World War I, lasting from 1914 to 1918, was a culmination of entangling alliances, new technology and empirical greed. The Great War, as it is sometimes called, brought the whole of Europe into years of stalemate, death and destruction. United States soldiers were spared most of the war, and the country profited economically as a main producer of munitions, war machinery, and goods, as well as a source of financial backing for the Allies. Late American involvement in the war allowed for domestic social issues to remain at the forefront of national politics for the early years of European combat. As such, the American women's movement actively organized strikes and demonstrations, and lobbied for backing of the Federal woman-suffrage amendment while Europe was engulfed in war. Nonetheless, the U.S.'s official entrance into the war in 1917 placed restraints on female suffragists. Wilson, the American president at the time, encouraged women to take part in the war effort and make the sacrifices necessary to benefit the Allies and the American military. This signified that women's enfranchisement would have to wait for the end of the war.
[...] AMERICAN WOMEN AND THE HOME FRONT Once the United States officially entered World War the traditional social role of women changed. Women were, more than ever, expected to provide a support system for their families. They were not to antagonize their husbands or their country. Some volunteered overseas aiding the American Expeditionary Force as nurses, welfare workers, and telephone operators. In the U.S., over eight million volunteered for the Red Cross, while a considerable number transitioned to higher paying positions normally occupied by men. [...]
[...] CONCLUSIONS All in all, prior to World War I women in the United States were second class members of society; they were unable to vote and did not have substantial political representation or influence. Once the U.S. entered the war, most women felt obligated to support their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Criticism of the President and the war were considered unpatriotic. As such, the fight for female enfranchisement became of secondary concern, and women saw little improvement during wartime. [...]
[...] She shrewdly utilized the wording and framing of the Declaration of Independence stating: hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (Stanton, Doc. Stanton went on to carefully enumerate grievances pertaining to the inferior and unjust treatment of women. Like the American forefathers, she compiled a list of eighteen objections. Following the list of grievances were resolutions demanding unbiased laws, enfranchisement, and equal educational and work opportunities. [...]
[...] He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man. He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and to her God. He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life. [...]
[...] in 1913 and organized a women's suffrage parade of 5,000 women for the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration that same year. Despite the upsurge in interest that the demonstration inspired, Suffrage Association leaders were concerned that Alice Paul's methods were radical and might eventually become counterproductive. Paul, also chairman of the Congressional Union, split from the National American Woman Suffrage Association in February of 1914. The rift evidenced an internal battle between the NAWSA's static methods and the Union's more radical and dynamic tactics. [...]
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