Women's Suffrage in the Western States and Territories (Pdf)

Women’s Suffrage in the Western States and Territories By Judge Samuel A. Thumma

ationally, women’s suffrage came from the west to the east. Women’s suf- to be via the Nineteenth Amend- frage is one example of west to east Nment to the U.S. Constitution development, as evidenced by advances adopted a century ago. Other articles in in the western states and territories. In her this issue of The Judges’ Journal provide masterful book How the Vote Was Won: thoughtful history, context, and detail in Woman Suffrage in the Western United celebrating that enactment. But women’s States, 1868–1914, Rebecca Mead writes, suffrage has a fascinating history in the “[b]y the beginning of 1914, almost every states and territories that predates the western state and territory in the United Nineteenth Amendment, at times by States had enfranchised its female citizens Judge Samuel decades and centuries. This article pro- in the greatest innovation in participatory A. Thumma has 1 vides a brief glimpse into those efforts in democracy since Reconstruction.” served on the the western states and territories. So how did the western states and ter- Arizona Court of Evolution and growth in the law in the ritories broadly accept women’s suffrage Appeals since 2012 United States sometimes is perceived to before many eastern states, and years and previously go from the east to the west. And as dis- before the enactment of the Nineteenth served as a judge cussed in other articles, in some respects, Amendment? The answer to that question on the Arizona that was the case for women’s suffrage. involves years and years and years of hard Superior Court in After all, the colonies were in the East, work, successes often after many setbacks, Maricopa County for nearly five years. statehood largely went from east to west, and perseverance in the face of uncer- The views expressed are solely those of and in the late 1800s and early 1900s, tainty and danger. These fascinating the author and do not represent those of large population centers were in the East. journeys cannot be done justice here, the Arizona Court of Appeals. But, sometimes, legal developments go other than through skimming the surface.

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Published in The Judges' Journal, Volume 59, Number 3, Summer 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. Mead’s book provides far richer context, Some academics have argued that this the acting governor of the Utah Territory, detail, and depth into the issues and indi- omission enabled women to vote in the S.A. Mann, signed a law (An Act Confer- viduals involved and the struggles lost and first elections, in which votes were cast by ring upon Women the Elective Franchise) then won, and at times won and then lost, means of signatures on petitions; but this allowing women aged 21 or older to vote but to then be won again. This article, by interpretation remains controversial. The in any election in the territory, adding contrast, provides the briefest of summa- second constitution of 1852 specified that that “[a]ll laws or parts of laws conflicting ries of women’s suffrage in these suffrage was restricted to males over 20 with this Act are hereby repealed.”7 As a pioneering states, at most whetting the years old.2 result, “Utah women hold the honor of appetite for more detail and leaving to So whatever the meaning of the 1840 being the first to vote.”8 Mead and others the incredible details constitution, any women’s suffrage effort “Utah women exercised their right to and context for these efforts. was short-lived and “[o]pposition resulted vote for seventeen years until Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887 that prohibited polygamy and rescinded women’s suffrage.” 9 The Edmonds-Tucker Act, which became law on March 3, 1887, The western states and territories after President Grover Cleveland refused to sign or veto it, also repealed the charter were achieving the goal of women’s of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints and seized church.10 The U.S. suffrage before the nation followed Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the act, finding these actions were constitu- with the Nineteenth Amendment. tional in The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. United States.11 As a result, although the Territory of Utah was an early adopter of women’s suffrage, the federal government negated that right. This article provides an overview of in a specific denial of women’s suffrage in The federal government’s disenfran- the history of women’s suffrage in the the 1852 constitution.”3 As a result, it was chisement of women in the Utah Territory western states and territories of the United not until 1920, with the passage of the did not last a decade. When Utah became States before the adoption of the Nine- Nineteenth Amendment, that women a state in 1896, women were, again, refran- teenth Amendment. These developments gained the right to vote in Hawaii (and, chised. At that time, Utah joined did not follow a straight line, at times were even then, because it did not become a Wyoming and Colorado as recognizing temporary, and had to be maddingly frus- state until 1959, Hawaii could not vote on women’s suffrage.12 trating. But the history shows, in these the Nineteenth Amendment).4 ways, that the western states and territo- Washington Territory (1883–1888) ries were achieving the goal of women’s The Kansas Attempt (1867) In 1854, a women’s suffrage proposal “came suffrage before the nation followed with Kansas became a state in 1861. In 1867, within one vote of passing” in Washing- the Nineteenth Amendment. And in this the Kansas legislature included two vot- ton Territory and an 1878 constitutional way, civilization absolutely moved from ing rights referenda on the ballot: one convention rejected such a proposal, again the west to the east, perhaps starting as to enfranchise African Americans and by one vote.13 In 1883, however, the effort far west as statehood would ever reach. the other to enfranchise women. This was successful, at least for a few years. As referendum on women’s suffrage is cited Mead notes, “woman suffrage in Washing- Western Women’s Suffrage as the first such attempt in the country.5 ton Territory . . . had an unusual history Attempts However, both provisions failed.6 And as of early enfranchisement and disenfran- The Kingdom of Hawaii (1840–1852?) discussed below, it would be nearly two chisement closely related to statehood Although uncertain, the start of women’s generations (1912) until women in Kan- aspirations. The territorial legislature suffrage in the western states and territo- sas would gain the vote. approved the measure in 1883, but the ries may have begun in in the Kingdom territorial Supreme Court invalidated the of Hawaii. Utah Territory (1870–1887) law in 1888.”14 The 1840 constitution of the Kingdom The Utah Territory approved a wom- Bloomer v. Todd was the 1888 Wash- of Hawaii established a House of Repre- en’s suffrage provision in the early part ington Territorial Supreme Court decision sentatives, but did not specify who was of 1870, a provision that would survive invaliding the law.15 Nevada M. Bloomer eligible to participate in the election of it. less than two decades. In February 1870, attempted to vote, and when the

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Stated differently, the court con- cluded Bloomer was a citizen of the United States and of Washington Terri- tory, but not when it came to voting. Western Women’s Suffrage tion to voters.27 The enactment is attributed Although Washington became a state in Successes to a variety of different factors: “Women 1889, Bloomer remained the law there for By contrast to these unsuccessful attempts suffrage passed in Colorado in 1893 due to more than two decades. Ultimately, and temporary gains and losses, other economic crises, consensus on silver in an “Washington State passed women suf- western territories and states recognized off-year election, the participation of mid- frage quite easily in 1910,” which was women’s suffrage before the Nineteenth dle-class clubwomen, the positive example of later called “a vanguard state victory” Amendment on a permanent basis, start- neighboring Wyoming, and the weak mobi- representing “the first women suffrage ing most notably with Wyoming. lization of the opposition.”28 amendment in fourteen years.”19 “Suffrag- ists throughout the country took new Wyoming Territory (1869) Idaho (1896) inspiration and valuable lessons from the In 1869, the legislature of the Wyoming Idaho, which became a state in 1890, Washington victory,”20 with several states Territory passed a law providing for wom- adopted women’s suffrage in 1896.29 following Washington’s lead in the early en’s suffrage, and territorial Governor Although coming soon after the Colo- 1910s, as discussed below. John Allen Campbell signed the provision rado enactment, “the victory in Idaho in on December 10, 1869, making it the first 1896 is less well understood.”30 The success Alaska Territory (1913) territory or state to provide for women’s in Idaho, however, seems tied to the Colo- Alaska did not become a state until 1959, suffrage.22 In September 1870, in Laramie, rado experience. The result, however, was meaning it could not vote on the Nine- “Louisa Swain became the first Wyoming felt almost immediately. “Idaho governor teenth Amendment. In 1913, however, the woman to cast a ballot under the world’s Frank Steunenberg commended female

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Published in The Judges' Journal, Volume 59, Number 3, Summer 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. turnout in 1898, when three women (a including a 1906 failed effort that “was the efforts leading to it are legion. Some Democrat, a Populist, and a Republican) widely attributed to fraud,”40 and another jurisdictions, however, acted earlier, and won seats in the legislature. They ‘made unsuccessful campaign in 1910,41 it was many of those states and territories were most accepted public officers, serving with not until 1912 when “Oregon finally in the West. Those efforts were not uni- ability and success,’ proving that ‘the only approved women suffrage.”42 versally successful, and at times had stops vital question at the polls were those of In Kansas, after the first-in-the-country and starts even after winning the ballot. merit and party.’”31 statewide women suffrage referendum Each effort, either by statute or by initia- failed in 1867, and after a failed attempt tive, has its own story with different California (1911) in 1894 was referred to as a “disaster,”43 participants, themes, and issues, some of Notwithstanding Idaho’s success, Cali- Kansas also joined the club in 1912.44 which are masterfully captured in Rebecca fornia efforts that year yielded a different Mead’s How the Vote Was Won: Woman result. “The woman suffrage amendment Montana and Nevada (1914) Suffrage in the Western United States, [in 1896] lost in California (137,099 to Montana and Nevada followed two 1868–1914, which is well worth reading. 110,355), with a 44.6 percent positive vote years later.45 Notably, in 1916, Jeannette It is noteworthy that Mead opens her book statewide.”32 This loss “was a bitter blow to Rankin, a Republican from Montana, was with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt these suffragists, who had hoped the Pop- elected to the U.S. House of Representa- published in a 1913 article called “The ulist momentum would help them sweep tives and became the first woman to serve Uncivilized East”: “‘I think civilization is the West, but they were consoled by the in Congress.46 coming Eastward gradually.’”52 Truly, these Idaho victory that same year.”33 western efforts establishing women’s suf- It would be another 15 years until Cali- New Mexico frage show that legal developments fornia would recognize women’s suffrage. New Mexico appears to have been the sometimes really do go from the west to In 1911, a broad base of support worked for outlier as the only western state or ter- the east. n a women’s suffrage proposal that passed: ritory that did not guarantee women’s “[t]he final total was 125,037 to 121,450, a suffrage, in some form, before ratifica- Endnotes margin of only 3,587 votes,”34 passing with tion of the Nineteenth Amendment. 1. Rebecca Mead, How the Vote Was Won: just 50.7 percent of the votes. But western That said, the “Message of Governor O. Woman Suffrage in the Western United state efforts the next few years would “con- A. Larrazolo to the 4th Legislature of the States, 1868–1914, at 1 (2004). firm[] that the suffrage movement had State of New Mexico, Santa Fe, Janu- 2. This information about the Territory of Hawaii entered a new and more dynamic period in ary 15, 1919, an official State document,” is found in a Women’s Suffrage, Wikipedia, https:// the twentieth century.”35 In fact, “[i]nspired showed that the governor “and the New en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage#cite_ by the Pacific Coast victories, all other Mexico Republican Party were pledged note-7 and note-17 (citing J. Kehaulani Kauanui, western states and territories except New to support the women’s right to vote. He Paradoxes of Hawaiian Sovereignty: Land, Sex, Mexico enfranchised their women citizens further noted the need for an amendment and the Colonial Politics of State National- by the end of 1914.”36 to the New Mexico Constitution to assure ism (Oxford Press 2018)). their right.”47 After passage of the Nine- 3. Id. Arizona, Oregon, and Kansas (1912) teenth Amendment by Congress later in 4. Hawi’i and the 19th Amerndment, Nat’l Park In 1912, Arizona, Oregon, and Kansas 1919, “[t]he New Mexico Legislature and Serv., https://www.nps.gov/articles/hawaii-and- all approved referenda adopting women’s Governor Octaviano Larrazolo ratified the the-19th-amendment.htm. suffrage. amendment on February 21, 1920.”48 5. Mike McCabe, First in the Midwest: Kansas’ When Arizona became a state on Feb- Role in the Women’s Suffrage Movement, CSG Mid- ruary 14, 1912, it did not recognize women Conclusion west (Mar. 2015), https://www.csgmidwest.org/ suffrage. A ballot proposition later that West to east comparisons show stark con- policyresearch/0315-kansas-womens-suffrage.aspx. year, on the first general election ballot trasts in approaches to women’s suffrage.49 6. Early Suffrage and Formation of ESA [Kansas for the State of Arizona, approved wom- And the comparison is stark. For example, Equal Suffrage Association] 1859–1884, League en’s suffrage with more than 68 percent in 1872, three years after the Wyoming of Women Voters of Kan., https://lwvk.org/ of voters favoring the measure.37 Territory adopted women’s suffrage, Susan about-lwv-of-kansas/lwvk-history. In Oregon, “full suffrage received large B. Anthony was arrested for attempting 7. Suffrage and Stories of Utah Women, Utah votes in the Oregon state legislature in to vote in New York state.50 And in 1915, Div. Archives & Records Serv., https://archives. 1871, 1873, and 1875 and women’s school after all the western states and territories utah.gov/digital/suffrage.html. voting and office-holding measures passed except New Mexico had recognized wom- 8. Amy Barry, Women’s Suffrage: 100th Anni- in 1877.”38 But these ballot measures were en’s suffrage, New York voters defeated a versary of the 19th Amendment, Utah Div. State not approved by the electorate and, in women’s suffrage referendum.51 Hist. (Oct. 28, 2019), https://history.utah.gov/ 1884, “an Oregon woman suffrage refer- The importance of the Nineteenth womens-suffrage-100th-anniversary-of-the-19th- endum lost badly.”39 After further efforts, Amendment cannot be understated, and amendment.

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