Why didn the suffrage movement begin sooner??
Because it would have been too soon. The suffrage movement came about during a time when people were just beginning to understand the notion that ALL people were deserving of freedom, human rights, and equal rights. In America, the abolitionist movement was putting forth the idea that slavery was evil, that the people enslaved deserved all of the rights and freedoms that white men had, and this included the right to vote. Many women were a part of the Abolitionist Movement, but as they were speaking out about the slaves’ right to freedom and equal representation, it dawned on them that THEY did not have some of the rights they were advocating for black men. So they began to advocate for themselves. In Britain, the fight was for the right to vote for men who didn’t own land. Women marched and fought right along with their husbands and fathers, but were not included. So women’s suffrage in Britain was born. In both cases, it was an idea whose time had come. The Enlightenment had put fort
