Fighting Chance : The Struggle Over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America

The advocates of woman suffrage and black suffrage came to a bitter falling-out in the midst of Reconstruction, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the 15th Amendment because it granted the vote to black men but not to women. How did these two causes, so long allied, come to this? Based on extensive research, Fighting Chance is a major contribution to women's history and to 19th-century political history--a story of how idealists descended to racist betrayal and desperate failure. The advocates of woman suffrage and black suffrage came to a bitter falling-out in the midst of Reconstruction, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the 15th Amendment for granting black men the right to vote but not women. How did these two causes, so long allied, come to this? In a lively narrative of insider politics, betrayal, deception, and personal conflict, Fighting Chance offers fresh answers to this question and reveals that racism was not the only cause, but that the outcome also depended heavily on money and political maneuver. Historian Faye Dudden shows that Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, believing they had a fighting chance to win woman suffrage after the Civil War, tried but failed to exploit windows of political opportunity, especially in Kansas. When they became most desperate, they succeeded only in selling out their long-held commitment to black rights and their invaluable friendship and alliance with Frederick Douglass. Based on extensive research, Fighting Chance is a major contribution to women's history and to 19th-century political history. -- from http://www.booktopia.com.au (Sep. 30, 2013) The Advocates Of Woman Suffrage And Black Suffrage Came To A Bitter Falling-out In The Midst Of Reconstruction, When Elizabeth Cady Stanton Opposed The Fifteenth Amendment For Granting Black Men The Right To Vote But Not Women. How Did These Two Causes, So Long Allied, Come To This? This Book Offers Answers To This Question And Reveals That Racism Was Not The Only Cause, But That The Outcome Also Depended Heavily On Money And Political Manoeuvre. The Age Is Ripe For The Woman Question -- Black Rights, Women's Rights, And Civil War -- The Negro's Hour -- The Struggle For Equal Rights 00 Kansas -- Revolutionary Journalism And Political Opportunism -- The Fight Over The Fifteenth Amendment. Faye E. Dudden. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 201-273) And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 1. The Age Is Ripe for the Woman Question......Page 22 2. Black Rights, Women’s Rights, and Civil War......Page 48 3. The “Negro’s Hour”......Page 70 4. The Struggle for Equal Rights......Page 97 5. Kansas......Page 117 6. Revolutionary Journalism and Political Opportunism......Page 142 7. The Fight over the Fifteenth Amendment......Page 170 Conclusion......Page 198 Abbreviations......Page 208 Notes......Page 210 Selected Bibliography......Page 274 A......Page 284 B......Page 285 D......Page 286 F......Page 287 K......Page 288 M......Page 289 N......Page 290 R......Page 291 S......Page 292 W......Page 294 Y......Page 296 Discusses the falling-out between women's and African-American suffrage advocates during the Reconstruction era, examining the political culture in the United States during the nineteenth century, and describing how local Republicans sought to defeat both causes by setting the groups against each other