Why were the suffragettes successful?

Answer 1

Getting the vote was a long process, and most suffragists (sometimes called "Suffragettes") understood that. Unfortunately, a small group got impatient and began using what the press called "militant" tactics, but the majority worked to gain public support through giving speeches, holding marches, and educating the public. Gradually, one state at a time, certain states (most of which were in the western U.S.) began giving women the vote in state elections, largely as a result of the advocacy of the suffragists. In terms of changing minds and hearts in those states, we could say they were very effective.

But if we are judging them on how quickly they got results nationally, it was not an easy task. Many members of the clergy and large numbers of men wanted women to remain in a traditional role, and these groups opposed giving women the vote. Thus, it took about seventy years from the time of the first women's right convention in Seneca Falls NY till the time when women finally achieved the vote. On the other hand, individual suffragists such as Carrie Chapman Catt, Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul were quite effective at getting newspaper coverage or staging public events (marches, parades, etc) and they made certain the subject of votes for women was being discussed. Also effective were advocacy groups like the National Women's Party and individual suffragists like Olive Stott Gabriel, president of the Women Lawyers Association. but again, if "effective" means they changed society, the fact that women finally did get the right to vote is a tribute to their persistence.