What is meant by First Wave Feminism?

First Wave Feminism is the women's rights movement that occurred from the early nineteenth to early twentieth century. The two major events that bookend this movement are the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

What are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd wave feminism?

The women's movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is often separated into three phases, or "waves." In the United States, the first wave began in the mid-nineteenth century and ended with the nineteenth amendment granting women the right to vote in 1920. The Second Wave occurred from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. The Third Wave happened from the 1990s to the 2010s.

When was the 1st wave of feminism?

The first wave of feminism began in 1848 and lasted until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

What were some of the accomplishments of the first wave?

Besides securing women's right to vote, first wave feminism accomplished nationwide prohibition. Activists also inspired the enactment of married women's property laws that allowed women full control over property brought to their marriage and allowed them to own and inherit property.

First Wave Feminism: Timeline & Goals

First Wave Feminism

It isn't easy to imagine now that there was once a time when American women could not vote or own property. This is the world in which First Wave Feminism emerged. Women in the early nineteenth century suffered under laws of coverture that gave husbands complete control over their wives, to the point that even a woman's body was her husband's property. The anti-slavery movement inspired women to demand rights for themselves under the law, and the women's rights movement began.

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First Wave Feminism Definition

First Wave Feminism is the women's rights movement that occurred from the early nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Feminism is an ideology that women should no longer be relegated to a domestic sphere where they are entirely subjected by their husbands nor treated as second-class citizens by society. To achieve this ideal, women turned to activism in the public sphere to secure the passage of laws that would expand women's rights. The two significant events that bookend feminism's first wave are the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote in 1920.

Why Waves?

Where did the practice of calling phases of feminism' waves' begin? In 1968, Martha Lear wrote an article for the New York Times titled, "The Second Feminist Wave: What do these women want?" The idea of separating the women's rights movement into waves caught on from there and repeatedly appeared in the media and academic circles. There are four waves of feminism ranging from the mid-nineteenth century to now. Each wave is representative of more rights and equality for women.

First Wave Feminism Goals

Feminism's first wave focused on convincing women that they had a right and a duty to play active societal roles outside the household. Activists organized to create change that would grant them equal liberties to men, such as the right to vote and the right to own property. They also raised awareness of domestic violence by advocating for the prohibition of alcohol in the temperance movement.

First Wave Feminism Louise Weiss together with Parisian suffragettes calling for the women's right to vote in France in 1935 StudySmarter

Fig. 1-Louise Weiss together with Parisian suffragettes calling for the women's right to vote in France in 1935

First Wave Feminism Timeline

Women were a vital part of the abolitionist movement in the early nineteenth century. However, they received criticism for speaking in public against slavery because it was against the norm for women to have any engagement with the public sphere. This criticism caused women to question their place in society and demand the right to inclusion in public debate.

Women in Higher Education (1836-7)

In the early nineteenth century, women began to demand the right to be educated at the university level. They succeeded in 1837 when Oberlin University in Ohio became the first university to allow women to enroll and earn bachelor's degrees alongside men. Four women enrolled in the 1837 freshman class, earning their degrees in 1841. The first public university to allow women was the University of Iowa in 1955. By 1910, 58 percent of American universities allowed women.

Women's colleges also appeared during this period to address the demand from women for higher education opportunities in areas that did not yet allow coeducational programs. The first women's college was Wesleyan College in Georgia.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

in 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Quaker progressive Lucretia Mott, and three other progressive Quaker women discussed their anger with the lack of women's rights in the US
These women organized a convention at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls on July 19th and 20th, 1848
Approximately 300 women and men attended the meeting
The Convention started a wave of women's conventions, including the annual National Women's Rights Convention from 1850 to 1869

The Declaration of Sentiments

Stanton, Mott, and the other Quaker women drafted and presented a Declaration of Sentiments at the Seneca Falls Convention.

The Declaration of Sentiments included:

the failure of the law to recognize married women as individuals
the lack of women's right to vote
no female representation in government and lawmaking decisions
the barring of women from professional careers in fields such as medicine or law

One hundred of the three hundred attendees of the Convention signed the Declaration.

First Wave Feminism The Declaration of Sentiments StudySmarter Fig. 2- The Declaration of Sentiments

Women's Christian Temperance Union (1874)

The prohibition of alcohol was a cause that inspired many women to enter the public sphere as activists. In 1874, a group of women dedicated to a world that was pure and sober founded the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

The WCTU was the first organization to raise awareness of domestic violence because temperance leaders argued that alcohol caused husbands to beat their wives. It was the largest women's organization in the world in 1890.

In addition to campaigning against alcohol, WCTU members also advocated for women's rights in the context of social reform. They fought for women's suffrage to gain a voice in politics and to raise the age of consent for sexual activity to curb the exploitation of young women workers. WCTU activists also joined protests to establish living wages for workers and improve workplace conditions.

National American Woman Suffrage Association (est. 1890)

In 1890 the Democratic and Republican suffrage organizations merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The group was dedicated to securing the right to vote for women across the country, state by state. Under its first president, Susan B. Anthony, NAWSA helped secure women's voting rights in Wyoming (1890), Colorado (1893), Idaho (1896), and Utah (1896). However, after these initial victories, the momentum stalled under fierce counterprotests from groups who felt women's votes would either mirror or cancel out those of their husbands, bringing forth an age of "petticoat rule."

Petticoat Rule: A derisive statement used by anti-feminists to instill fear that allowing women's rights would change society into one where women ruled over and oppressed men in the same way men were ruling over women in the current society.

Woman Suffrage Procession (1913)

The Woman Suffrage Procession, organized by NAWSA members Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, occurred in Washington, D.C., the day before President Wilson's inauguration. Its purpose was to protest against political organizations that excluded women. Between 5,000 to 10,000 people participated in the march. The procession had bands, floats, chariots, and mounted brigades. An allegorical play also took place during the procession on the Treasury Building steps, with actors portraying instances of patriotism and civic pride.

First Wave Feminism The Woman Suffrage Procession StudySmarter Fig. 3 - The Woman Suffrage Procession

The Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

The Woman Suffrage Procession and other efforts led by NAWSA and the National Woman's Party, such as hunger strikes, marches, and demonstrations, helped sway public opinion in favor of women's right to vote. This change in public opinion convinced President Wilson to support an amendment to the United States Constitution granting women's right to vote. Congress voted on such an amendment five times from January 1918 to May 1919, when it finally passed the House of Representatives and, shortly after, the Senate.

The passed amendment then went to the states for ratification. Wisconsin was the first state to ratify, followed closely by Illinois. However, many states opposed the amendment on the basis of race because it would grant voting rights to African American women. Finally, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify on August 18, 1920, after intense lobbying on both the pro-suffrage and anti-suffrage sides. The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was signed into law shortly after.

First Wave Feminism Leaders

First Wave feminism stretched over seventy years. Multiple generations of women fought for their rights to vote and have a voice in the public sphere. Notable leaders include, but are in no way limited to, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, France Willard, and Alice Paul.

Leader	Information
Elizabeth Cady Stanton	(1815-1902) one of the founders of the First Wave. She co-organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and drafted the Declaration of Sentiments. Introduced the first woman's suffrage petition to Congress in 1865. Ran for Congress in 1866 as an Independent. Though she was unsuccessful, she raised awareness of the cause for female representation in politics. Advocated for abolition, temperance, marriage and divorce reform, and women's right to vote. Co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 with Anthony and served as its first president. This organization merged with the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890, of which she was also the first president. Stanton and Anthony convinced Senator Aaron Sargent to introduce a Constitutional amendment granting woman's suffrage in 1878, which was the forerunner of the amendment passed in 1920.
Susan B. Anthony	(1820-1906) committed to social equality from a very young age because of her Quaker upbringing. Met Stanton in 1851, and the two formed a powerful women's rights team. They founded the New York Women's State Temperance Society in 1852 and the Women's Loyal National League in 1863 to advocate for the abolition of slavery. She was appointed state agent for New York in the National Anti-Slavery Society in 1856. Gave lectures and participated in demonstrations. Quickly became the face of the movement, and the amendment that would eventually become the Nineteenth Was known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment colloquially. Used the revenue from her lectures to fund women's rights organizations such as NAWSA, ensuring that they endured to inspire the social movement that eventually gained women the right to vote.

First Wave Feminism Susan B. Anthony StudySmarter Fig. 4- Susan B. Anthony

Leader	Information
Ida B. Wells	(1862-1931) was a civil and women's rights activist. Born into slavery and orphaned at sixteen, she supported her family through teaching and journalism. She wrote articles about racial inequality in the Reconstruction South. Her series of articles on lynching during the 1890s won her national recognition. After fleeing from Tennessee for Chicago in the face of White aggression toward her reporting, she advocated for civil rights and women's suffrage Wells co-founded the National Association of Colored Women in 1896. In 1908 she founded the Negro Fellowship League, Chicago's first Black settlement house. Additionally, she co-founded the Alpha Suffrage Club in 1913 to fight for Black women's suffrage. Wells ran for Senator in 1930 as an Independent, demanding a place for Black women in politics decades before Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman Congressman in 1972.
Frances Willard	(1839-1898) a teacher, suffragist, and temperance activist. She was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union president from 1879-1898. During her tenure, WCTU membership grew to become the largest women's organization in the world. She used her influential position to advocate for the right to vote, to raise the age of consent, and women's involvement in politics. She remarked, Willard served as the first National Council of Women in the United States president in 1888. The same year, she founded the international branch of the WTCU and served as its president in 1893.
Alice Paul	(1885-1977) represented the next generation of women's rights activists in the First Wave and lived to participate in the Second. After she joined NAWSA in 1910, she worked towards redirecting its efforts towards a national suffrage amendment, organizing the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington D.C. Two months later, Paul founded the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage because she disagreed with NAWSA's reluctance to pursue suffrage at the federal level. This organization became the National Woman's Party in 1916. Through the Party, she organized the Silent Sentinels protests from 1917-1919 outside the White House and Lafayette Square As a result, the women endured harassment, beatings, arrest, and imprisonment. Paul was arrested in 1917 and served a seven-month sentence, where she conducted a hunger strike to protest the prison conditions and brutality the female prisoners suffered. She was released in 1918 and went back to advocating for women's rights for the remainder of her life.

First Wave Feminism Alice Paul StudySmarter Fig. 5- Alice Paul

First Wave Feminism vs Second Wave

Even though 1920 is typically considered the end of Feminism's First Wave, women's rights activists did not stop working after winning the vote. Alice Paul drafted an Equal Right Amendment in 1923 that would grant full equality for men and women under the law. This is the same amendment that would later form a centerpiece of the activism during the Second Wave of Feminism.

In many ways, the Second Wave is a continuation of the efforts for women's rights introduced in the First Wave. While women won the right to vote during the First Wave, they still did not have equality in the workplace. The Second Wave reintroduced arguments regarding women's right to participate in the public sphere and have a life outside the home. Both waves fought for equal pay and women's representation in politics. Women's rights activists are still fighting for equality for women, and United States feminism is currently in its fourth wave.

First Wave Feminism - Key takeaways

First Wave Feminism is the women's rights movement that started with the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 and ended with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
First Wave Feminism primarily focused on obtaining the right to vote for women, but activists also fought for temperance and the right for married women to own and manage their own property.
Notable First Wave Feminist leaders included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, Frances Willard, and Alice Paul.
Second Wave Feminism is a continuation of many women's rights efforts that began during the First Wave, including equal pay and treatment in the workplace.

First Wave Feminism

StudySmarter Editorial Team

First Wave Feminism Definition

First Wave Feminism Goals