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Did the Vote Make a Difference? Previous Next
Digital History ID 3208

 

Observers expected a flood of women voters in the 1920 presidential election. In fact, women's turnout matched that of men, about 50 percent--one of the lowest turnouts in years.

Nevertheless, women's suffrage did make a difference. Even during the 1920s, women voters showed a special concern for social issues. Women voters were more likely than men to attach priority to issues involving children, education, and health care. They also tended to be strong advocates of peace. The issues that dominated American politics during the 1920s--education, the establishment of maternal and infant health care clinics, pacifism, and prohibition--reflected women's mounting political influence.

After the adoption of the 19th Amendment, Alice Paul went to law school. On the 75th anniversary of the first Women's Rights convention in 1923, she went to Seneca Falls, N.Y., and proposed an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution which declared that rights should not be abridged on account of sex. The amendment was introduced in Congress every year from 1923 until 1972.

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