How do you explain how, after over 70 years of campaigning for suffrage, women were finally granted the right to vote in 1920?

Question

I need some big ideas so I can get a starting point. Are there any specific topics around this time that relates to this that I can talk about?

Answer 1

There are lots of other big topics that relate to the fight for women's suffrage in the U.S. Wars and their aftereffects were a big factor in the fight. For example, after the U.S. Civil War many people developed an interest in enfranchising women to counterbalance newly enfranchised Black men, and the divisions amongst early suffrage organizations often involved regionality and views about Black voting rights. Women's involvement in WWI also significantly influenced opinions surrounding Suffrage. The introduction of new western states and the process of achieving statehood influenced Suffrage. Fears surrounding the Temperance movement was a big factor in efforts to deny women the right to vote, and the Temperance movement also served as a recruitment tool for other social change efforts. The history of protest strategy in the U.S. is also tied to the Suffrage movement: suffragettes were the first group to ever picket the White House.

I don't know if you're writing a paper or if any of these topics interest you, but I hope this helps. Big social movements like this are complicated, so I suggest you make it easier on yourself by picking one thing you're most interested in and expanding outward from there.