By 1890, large groups of women emerged out of their private lives seeking to actively participate in the public world. These women were no longer content letting their husbands have all the fun out there in the real world. Huge numbers of women sought the same rights and privileges that their husbands possessed merely because they were men. To many women, the right to vote was a privilege of utmost importance. That same year, the previously split National Woman Suffrage Association and American Woman Suffrage Association merged to form the more moderate, middle-of-the-road National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). This merge was an attempt to take full advantage of women’s newfound desire for social activism and group as many women as was possible into one single association. The NAWSA organized formal political conventions and was far more professional than the previous divergent groups.

Throughout the existence of the NAWSA, leadership changed hands a few times. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was never very popular among members, presided over the merger in 1890, but retired two years later to pursue other reform issues. Susan B. Anthony was her successor and served as president until 1900. Carrie Chapman Catt, a charismatic leader and skilled strategist, held office from 1900 to 1904 and again from 1915 to 1920. Anna Howard Shaw acted as president during the years between Catt’s tenure.

Radical women’s groups on the left were a very significant reason that women got the vote. The NAWSA presented itself as more moderate and middle of the road with it’s support of progressive plans and expedient arguments. By granting women the right to vote, legislators were simply taking the lesser of two evils. The radical feminist and anarchist groups greatly worked in the suffragist’s favor.

As suffragist influence increased, antisuffrage sentiment also grew. Associations that were opposed to woman suffrage began to appear in the 1890’s. To these antisuffragists, woman suffrage was an attack on traditional ideas about social organization and sex roles. They believed that if women were granted the right to vote, they would vote against their husbands, destroy their homes and families, and create anarchy in the society. They claimed that voting would ruin women’s purity and moral superiority.

In 1910, women began making huge strides in getting the vote. Support for their cause was now pouring in. The woman’s vote was endorsed by the Progressive party and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. In 1912, the national platform at the Progressive party convention incorporated a woman suffrage plank. And in 1914, the very mainstream General Foundation of Women’s Clubs had finally endorsed woman suffrage.

t NWSA aggressively fought for a federal amendment for suffrage, whereas the old AWSA chose to go state by state to gain suffrage. The NAWSA also decided to dr

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