Overview
This lecture covers the rise of new voices for women and African Americans during the Progressive Era, focusing on suffrage, civil rights, key leaders, and organizations.
Expansion of Women's Rights
- The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 marked the start of the U.S. women's rights movement.
- The Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls demanded women's suffrage (right to vote).
- The 15th Amendment granted voting rights to black men but excluded women, creating divisions in the women’s movement.
- Western states, like Wyoming and Nevada, legalized women's suffrage before others to attract more women settlers.
- The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), led by Carrie Chapman Catt, worked for women’s voting rights.
- Alice Paul and the Silent Sentinels used radical strategies, such as picketing and hunger strikes, to draw attention to suffrage.
- The 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, granted women the right to vote nationwide.
African American Civil Rights Struggles
- The Progressive movement inspired some civil rights action but largely ignored racial issues.
- The Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws enforced segregation and discrimination, especially in the South.
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) established the “separate but equal” doctrine, legalizing segregation despite unequal conditions.
- Segregated facilities for blacks and whites were legal on paper but unequal in reality, especially in schools.
Key African American Leaders and Responses
- Booker T. Washington encouraged economic advancement and delayed social/political activism, founding the Tuskegee Institute.
- W.E.B. Du Bois argued for immediate fight for political and social equality, rejecting Washington's gradualism.
- Du Bois founded the Niagara Movement to demand civil rights and champion leadership by the “Talented Tenth.”
- He helped establish the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) to fight for African American rights.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Suffrage — the right to vote in political elections.
- Seneca Falls Convention — 1848 gathering that launched the women’s rights movement.
- Declaration of Sentiments — document advocating for women’s equality, including the right to vote.
- 15th Amendment — constitutional amendment granting African American men the right to vote.
- NAWSA — major women’s suffrage organization led by Carrie Chapman Catt.
- Silent Sentinels — women's group using protests and hunger strikes for suffrage.
- 19th Amendment — constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote (1920).
- Jim Crow laws — state laws enforcing racial segregation.
- Plessy v. Ferguson — 1896 Supreme Court case upholding "separate but equal" segregation.
- Booker T. Washington — proponent of economic progress before civil rights.
- W.E.B. Du Bois — advocate for immediate civil rights and founder of the Niagara Movement.
- Niagara Movement — early civil rights group demanding full equality.
- Talented Tenth — Du Bois’s idea of top 10% of educated African Americans leading progress.
- NAACP — civil rights organization co-founded by Du Bois.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review the impact of the 19th Amendment and the NAACP for future lessons.
- Prepare for discussion on Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois’s strategies for equality.