- Term
women's suffrage
- Broader Term
political campaign
- Date
late 1800s-early 1900s
- Remarks
The political climate in the West changed drastically when Wyoming became the first territory to give women the vote in 1869, a half-century before this right was given to all American women. As Western territories entered the Union, many of them battled Congress for the right of their women to vote. Several individual states passed suffrage legislation, including Wyoming (1890), Utah (1896), Colorado (1893), and Idaho (1896). Throughout the West, women served on juries, voted in school elections, and held political offices. The women's suffrage movement used various tactics to win support, including parades, auto convoys, rallies, picket lines, and eye-catching pennants and sashes. They also lobbied the United States goverment. The movement's hard work finally paid off when the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, giving all women the right to vote.