Historical Events That Influenced the 20th Century

Historical Events That Influenced the 20th Century

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Historical Events That Influenced the 20th Century

Since the beginning of the first civilizations there have been political movements that have had a profound effect on the human race. Political movements are begun as an expression of the struggles faced socially and politically by the people of a particular area; they start at the state, regional, or national level. The political movements discussed herein are Women’s Rights, Voter’s Rights, and Civil Rights.

Women’s Rights Movement

Women’s Rights movements date back to 1792 Britain, when Mary Wollstonecraft published the first feminist publication, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Conversely, the first position on women’s rights began in the United States in 1848 at the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York; lead by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Scholastic, 2011). At an early age, Stanton knew she was looked upon differently from her brothers when she was denied the opportunity to attend college because of her gender. In 1840 however, Stanton drafted a document that “called for moral, economic, and political equality for women” (Library of Congress, n.d.) and entitled the document a Declaration of Rights and Sentiments; modeled after the Declaration of Independence.

The National Women’s Rights Convention held in 1850 was led by an activist named Lucy Stone and was joined by the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1863. The combined groups formed the Women’s National Loyal League and were led by Susan B. Anthony. Anthony “wrote and submitted in 1878 a proposed right-to-vote amendment to the Constitution” (Scholastic, 2011); the Amendment was ratified and became law in 1920. A few years after the Amendment was written (1890), the National American Women’s Suffrage Association was created with Carrie Chapman Catt serving as president.

During the convention at Seneca Falls, Stanton met former slave Frederick Douglass;...