Women were a poor, unarmed and disenfranchised class when they first organized to gain political power in the mid-1800s. The struggle for the ballot took over 70 years of constant, determined campaigning, yet it didn't take a single life, and its achievement has lasted. Compare this with male-led independence movements such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Without firing a shot, throwing a rock, or issuing a personal threat, women won for themselves rights that …showed first 75 words of 922 total…

…showed last 75 words of 922 total…is the origin of the yet unpassed Equal Rights Amendment. It exposed the misplaced fears and prejudices of anti-suffragists, and offers a sobering reminder that too many of these same foolish, reactionary attitudes of 100 years ago still exist today. Clearly the wider goal of women's true equality and freedom has not yet been achieved, but the victorious woman suffrage movement offers a new generation of activists a solid base on which to build the future.