The Fight for Women’s Suffrage

This activity can be used to allow students to understand the longevity of the fight for Women’s Suffrage and the key ideas of those who opposed or supported the Nineteenth Amendment. This activity can be done in class in small groups, pairs, or individually. It is designed for grades 9-12. This activity takes approximately 60 minutes.

To begin, have students discuss what they may already know about Women’s Suffrage. Have them answer the following questions with a peer, then ask students to share some of their answers with the whole class.

• How long did women fight for the right to vote?
• What were some arguments for and against Women’s Suffrage?

After students have answered these questions for the class, have them open the assignment. Choose one of the documents and model document analysis for the class. Inform students that they should be looking for the following criteria.

• Who is the author/organization?
• When was this document created?
• What are key words or concepts stated in the document?

Guide students through one of the documents using this criteria. After ensuring students understand how to analyze a historical document and place it with the correct interpretation, instruct students to analyze the remaining documents. Have them take notes in their journal of the criteria listed above for each document. Inform students that the documents must simply be placed on the correct side of the scale based on their analysis and documents with more than one page should be placed in the same section of the scale.

Following completion of the activity, lead a class discussion on Women’s Suffrage. Discuss which documents were placed where based on the students document analysis and their reasoning.

After completing a short discussion, have students answer the reflection questions attached to the activity as an exit ticket.

• What were the key reasons people believed women should gain the right to vote?
• What was the main argument against the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment?
• What is a topic that has been/is being argued for and against in a similar vain today?