National Woman Suffrage Association - Accomplishments

Accomplishments

In the summer of 1876, the nation celebrated its Centennial with a highly anticipated exposition in Philadelphia, the first of its kind in America. Opening headquarters in Philadelphia, the National Association sought to use the occasion to draw attention to the inequitable position of women, as well as to organize women from all over the country to exchange their knowledge and experiences. When Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, the presiding officer of the July 4th exposition, finished reading the Declaration of Independence, the ladies walked down the aisle and approached the stage where Anthony made a brief speech. Members of the National then presented the presiding officer with a Women's Declaration of Rights. The Women's Declaration of Rights listed the natural rights protected by the government as part of the social contract and went forth to state that the government was infringing upon those rights. In response, the authors listed nine rights for women labeled "Articles of Impeachment." These articles referenced the ways in which women were oppressed and wronged and asked the government to give women the civil and political rights guaranteed to them.

One year later at the National's Convention of January 1877, the organization continued to carry out bold reform measures. Keeping pressure on Congress, the National drafted a federal amendment calling for woman suffrage - penned by Elizabeth Cady Stanton - that was reintroduced to the Legislature annually until its eventual adoption in 1919. In the same year, furthermore, Anthony led a group of women onto the floor of the United States Senate bearing suffrage petitions with ten thousand signatures. Such efforts signify the extensive efforts of the National Woman Suffrage Association to keep pressure on the federal government to promote the causes concerning women's rights, while bringing the injustice the encountered to national prominence.

In 1890 the National Association and the American Association merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The merger negotiations between the two organizations began in 1887, dragged for three years, and were finally consummated at a joint convention in February 1890 where the NAWSA nominated Elizabeth Cady Stanton as its first President.