Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot

by Winifred Conkling

“Lively . . . Defiant . . . Pulling back the curtain on 100 years of struggle . . . The women who shaped the American narrative come to life with refreshing attention to detail.”—The New York Times Book Review For nearly 150 years, American women did not have the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, they won that right, when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified at last. To achieve that victory, some of the fiercest, most passionate women in history marched, protested, and sometimes even broke the law—for more than eight decades. From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who founded the suffrage movement at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, to Sojourner Truth and her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, to Alice Paul, arrested and force-fed in prison, this is the story of the American women’s suffrage movement and the private lives that fueled its leaders’ dedication. Votes for Women! explores suffragists’ often powerful, sometimes difficult relationship with the intersecting temperance and abolition campaigns, and includes an unflinching look at some of the uglier moments in women’s fight for the vote. By turns illuminating, harrowing, and empowering, Votes for Women! paints a vibrant picture of the women whose tireless battle still inspires political, human rights, and social justice activism.

• ISBN10: 1616209887
• ISBN13: 9781616209889
• Publish Date: 7 January 2020 (first published 13 February 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Algonquin Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot is a well written book about the history of the suffrage movement in the USA, along with interesting and enlightening commentary on how the movement affected (and was affected by) other social and political movements of the day, such as civil rights for people of color.

This book draws a thread throughout the narrative with a connected timeline. It's almost incredible to think (and shiver over) how close the whole process came to failing at so many points. The fact that it more or less came down to the vote of one young Tennessee representative ( Harry T. Burn) at that critical point and a letter from his mother might have made the difference is crazy.

Author Winifred Conkling has extensive experience writing about nonfiction subjects for young adults. Her writing style is no-nonsense and easy to read. The book makes what could easily have been a very dry subject come alive with anecdotes and excerpts from extant letters and other documents. The book is marketed to the YA market, and while I agree that it would be perfectly appropriate and readable to the average YA audience, it's also interesting for adults. I learned quite a lot reading the book as well (and it's been a few decades since I was a young adult myself :) ).

The political climate in much of the world today is fraught. Every time we look at the newspaper there's something new to shock and dismay us. It's critically important for everyone to educate themselves about our political history because it's not just an old adage to say that if we don't understand the past, we're doomed to repeat it.

Four stars, interesting and well worth a read.

Stats:
320 pages, ebook, hardbound and audiobook formats.
Published February 13, 2018 by Algonquin Young Readers

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes