ABSTRACT
Chapter 2, “The First and Second Women’s Rights Movements,” provides a historical presentation of the two great movements women have undertaken to gain greater citizenship and voice in the United States—the suffrage movement and the women’s rights movement. This chapter focuses on the political practices of the women who organized these movements and the many strategies they used to gain power and influence. The chapter first surveys the historical events of the suffrage movement that ended with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 granting women the vote. Then, some forty years later, a second women’s rights movement arose, much broader in scope and more complex in its aims. It emerged from women’s engagement in other political movements of the time and out of changing educational and economic aspects of their lives. The chapter describes its origins and introduces readers to the range of activities proponents of women’s rights have undertaken as the movement grew and diversified and was challenged throughout the rest of the century. It highlights its diversity, strategies, and goals. The chapter concludes with a section on the debates about the current status and character of the second women’s rights movement.
