Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
After the holding of these conventions, delegations from the
National Association called on the nominees of the two great
parties to ascertain their opinions and proposed action, if any, on
the question of woman suffrage. Mrs. Blake, and other ladies
representing the New York city society, called on General Hancock
at his residence and were most courteously received. In the course
of a long conversation in which it was evident that he had given
some thought to the question, he said he would not veto a District
of Columbia Woman Suffrage bill, provided such a bill should pass
congress, thereby putting himself upon better record than Horace
Greely the year of his candidacy, who not only expressed himself as
opposed to woman suffrage, but also declared that, if elected, he
would veto such a bill provided it passed congress.
Miss Anthony visited James A. Garfield at his home in Mentor, Ohio.
He was very cordial, and listened with respect to her presentation
of the question. Although from time to time in congress he had
uniformly voted with our friends, yet he expressed serious doubts
as to the wisdom of pressing this measure during the pending
presidential campaign.
As it was deemed desirable to get some expression on paper from the
candidates the following letter, written on official paper, was
addressed to the Republican and Democratic nominees:
ROCHESTER, N. Y., August 17, 1880.
Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD: _Dear Sir_: As vice-president-at-large of
the National Woman Suffrage Association, I am instructed to ask
you, if, in the event of your election, you, as President of the
United States, would recommend to congress, in your message to
that body, the submission to the several legislatures of a
sixteenth amendment to the national constitution, prohibiting the
disfranchisement of United States citizens on account of sex.
What we wish to ascertain is whether you, as president, would use
your _official influence_ to secure to the women of the several
States a _national guarantee_ of their right to a voice in the
government on the same terms with men. Neither platform makes any
pledge to secure political equality to women--hence we are
waiting and hoping that one candidate or the other, or both, will
declare favorably, and thereby make it possible for women, with
self-respect, to work for the success of one or the other or both
nominees. Hoping for a prompt and explicit statement, I am, sir,
very respectfully yours,
SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
To this General Hancock vouchsafed no reply, while General Garfield
responded as follows:
MENTOR, O., August 25, 1880.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account