The Women's Suffrage Campaign Begins, then Divides
Suffragettes Demonstrating Outside the Police Court

The fight for women’s political rights gained momentum in the mid-19th century. Many of the movement’s leaders learned skills from their abolition the movement to end slavery activities as the movement against slavery grew stronger. But as the country began to debate universal male suffrage Universal suffrage means that every citizen (of a certain age) can vote. Here, universal male suffrage would mean that every male citizen could vote, white leadership in the mainstream women’s movement divided, and eventually it split. Black women were present in the early suffrage movement, but their contributions were not always recognized by the primarily white organizations, nor were their unique needs addressed as women of color.