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American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Women’s Suffrage: Opposing Views

Women’s Suffrage: Opposing Views

Details

Author
Tracy Dawson-Greene
Topic/Subject Area
Gender, Gender Roles, Women; Politics, Government, Law, Civics
Historical Era
Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928
Grade Level
Middle School (6–8)
Creation Date
2010
Last Revision Date
2024

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About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Students will understand that before women were granted the vote in the United States by the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, there was a heated debate. In this lesson students will read and analyze two primary source documents: “Why Should Suffrage be Imposed on Women?” from the Massachusetts Man Suffrage Association 1896, and Reverend Henry Ward Beecher’s article on female suffrage as published in the Greenfield Gazette and Courier in 1870. After noting and discussing the opposing viewpoints, students will write a “letter to the editor” expressing their views on the matter as though they lived before the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items

Teaching Plan

  1. Divide students into groups of 3-4 and distribute copies of the “Why Should Suffrage be Imposed on Women?” article. Ask students to read the article together and to highlight or note the reasons the author states as to whether allowing women to vote is a positive or negative idea.
  2. Students should discuss these questions in their small groups: from which point of view this author is writing? What hope or vision does he have for American society?
  3. When students are finished with the first article they should do the same procedure including the discussion questions above with the second article, “Beecher on Female Suffrage.”
  4. Conduct a whole class discussion about the difference between the two articles. What are some compelling arguments for both sides? List them on a chart or overhead.
  5. Ask students to compose a “letter to the editor” of the Greenfield Gazette and Courier regarding their views on this topic. Students should write in the first person, identify whether they are writing as a male or female, and reference at least three points from one or both of the articles read in class.