The procession was designed present an argument, section by section, about the accomplishments of women in the nation and around the world. The Great Demand was meant to be provocative. But to demand their rights was to step out of the expectations of women as demure and gentle. In the past, American women advocating for suffrage tended to do so while remaining respectable and gracious. They chose their language deliberately to be somewhat shocking. No longer content with incremental progress, with accepting limited voting rights won in bits and pieces one state or jurisdiction at a time, this new generation of suffragists were on a mission to secure their rights to the ballot across the country under the same terms as men. "We demand an amendment to the Constitution of the United States enfranchising the women of this country."Īlice Paul and the other organizers were declaring a new strategy. This float displayed a banner with the slogan that would become known as "The Great Demand." Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University The Great Demandīehind Inez in the procession was the first of over twenty floats. The "Great Demand" float in the Woman Suffrage Procession, March 3, 1913 Paul and Burns were determined to bring new energy to the campaign for women's suffrage and to push for passage of the amendment. In the 35 years since the amendment was first proposed, it had only come up for a vote in Congress once and had failed. " The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Constitution which was first proposed in 1878. The committee was tasked with winning passage of the Susan B. Designed to illustrate women's exclusion from the democratic process, the procession was carefully choreographed by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, the newly-appointed chairs of NAWSA's Congressional Committee. On March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson's presidential inauguration, thousands of women marched along Pennsylvania Avenue-the same route that the inaugural parade would take the next day-in a procession organized by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Library of Congress "Miles of Fluttering Femininity Present Entrancing Suffrage Appeal" Cover of program for the National American Woman Suffrage Association procession, showing woman, in elaborate attire, with cape, blowing long horn, from which is draped a "votes for women" banner, on decorated horse, with U.S.
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