Memorial to Congress from the American Woman Suffrage Association

As Congress considered the rights of emancipated slaves following the Civil War, woman suffragists (those in favor of voting rights for women) unsuccessfully lobbied for women’s inclusion in voting protections  – women were not included the 15th amendment, which granted black men the right to vote.

Suffragists' vehement disagreement over supporting the 15th Amendment resulted in a "schism" that split the woman suffrage (women's suffrage) movement into two new suffrage organizations that focused on different strategies to win women voting rights.

The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony – they opposed the 15th amendment because it excluded women. The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was founded by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The AWSA supported the 15th Amendment and protested the confrontational tactics of the NWSA.

The AWSA concentrated on gaining women’s access to the polls at state and local levels, in the belief that victories there would gradually build support for national action on the issue. While a federal woman suffrage amendment was not their priority, this 1871 petition from AWSA leadership to Congress reveals its support for one. The document asks that women in DC and the territories be allowed to vote and hold office. The first signatures include Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Mary Grew, and Henry B. Blackwell.

In 1890, the NWSA and AWSA merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). It became the largest woman suffrage organization in the country and led much of the struggle for the vote through 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Stanton became its president; Anthony became its vice president; and Stone became chairman of the executive committee.