"The Gentle but Peremptory Knock of Woman": Voting Rights in post-Civil War New York State

Laura Free, Associate Professor of History, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, will integrate gender analysis with political history to interpret the Civil War-era controversy over women and voting in New York State. At the 1868 State Constitutional Convention, delegates considered enfranchising all black men in the state on the same terms as whites. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and their allies sought to convince the Convention to also enfranchise women. Their efforts landed them in the tabloid press, caused a feud with longtime friend Horace Greeley, and brought them into direct conflict with the partisan politicians who dominated the state. This Berks presentation will demonstrate how the suffragists adopted gender and race as political weapons to fight in this particular battle.