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HAPPERSETT
Kara Kregel & Dedra Moore
BACKGROUND
o Married women had no property rights o Could not hold a job within the government o Were not allowed to go to college o Not allowed to divorce or leave their husbands o Most custody laws were in the mens favor o Were not allowed to vote o Had to follow laws they had no hand in making
THE BEGINNING
o The civil rights movement helped women realize how oppressed they were and was the beginning of the womens rights movement
o A big aspect in this movement was fighting for womens suffrage which is giving women the right to vote
WOMENS SUFFRAGE
o Organizations such as the National Womans Suffrage Association (NWSA) founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cody and the American Womans Suffrage Association (AWSA) founded by Lucy Stone were created. o These organizations were created to speak out and push for the right to vote
o Married a distant cousin Francis Minor o Born in Virginia & moved to Missouri after she married o Husband was a lawyer that represented her in her case against Happersett o During the Civil War she was an active member of the St. Louis Union Aid Society o Was the first President of the American Women Suffrage Association o Was the honorary Vice President of the Interstate Womens Suffrage Convention
ALL PERSONS BORN OR NATURALIZED IN THE UNITED STATES, AND SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION THEREOF, ARE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF THE STATE WHEREIN THEY RESIDE. NO STATE SHALL MAKE OR ENFORCE ANY LAW WHICH SHALL ABRIDGE THE PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES; NOR SHALL ANY STATE DEPRIVE ANY PERSON OF LIFE, LIBERTY, OR PROPERTY, WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW; NOR DENY TO ANY PERSON WITHIN ITS JURISDICTION THE EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS. -THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT SECTION 1
Minor argued that because she was a citizen she was guaranteed the right to vote under the 14th Amendment Section 1
PROVINCE IS TO DECIDE WHAT THE LAW IS, OUR NOT TO DECLARE WHAT IT SHOULD BE. IF THE LAW IS WRONG, IT OUGHT TO BE CHANGED; BUT THE POWER FOR THAT IS NOT WITH US. CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE
THE RULING
The Court unanimously decided that even though Minor was undoubtedly a citizen, the Constitution did not explicitly give citizens a right to vote and that, throughout the history of the nation from the adoption of the Constitution, a wide variety of personsincluding womenwere recognized as citizens but denied the right to vote.
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Following this ruling the Womens Suffrage Movement gained steam. The protesters switched their strategy from trying to gain the favor of the courts to attempting to pass new laws entirely. In 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified. It stated The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. This overturned the courts decision in Minor V Happersett.
FOLLOWING CASES
The 19th Amendment was held up in the case Leser v. Garnett when two women registered to vote in Baltimore MD two months after the ratification of the 19th Amendment on the federal level, but before Maryland had ratified the Amendment. The courts ruled to uphold the 19th Amendment and they were allowed to vote.
http://youtu.be/pFOieRHRzh8