Rightfully Ours

This guide tells of the century-long struggle for women’s suffrage in the United States, a movement that began alongside the abolitionist cause and continued through the ratification of the 19th amendment. Though the Declaration of Independence stated that “all men are created equal,” married women and girls in the early days of the United States had few rights. Not one woman could vote, but that would change with the tireless efforts of Lucretia Mott, Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Jeannette Rankin, Alice Paul, and thousands of women across the nation. In addition to its lively narrative, this history includes a time line, online resources, and hands-on activities that will give readers a sense of everyday lives of the suffragists. Children will create a banner for suffrage, host a Victorian tea, feel what it was like to wear a corset, and more. Through it all, readers will gain a richer appreciation for women who secured the right to fully participate in American democracy—and why they must never take that right for granted.