Reference no: EM134010050 , Length: Words Count:750

Assignment:

The passage of the 19th Amendment came after more than 70 years of suffrage activism. The two competing national suffrage organizations (NWSA and the AWSA) that were born out of the post Civil War years merged in the 1890s to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association, or NAWSA for short. By 1916, only 6 out of 48 US states had locally enfranchised women, which was particularly frustrating for the younger generation of suffragists who did not understand why NAWSA was sticking with the "state by state" campaign for suffrage as it clearly wasn't working very well. Some of these younger, more radical suffragists broke off from NAWSA to form the National Woman's Party (NWP) and stated that their goal was a federal suffrage amendment. Led by Alice Paul, the NWP adopted more radical tactics in an effort to secure the vote, often against the wishes of the older and more established NAWSA. This struggle is depicted in the 2004 HBO film Iron-Jawed Angels.

For this assignment, first watch the film Iron-Jawed Angels. Then, in a minimum of about 750 words, please address the following analysis questions using examples from the film to support your answers:

1. Why was President Wilson was apprehensive about lending his support to the women's suffrage cause?
2. Did U.S. involvement in World War I expedite or delay the passage of the 19th amendment? In other words, would the 19th amendment have passed Congress if WWI wasn't happening in the background?
3. What lengths were Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and company willing to go in order to get a federal suffrage amendment passed? What other social/political movements (past or contemporary) have used similar tactics, and were those movements successful?
4. Did you notice women of all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic levels participating in the suffrage movement? Was any group of women noticeably absent or underrepresented? Why?