American Women's History: A Very Short Introduction

“The field of feminist history has uncovered that even when women didn’t have the vote or couldn’t hold office, they still acted to influence political outcomes. Once you begin to look at the ways in which women exercise political power, through their churches, through voluntary groups, through their communities, you begin to see that this sense that women haven’t ever accomplished anything politically is false. To get the vote, women had to be incredibly politically savvy. They needed to learn how to lobby, raise money, get publicity, set up organizations, organize petition drives and mobilize male voters. Throughout American history—during the Revolution, as abolitionists, as Civil War wives and mothers—women were acting politically. The suffrage movement is an excellent example of that.” Read more...

The best books on Women’s Suffrage

Susan Ware, Historian