The Suffrage Question

Two of the frontier badges that women wore were Education and Suffrage.

The question of suffrage in Oregon came to vote 6 times after 1859 but despite all the energy and time devoted to the issue, suffrage did not pass until 1911.  After 1867, 17 referendum on suffrage were held in 11 states and of those 11 states only 2 won victories. In Washington the suffrage bill was defeated twice in 1854 and again in 1869.  Men gave the right to vote to teenagers instead of to the women that wanted it and were knowledgeable as to how to use it. 

When freedom finally came to the frontier woman, it had not changed the thinking of men enough to grant full political rights.  But the frontier woman did organize for religion and charitable causes, joined temperance organizations far more readily than they did  for the suffrage cause.

Suffrage leaders were well-educated, prosperous, Protestant, and married.  They argued that woman should vote because their moral perspective and domestic responsibilities helped them understand the problems of the increasingly complex world.

next time..the conclusion of Frontier Women