History of Woman Suffrage Volume II Part 119

WHEREAS, The Republicans have a large majority in both houses of Congress; therefore,

_Resolved_, That we call upon Congress to enact a law establishing impartial suffrage for all citizens irrespective of s.e.x, in the District of Columbia and the Territories; also to declare woman eligible to all offices under Government, with equal pay for equal work: also to submit a XVI. Const.i.tutional Amendment prohibiting political distinctions on account of s.e.x.

5. _Resolved_, That we demand from the State Legislatures laws establishing equal suffrage for women in choosing electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, also in choosing munic.i.p.al and State officers, in every case where the qualifications of voters are not restricted by the State Const.i.tutions; also to amend the State Const.i.tutions so as to establish equal rights for all.

6. And WHEREAS, many women have recently applied for registration as voters, and in some cases, have actually voted, and are now being prosecuted on the charge of having voted illegally; therefore,

_Resolved_, That we call upon the State and Federal courts to interpret all legal provisions that will admit of such a construction in favor of the equality of women.

8. _Resolved_, That the Executive Committee be instructed to address memorials to Congress, and State Legislatures, and National Conventions of every political party, in behalf of the legal and political equality of woman.

9. _Resolved_, That we rejoice at the recognition of the rights of woman in the National Republican platform, and at the explicit indors.e.m.e.nt of woman suffrage by the Republican Convention of Ma.s.sachusetts; we congratulate the Republican party upon having enlisted the heart and intellect and conscience of woman in its support, and we call upon the party, in this hour of victory, to consolidate its supremacy by establishing impartial suffrage for all citizens, irrespective of s.e.x.

[194] _President_--Thos. Wentworth Higginson, R. I.

_Vice-Presidents at Large_--Julia Ward Howe, Hon. Henry Wilson, Mary A. Livermore, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Ma.s.s.; Hannah M. Tracy Cutler, Ill.; Geo. Wm. Curtis, N. Y.; Mrs. M. T. Hazard, Missouri; Margaret V.

Longley, Ohio.

_Chairman of Executive Committee_--Lucy Stone, Ma.s.s.

_Foreign Corresponding Secretary_--Kate N. Doggett, Ill.

_Corresponding Secretary_--Henry B. Blackwell, Ma.s.s.

_Treasurer_--John K. Wildman, Pa.

_Recording Secretaries_--Mary Grew, Pa.; Amanda Way, Kansas.

_Vice Presidents Ex Officio_--Mrs. Oliver Dennett, Me.; Armenia S.

White, N. H.; Hon. C. W. Willard, Vt.; Jas. Freeman Clarke, Ma.s.s.; Elizabeth B. Chace, R. I.; Celia Burleigh, Conn.; Oliver Johnson, N.

Y.; John Whitehead, N. J.; Pa.s.smore Williamson, Pa.; Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, Del.; Miriam M. Cole, Ohio; Mary F. Thomas, M.D., Ind.; Robert Collyer, Ill.; Augusta J. Chapin, Wis.; Stephen L. Brigham, Mich.; Mrs. A. Knight, Minn.; Mrs. Helen E. Starrett, Kansas; Amelia Bloomer, Iowa; Mrs. Beverly Allen, Mo.; Hon. Guy W. Wines, Tenn.; Seth Rogers, Fla.; Gen. Rufus Saxton, Oregon; Rev. Charles G. Ames, Cal.; Hon. John C. Underwood, Va.; Rufus Leighton, Wash. Ter.; A. K. P. Safford, Arizona; Sarah Jane Lippincott (Grace Greenwood), D. C.; Hon. D. K.

Chamberlain, S. C.

_Executive Committee Ex Officio_--Mrs. T. B. Hussey, Me.; Hon.

Nathaniel White, N. H.; Albert Clarke, Vt.; Margaret W. Campbell, Ma.s.s.; Mary F. Doyle, R. I.; Phebe A. Hanaford, Conn.; Anna C. Field, N. Y.; Mrs. C. C. Hussey, N. J.; Annie Shoemaker, Pa.; John Cameron, Del.; Mrs. Rebecca A. S. Janney, O.; Martha N. McKaye, Ind.; Myra Bradwell, Ill.; Mrs. Frank Leland, Wis.; Lucinda H. Stone, Mich.; Abby J. Spaulding, Minn.; Hon. Isaac H. Sturgeon, Mo.; John Ritchie, Kan.; Mrs Lizzie B. Read, Iowa; Rev. Charles G. Woodbury, Tenn.; Miss Lottie Rollin, S. C.; Fannie B. Ames, Cal.; Col. Edward Daniels, Va.; Mrs.

Matilda G. Saxton, Oregon; Rev. Frederick Hinckley, D. C.; Mrs. C. I.

H. Nichols, Cal.; Hon. John A. Campbell, Wyoming.

[195] Mrs. Howe was elected President.

[196] _Resolved_, That our thanks are due to the twenty-two United States Senators who, at the last session of Congress, voted and paired in favor of woman suffrage in the Territory of Pembina, and we rejoice at the submission of woman suffrage to the people by the Legislatures of Michigan and Iowa, as acts of enlightened statesmanship, which can not fail, whatever may be the immediate result, to hasten the day of woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt.

_Resolved_, That the recent indors.e.m.e.nt of woman suffrage by the Methodist Convention of Michigan, by the Conferences of Iowa, and by various other religious bodies of these and other States, is evidence that the value of woman's work in the churches begins to be recognized, and in view of the fact that three-fourths of American church members are women, we cordially invite the aid of Christians of all denominations in securing woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt.

_Resolved_, That the recognition of the right of women to vote and hold office, by the Patrons of Husbandry in their Granges, by the Sovereigns of Industry in their Councils, and by the Good Templars in their Lodges, ent.i.tles us to regard these societies as practical auxiliaries of the woman suffrage movement.

_Resolved_, That we protest against the appropriation by Congress or by State Legislatures of one dollar of the public money, which is paid in part by women who are taxed without consent, for the purpose of celebrating the Centennial anniversary of a political independence in which women are not allowed to partic.i.p.ate.

[197] President--Bishop Gilbert Haven, D.D.

[198] Among those on the platform were Bishop Gilbert Haven, Mrs. Lucy Stone, Miss Mary F. Eastman, Mrs. S. R. Hewitt, Mrs. Maria F. Walling, Thomas J. Lothrop, and H. B. Blackwell, of Ma.s.s.; Mrs. Rebecca Morse, Mrs. Margaret E. Winchester, Mrs. Halleck, Mrs. Frances D. Gage, Rev.

Dr. Thompson, of New York; Mrs. Mary F. Davis, Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Mrs. Henrietta W. Johnson, of New Jersey; Mrs. Margaret V.

Longley and Miss Jane O. De Forest, of Ohio; Mrs. Emma Malloy, of Indiana; Lelia E. Patridge and C. C. Burleigh, of Pa.; Mrs. Armenia S.

White and Hon. Nathaniel White, of New Hampshire; Mrs. Frances E. W.

Harper, of Md.; S. D. Forbes, of Delaware; and Charles Bradlaugh, of England.

[199] 1. The American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, in its seventh annual meeting a.s.sembled, re-affirm the great self-evident principle of equal rights for women, and demand its practical application in the public and private life of the nation. We declare that women who obey laws should have a voice in their enactment; that women who pay taxes should have a voice in their expenditure. We protest against the subjection and disenfranchis.e.m.e.nt of woman as injurious to society, destructive of morals, corrupting to politics, and a reproach to civilization. We attribute the alarming increase of insults and personal outrages inflicted upon women to a public sentiment hostile to their individuality and equality of rights. We affirm that a Government of the people, by the people, for the people, must be a Government composed impartially of men and women, and that the co-operation of the s.e.xes is essential alike to a happy home, a refined Society, a Christian Church, and a Republican State.

2. In view of the approaching Presidential election, in which a great party will struggle to retain possession of power, while all the elements of opposition are organizing for its overthrow, we urge our friends in each State to pet.i.tion their Legislature for the enactment, next winter, of a law enabling women to vote in the Presidential election of 1876.

3. In view of the evident disintegration of parties, we rejoice at the steady growth of the new issue of woman suffrage, at its successful establishment in Wyoming and Utah, in England, Holland, Austria, and Sweden, and at the recent promise of the Republicans of Ma.s.sachusetts, at their State Convention, that they "will support all measures regarding the promotion of equal rights for all American citizens, irrespective of s.e.x."

And whereas, on the second day of July, 1776 (two days before the Declaration of Independence), the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, a.s.sembled at Burlington, extended suffrage to all inhabitants, men and women; therefore,

_Resolved_, That in commemoration of that notable event we hold a woman suffrage Centennial celebration at Burlington, N. J., on the 2d day of July, 1876, or at such other place as the Executive Committee may select.

_Resolved_, That heroic deeds done for justice and human rights deserve and should receive commemorative tribute from all those who love justice and respect human rights; that a Centennial celebration on the Fourth of July next, of the one-hundredth Anniversary of the Independence of the United States is in the highest degree proper, and is due to the brave dead who periled all they had to secure the right to govern themselves; nevertheless,

_Resolved_, That men who use their political and personal power to deprive women of their right to govern themselves, can not with consistency have any share in that Centennial celebration.

[200] President: Mrs. Mary A. Livermore.

[201] These facts are given in the chapter on New Jersey, Vol. I.

[202] Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Oregon, District of Columbia.

[203] WHEREAS, The United States Courts have affirmed that the regulation of suffrage belongs exclusively to the States, and that "women are citizens and, as such, may be made voters by appropriate State legislation;" and,

WHEREAS, A sixteenth amendment to the Federal const.i.tution abolishing political distinctions on account of s.e.x, although just and necessary, can be more easily obtained when several States have set the example; therefore,

3. _Resolved_, That we urge every existing State a.s.sociation to renewed effort upon the next and each following State Legislature; and in every State where no such a.s.sociation exists, we urge individual effort and the immediate formation of a State Society.

[204] President--Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, of Missouri.

[205] The President chosen for the ensuing year was Henry B.

Blackwell.

[206] 1. _Resolved_, That we urge upon Congress the performance of three important duties in behalf of the women of America--

First, To enact a law giving women citizens of the United States, resident in the Territories, the same political rights as are exercised by the male citizens of the United States resident therein.

Second, To reform the laws affecting the rights of married women in the District of Columbia and the Territories.

Third, To submit to the States a const.i.tutional amendment prohibiting political distinction on account of s.e.x.

2. _Resolved_, That we advise our auxiliary State societies to pet.i.tion their respective Legislatures to enact a law this winter conferring suffrage on women in Presidential elections under Section 2, Article 2, of the Federal Const.i.tution.

WHEREAS, Since the last annual meeting of the a.s.sociation, three eminent advocates of the claim of women for equal political rights have pa.s.sed away--Lucretia Mott, Lydia Maria Child, and Nathaniel White--therefore,