Suffragists in an imperial age : U.S. expansion and the woman question : 1870-1929

## Abstract In 1899, Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, argued that it was the “duty” of U.S. women to help lift the inhabitants of new island possessions in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii up from “barbarism” to “civilization,” a project that would presumably demonstrate the capacity of U.S. women for full citizenship and political rights. Catt, like many suffragists in her day, was well versed in the language of empire and infused the cause of suffrage with imperialist zeal in public debate. Unlike their predecessors, who were working for votes for women within the context of slavery and abolition, the next generation of suffragists argued their case against the backdrop of U.S. expansionism in Indian and Mormon territory at home as well as overseas in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. This book examines these simultaneous political movements—woman suffrage and American imperialism—as inextricably intertwined phenomena, instructively complicating the histories of both. "Suffragists in an Imperial Age demonstrates how seemingly disparate conversations about the physical boundaries of national territory and the gendered boundaries of political space overlapped and inflected each other during post-Civil War efforts to rebuild the nation in new terms. This book argues that US expansion was crucial to the development of the post-bellum US woman suffrage movement and shows how federal discussions of citizenship and voting rights in the context of creating territorial governments in the continental West and, after the Spanish-American War, in the Caribbean and the Pacific, created space on the Congressional calendar for suffragists to instigate debate on the woman question. In the negotiation of global power relations across the twentieth century and into the present, political rights for women continues to function as a marker of success for experiments in expanding democracy, as well as a bargaining chip for reasserting some degree of political independence for men. This book shows how by 1929, suffragists were on the verge of making women's voting rights an integral part of US colonial policy, and adding votes for women to the list of markers symbolizing the achievement of "civilization" in US colonies."--Provided by publisher In 1899, Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as head of the National American Women Suffrage Association, argued that it was the "duty" of U.S. women to help lift the inhabitants of its new island possessions up from "barbarism" to "civilization," a project that would presumably demonstrate the capacity of U.S. women for full citizenship and political rights. Catt, like many suffragists in her day, was well-versed in the language of empire, and infused the cause of suffrage with imperialist zeal in public debate.Unlike their predecessors, who were working for votes for women within the context of slavery and abolition, the next generation of suffragists argued their case against the backdrop of the U.S. expansionism into Indian and Mormon territory at home as well as overseas in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. In this book, Allison L. Sneider carefully examines these simultaneous political movements--woman suffrage and American imperialism--as inextricably intertwined phenomena, instructively complicating the histories of both. In 1899, Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as head of the National American Women Suffrage Association, argued that it was the'duty'of U.S. women to help lift the inhabitants of its new island possessions up from'barbarism'to'civilization,'a project that would presumably demonstrate the capacity of U.S. women for full citizenship and political rights. Catt, like many suffragists in her day, was well-versed in the language of empire, and infused the cause of suffrage with imperialist zeal in public debate. Unlike their predecessors, who were working for votes for women within the context of slavery and abolition, the next generation of suffragists argued their case against the backdrop of the U.S. expansionism into Indian and Mormon territory at home as well as overseas in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. In this book, Allison L. Sneider carefully examines these simultaneous political movements--woman suffrage and American imperialism--as inextricably intertwined phenomena, instructively complicating the histories of both. Allison Sneider Tracks How Debates Over Woman Suffrage Were Framed And Reframed In The Context Of National Discussions Of Citizenship And Voting Rights For Potential New Citizens, Both Within U.s. Borders And In The Island Territories In The Caribbean And The Pacific, From Roughly 1870 To 1900. U.s. Expansion And The Woman Question, 1870-1929 -- Reconstruction And Annexation : Suffragists In Washington D.c., And Santo Domingo, 1870-1875 -- Western Expansion And The Politics Of Federalism : Indians, Mormons, And Territorial Statehood, 1878-1887 -- Imperial Expansion And The Problem Of Hawaii, 1898-1902 -- Getting Suffrage In An Age Of Empire : The Philippines And Puerto Rico, 1914-1929 -- Epilogue. Allison L. Sneider. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [135]-193) And Index.