House of Representatives committee receiving a delegate reading her argument in favor of woman's voting, on the basis of the 14th and 15th Amendments, Library of Congress. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed in , made slavery illegal. Black women who were enslaved before the war became free and gained new rights to control their labor, bodies, and time. The Fourteenth Amendment affirmed the new rights of freed women and men in The law stated that everyone born in the United States, including former slaves, was an American citizen.
The Fourteenth Amendment also added the first mention of gender into the Constitution. It declared that all male citizens over twenty-one years old should be able to vote. For the first time, the Constitution asserted that men—not women—had the right to vote. Previously, only state laws restricted voting rights to men. Activists bitterly fought about whether to support or oppose the Fifteenth Amendment.
Stanton and Susan B. Anthony objected to the new law. They wanted women to be included with black men. Others—like Lucy Stone —supported the amendment as it was. Stone believed that women would win the vote soon. The two sides established two rival national organizations that aimed to win women the vote. Shown here is a print of an African American slave reaching freedom. The 14th Amendment specifically granted men the right to vote. However, it did not grant women the right to vote.
The image shown here is a print from by Alfred Rudolph Waud and shows a line of American Americans, all in different dress, being allowed to cast their first ballot. National Women's History Museum S. Whiting Street, Suite , Alexandria, Virginia National Women's History Museum.
We want rights. The flour merchant, the house-builder, and the postman charge us no less on account of our sex; but when we endeavor to earn money to pay all these, then, indeed, we find the interest. Lucy Stone. View fullsize. The 14th and 15th Amendments. By Allison Lange, Ph. Fall Essential Questions What was US culture's view of women's roles? Why didn't women have right to vote? Were they citizens? How were they represented legally?
