The Vote for a Civilized America: Woman Suffragists and the Politics of Civilization, 1890–1920

This article argues that many white American suffragists relied on the multifaceted concept of “civilization” to advocate for women’s right to vote at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on the widespread discourse of civilization, these suffragists brought together multiple arguments for obtaining the vote. They built their advocacy around three civilizational principles: (1) maintaining white supremacy, (2) establishing the societal need for women’s moral superiority, and (3) affirming the gender binary. By putting forth the notion that American civilization could not exist without suffrage for white women, suffragists from different regions leveraged the politics of civilization to advocate for their right to vote.