CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
For a significant portion of American history, women did not have the right to vote. State legislatures determined who could vote, and Virginia did not extend voting rights to all white men until 1851. The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, extended voting rights to Black men. In 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to authorize woman suffrage and it was the first state to guarantee women's right to vote when it was admitted to the United States in 1890.
At that time most Americans—women as well as men—did not support voting rights for women. Women were classified as a dependent class, under control of their fathers or husbands. Many people believed that women were meant to stay at home raising children and taking care of the household, sometimes referred to as the "domestic sphere." In Virginia, after supporters of women's voting rights had organized the Equal Suffrage League, anti-suffragists established the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1912.
Like suffragists, anti-suffragists (sometimes known as "antis") printed and distributed pamphlets, leaflets, and broadsides like this one to share their views widely. Members of the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage maintained that women were too elevated in society to delve into the dirty business of politics. They feared giving women the right to vote would erode their traditional roles in the home and bring about changes that might prove detrimental to society. However, after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, some of the Association's members registered to vote themselves.
Citation: Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, Anti-Suffrage Arguments, Broadside, 1910s, Manuscripts & Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Related Document Bank entries:
Anti-Suffrage Arguments, Danger!, Broadside, circa 1918
Women Do Want the Vote, Broadside, 1916
Learn more about the anti-suffrage movement in Virginia in The UncommonWealth blog.
Standards
Suggested Questions
Lesson Plan
For detailed lesson plan options, visit our Lesson Plan on the Woman Suffrage Movement in Virginia.
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the broadside and list any words or phrases that stand out to you. Why did they stand out? What impact might those words have on a person taking a quick or passing glance at the broadside?
Post Activities
Analyze: What arguments are made in favor of women not having the vote? In your opinion, which, if any, of these are justified by historical fact? Be specific.
Social Media Spin: Imagine you are a member of an anti-suffrage organization, then create a catchy hashtag, motto, or tweet to spread the message.
Current Connections: In recent years, some people of challenged women's voting rights. In what ways are their arguments similar to or different from those of anti-suffragists in the 1910s?