History.
Feminism has been around for the longest time. Women have suffered endless teases and struggles, and have tried to prevent it in many ways. Here is a general timeline for some of them:
- 1850-First National Women’s Rights Convention took place in Worcester, Massachusetts. This event attracted more than 1,000 participants of men and women. National conventions were then held yearly (except for 1857) through to 1860.
- 1884-Women's Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY. After two days discussing and debating, 32 men and 68 women signed a Declaration of Sentiments. This Declaration of Sentiments outlined grievances and set the agenda for the women’s rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions was adopted calling for equal treatment of women and men under the law and included voting rights for women.
- 1890-The National Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association merged to form the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
- 1896-The National Association of Colored Women was formed. It brought back more than 100 black women’s clubs. Leaders in the black women’s club movement included Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Mary Church Terrell, and Anna Julia Cooper
- 1903-The National Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions for women
- 1920-Women didn't have the right to vote in public elections. They weren't even allowed to vote in church or school meetings. They had close to no power, and many men and women thought that this was all natural. Colorado was the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote. Utah and Idaho followed suit in 1896, Washington State in 1910, California in 1911, Oregon, Kansas, and Arizona in 1912, Alaska and Illinois in 1913, Montana and Nevada in 1914, New York in 1917, and Michigan, South Dakota, and Oklahoma in 1918
- 1900-1920-First-wave feminism refers to an extended period of feminist activity during the nineteenth century and early twentieth century in the United Kingdom and the United States. Originally it focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights for women and the opposition to chattel marriage and ownership of married women (and their children) by their husbands. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, activism focused primarily on gaining political power, particularly the right of women's suffrage. Yet, feminists such as Voltairine de Cleyre and Margaret Sanger were still active in campaigning for women's sexual, reproductive, and economic rights at this time. In 1854, Florence Nightingale established female nurses as adjuncts to the military.
- 1960-1980-Second-wave feminism refers to the period of activity in the early 1960s and lasting through the late 1980s. The feminist activist and author Carol Hanisch coined the slogan "The Personal is Political" which became synonymous with the second wave. Second-wave feminists saw women's cultural and political inequalities as inextricably linked and encouraged women to understand aspects of their personal lives as deeply politicized and as reflecting sexist power structures