Democratizing Twentieth America Sample Introduction

The preamble to the United States Constitution proclaims to protect the rights and liberties of “we the people”, but for over a hundred years “we” was very narrowly defined.  Since the nation’s inception, women reformers have attempted to correct this injustice.  Some of these reformers were abolitionists who sought to end slavery.  Others were educated upper middle class women who questioned their roles in a nascent urban, industrial society.  Many were immigrant women who came to the United States in search of opportunity, yet they found themselves toiling in factories.  And finally there were socialist women whose radical notion of democracy made them wary partners with reformers who still believed in the United States constitution.  Ultimately, the Industrial Revolution would push these reformers to coalesce around the issue of women’s suffrage.  The Women’s Suffrage Movement got underway when it did because of the social, economic, and political changes sparked by industrialization and increases in educational opportunities for women.