The Women’s Suffrage Movement greatly impacted the lives of Women in America for generations after the fact. Without the Women’s Suffrage Movement to lay the foundation for later feminist movements, it is hard to say what progress women would have made in securing their rights and personal freedoms. Equality begins with representation, so it can be said that the strive for female equality began with the nineteenth amendment’s ratification. The right to vote was just the first step for women across America who were discontent with their treatment in society, but it would be a slow process, one that took decades for further change to ensue. From the 1910s to the 1970s, women gained the right to vote, won the rights to accessible birth controls and abortions, and made historic strides in bettering their positions in schools and in the workplace.
The theme of female liberation and empowerment, specifically, the relationship these topics have with the Women’s Suffrage Movement of the early twentieth century, is representative of a larger theme throughout United States history. The theme of the marginalized group rising up against oppressors to incite change is not an uncommon story in the course of the country’s history. Since America’s conception, minority groups have worked to, and have been working towards, equality. America was founded on the idea that all men are created equal, which has come to mean that regardless of race, sex, or religion, all people should have an equal chance to be successful in America. The feminist movements of the past and present all contribute to the greater history of the struggle for equality in the United States.