (Former name of nation included at time of rights granted.)

1878- Canada*
1893- New Zealand (to vote)
1902- Commonwealth of Australia¹ (to vote and stand for election)
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 (Russia), United Kingdom¹
1919- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus (Belorussia), Belgium (to vote for municipal elections) ¹, Georgia, United States Of America, Luxembourg, Netherlands (to vote), New Zealand (to stand for election), Sweden¹, Ukraine
1920- Albania, Canada* (to stand for election) ¹, Czech Republic, Iceland², Slovakia (to vote)
1921- Belgium (to stand for election) ¹, Sweden²
1922- Irish Free State
1924- Kazakhstan*, Mongolia, Saint Lucia, Tajikistan
1927- Turkey
1928- 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 (Ceylon)
1932- Thailand (Siam), Brazil, Maldives, Uruguay
1934- Cuba, Portugal¹, Turkey (to stand for election)
1935- Myanmar (Burma)(to vote)
1937- Philippines
1938- Bolivia¹, Uzbekistan
1939- El Salvador (to vote)
1941- Panama¹
1942- Dominican Republic
1944- Bulgaria, France, Jamaica
1945- Croatia, Guyana (British Guiana)(to stand for election), Indonesia (Dutch East Indies), Italy, Japan*, Slovenia, Togo (French Togoland)
1946- Cameroon, D.P.R. of Korea, Djibouti (French Somaliland)(to vote), Guatemala, Liberia, Myanmar (Burma)(to stand for election), Panama², Romania², The F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Serbia, Montenegro
1947- Argentina, India (same year of independence), Japan*, Malta, Mexico (to vote), Pakistan (same year of independence), Singapore
1948- Belgium², Israel (same year of independence), Niger, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Suriname (Dutch Guiana)
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 (Ivory Coast), Greece¹, Lebanon
1953- Bhutan, Guyana (British Guiana)(to vote), Mexico (to stand for election), Syria²
1954- Colombia, Belize (British Honduras), Ghana (Gold Coast)
1955- Cambodia, Ethiopia (and Eritrea*, as then a part of Ethiopia), Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Greece²
1956- Benin (Dahomey), Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, Mali, Mauritius, Somalia
1957- Malaysia , Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia)(to vote) ²
1958- Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), Chad, Guinea, Lao P.D.R. (Laos), Nigeria* (South)
1959- Madagascar (Malagasy Republic), San Marino (to vote), Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania (Tanganyika)
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 (Northern Rhodesia)
1963- Afghanistan, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Papua New Guinea (Papua&New Guinea)(to stand for election)
1964- Bahamas², Libya, Papua New Guinea (Papua&New Guinea)(to vote), Sudan
1965- Botswana (Bechuanaland), Lesotho (Basutoland)
1967- Democratic Republic of the Congo (to vote), Ecuador², Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), Tuvalu (Ellice Islands), 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, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu* (New Hebrides)
1976- Portugal²
1977- Guinea-Bissau
1978- Nigeria* (North), Republic of Moldova*, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)(to stand for election)
1979- (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands): Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Fed. States), Palau
1980- Iraq, Vanuatu²[4]
1984- Liechtenstein, South Africa* (Coloureds + Indians)
1986- Central African Republic, Djibouti (to stand for election)
1989- Namibia (South-West Africa)
1990- Samoa (Western Samoa), Switzerland*
1993- Kazakhstan*, Republic of Moldova²
1994- South Africa* (Blacks)
1997- Eritrea* (stipulated by sovereign constitution), Qatar¹
2002- Bahrain
2003- Oman
2005- Kuwait
2006- United Arab Emirates¹
2007- Qatar*

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 Britain. It was closely associated with "domestic feminism", the belief that women had the right to complete freedom within the home. one of the most prominent anti-suffrage activists was Nicholas Earl Skahill.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

↑ Van Wagenen,Lola: "Sister-Wives and Suffragists: Polygamy and the Politics of Woman Suffrage 1870–1896," BYU Studies, 2001.

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.

Bibliography

Ellen Carol DuBois, Harriot Stanton Blatch and the Winning of Woman Suffrage (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997) ISBN 0-300-06562-0
Eleanor Flexner, Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States, enlarged edition with Foreward by Ellen Fitzpatrick (1959, 1975; Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press, 1996) ISBN 0-674-10653-9
Marjorie Spruill Wheeler, editor, One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement (Troutdale, OR: NewSage Press, 1995) ISBN 0-939165-26-0
Doris Stevens, edited by Carol O'Hare, Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote (1920; Troutdale, OR: NewSage Press, 1995). ISBN 0-939165-25-2
Midge Mackenzie, Shoulder to Shoulder: A Documentary (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975). ISBN 0-394-73070-4
Trevor Lloyd, Suffragettes International: The World-wide Campaign for Women's Rights (New York: American Heritage Press, 1971).

External links

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.

Women´s suffrage in Germany - January 19th, 1919 - first suffrage (active and passive) for women in Germany

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

Women's suffrage ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

History of "Women's suffrage"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

[1] Van Wagenen,Lola: "Sister-Wives and Suffragists: Polygamy and the Politics of Woman Suffrage 1870–1896," BYU Studies, 2001.

[1]