Suffrage Accomplished: Women as Political Participants

Once the legal barrier to the ballot was removed, women entered the electorate slowly, although African American women reportedly registered in large numbers in the South. ¹ By and large, women voted similarly to men, but initially in smaller numbers. This slow start led one commentator to declare women’s suffrage a colossal failure. Women’s suffrage was not a failure but rather a casualty of unrealistic expectations—both positive and negative. “Men said that woman suffrage had promised almost everything and accomplished almost nothing when neither of these were true.” ² There are some remarkable historical examples of women forming voting coalitions in order to effect social change in their communities. In Nashville, Tennessee, African American and white women formed an alliance to demonstrate their power in expanding government’s role and to promote a progressive political agenda. ³ The vote opened the door to the public sphere and a corresponding host of politically relevant activities.