Suffrage in New Jersey was available to most women and African Americans immediately upon the formation of the state. The first New Jersey state constitution (of 1776) allowed any person who owned a certain value of property to become a voter. In 1790, the state constitution was changed to specify that voters were "he or she." Politicians seeking office deliberately courted women voters who often decided narrow elections. Due to women's influence as

swing vote A swing vote is a vote that is seen as potentially going to any of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties. Such votes are usually sought after in election campaign ...

rs, they were used as

scapegoats Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g. "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., ...

to blame for election losses. Under the auspices of

election reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...

, both women and African Americans were denied the vote in 1807 when a "progressive" law was passed that prohibited black and women voters but abolished the property requirement for voting. Like many women in other states,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

women became involved in the abolition movement and several prominent abolitionists who later became

suffragists Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

lived in the state. One of the early suffrage protests took place when

Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, abolitionist and suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone became the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a colle ...

refused to pay her property taxes in 1857 because it was "

taxation without representation "No taxation without representation" is a political slogan that originated in the American Revolution, and which expressed one of the primary grievances of the Thirteen Colonies, American colonists for Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain. In ...

". After the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, some suffrage groups formed and women began to engage in protest voting. African American women formed separate groups to help push for suffrage in their communities. In the late 1880s, a rural school suffrage bill that affected communities with open meetings, was passed, allowing some women limited access to vote. A series of state court cases were filed on different accounts in regards to voting, further muddying the law. In the early 20th century, suffragists in New Jersey grew in numbers and became bolder. They staged meetings, held parades, and other types of publicity stunts to raise awareness for women's suffrage. Most of the different suffrage groups worked together in cooperatives and pushed for a women's suffrage

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

. In 1915, they had the change to campaign for a voter

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the amendment to the New Jersey state constitution. Despite the hard push, the amendment did not pass. Suffragists continued the fight in the state, with the notable addition of the

Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage The Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage was an American organization formed in 1913 led by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns to campaign for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women's suffrage. It was inspired by the United Kingdom's suffragette ...

(CU), started by New Jersey's

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ...

. The CU was later known as the

National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...

(NWP) and many New Jersey members acted as

Silent Sentinels The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were a group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's ...

, protesting in Washington, D.C. They were pushing for a federal suffrage amendment which New Jersey ratified on February 10, 1920.

Early history

Some women enjoyed early suffrage in

. The state constitution specified that any woman or man who could meet the property requirement set by law could vote. This was a deliberate part of liberal sentiment in the state to allow many different groups of people the right to vote. New Jersey specifically set the property value low and included African Americans and other groups of people as eligible voters.

Married women A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...

were not allowed to vote, but widows and unmarried women with property could. The inclusion of women voting early in New Jersey's history was a "radical" effort to extend "

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

doctrine to its furthest—but logical—extreme." A refinement of the original wording specified that voters were considered "he or she," and this change took place in 1790. In 1797, the law was extended to allow women to vote in six New Jersey counties that were not originally included in 1790 change. That year, on October 18, an early women's suffrage poem was published in the

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

''Centinel of Freedom''. The same paper printed a letter from a state legislator that said that it was intentionally written into the state constitution that all women of all races should have the right to vote. The role of women in the 1800 election of Thomas Jefferson was noticed by the New Jersey press.

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

and Senator

Matthias Ogden Matthias Ogden (October 22, 1754 – March 31, 1791) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War, and served in various political positions afterwards. Family Matthias Ogden was a son of Robert Ogden, ...

included women during their campaigning in parts of New Jersey. Many politicians of the time included

get out the vote "Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the ...

campaigns that also targeted women. Allowing women to vote remained controversial because some people worried that Revolutionary thought and ideas could go too far. In response to

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; November 22, [ O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a founder of the United States, an ...

writing in approval of women voters, her husband,

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

, wondered "how far Revolutionary principles should be extended." One lawmaker wrote disapprovingly in a newspaper, "Our constitution gives the right to maids and widows, ''white and black''." Women voters became convenient

to blame for candidate's losses. Women were sometimes called "petticoat electors" and were considered to be easy to manipulate and generally incompetent. The

Federalists The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

also believed that denying women the right to vote would help them politically against the Republicans in New Jersey. Newspapers started reporting that women often decided elections with slim margins. In 1802, it was claimed by the loser of an election that he lost because a "married woman and an enslaved woman had illegally cast ballots." By studying poll lists, it is estimated that between 1797 and 1807 women made up 7.7% of total recorded votes and in some areas, up to 14%. The '' True American'' wrote that women may have made up 25% of the vote in 1802. Women of the time expressed their political ideas in newspapers, some writing under the names "Mary Meanwell," "Miss Bannerman," and a "Quaker Woman." As women began to vote in greater numbers after 1797, there were more challenges to the right of women to vote. In 1807, there was a tight election that was "hotly contested" because of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

ulent activity where some voters may have voted more than once, with some men even going so far as to dress as women to perpetrate the fraud. The men who dressed as women to vote fraudulently were not

prosecuted A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

for breaking the law. By this time, women voting were seen as a "political liability rather than a political asset." The first attempt to take away women's and African-Americans' right to vote was written up in 1802 as "An Act Relating to Female Suffrage" by

William Pennington William Pennington (May 4, 1796 – February 16, 1862) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the 13th governor of New Jersey from 1837 to 1843. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives, during which he served as ...

. After some debate, Pennington's act was withdrawn. In 1807,

John Condit John Condict Condit (July 8, 1755May 4, 1834) was a United States representative and a United States senator from New Jersey and father of United States Representative Silas Condit. John Condict was born in Orange in the Province of New Jerse ...

, who had only won his position by a narrow margin, introduced another act to overturn the right of women and black people to vote in New Jersey. African Americans in Lawnside and Gouldtown continued to agitate against this change, not only immediately after passage, but also in the decades following. Because the statute removed the need for men to prove a property requirement before voting it was "billed as progressive reform." Under the auspices of "

" and "anti-corruption," women and black people lost the right to vote. There were no challenges to the law by women or African-Americans before the New Jersey constitution was revised. Some white women may have supported the loss of the vote for themselves because it also meant that African-Americans and immigrants could not vote, either. Later, in the 1910s, suffragists argued that stripping the rights of women and black people was done by a "corrupt legislature."

Continued efforts

During the 1830s, many New Jersey women became involved in the abolition movement.

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

and

Angelina Grimké Angelina Emily Grimké Weld (February 20, 1805 – October 26, 1879) was an American abolitionist, political activist, women's rights advocate, and supporter of the women's suffrage movement. She and her sister Sarah Moore Grimké were c ...

moved with Angelina's husband,

Theodore Dwight Weld Theodore Dwight Weld (November 23, 1803 – February 3, 1895) was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 to 1844, playing a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known ...

, to New Jersey in the late 1830s. They met

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

when she and her husband,

Henry Brewster Stanton Henry Brewster Stanton (June 27, 1805 – January 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, social reformer, attorney, journalist and politician. His writing was published in the '' New York Tribune,'' the ''New York Sun,'' and William Lloy ...

came to visit. Cady Stanton learned a lot about ongoing reform efforts during this visit. In 1844, New Jersey wrote a new Constitution which explicitly denied women and African Americans the right to vote. On June 18, 1844, an attempt to include women's suffrage was asked by John C. Ten Eyck, who had a petition from

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

. The petition was read and not acted on. By 1847, feminist discussions on married women's property rights were taking place in New Jersey. By 1851, married women were able to receive

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

benefits. The next year, a limited act to let married women have control over property was passed. During the Pennsylvania Women's Convention at West Chester in 1852, many New Jersey suffragists attended.

John Pierpont John Pierpont (April 6, 1785 – August 27, 1866) was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His poem '' The Airs of Palestine'' made him one of the best-known poets in the U.S. in his da ...

spoke about the early rights of New Jersey women to vote during the Women's Rights Convention in Rochester in 1853. A petition for changing the laws of the state to declare that women and men were equal under the law was given to the state legislature by Henry Lafetra, a

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

Assemblyman in 1854. The response from the legislature was that women "should accept their subservient role." A few years later in 1857, Harriet Lafetra started another petition from Monmouth County for women's rights and the right to vote, which met with a similar response. In the spring of the same year,

and

Henry Browne Blackwell Henry Browne Blackwell (May 4, 1825 – September 7, 1909), was an American advocate for social and economic reform. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party and the American Woman Suffrage Association. He published ''Woman's Jour ...

moved to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. Stone refused to pay her property taxes that year in November on the grounds that it was "

." Because Stone didn't pay her taxes, some of her personal possessions were sold at auction on 1858. When the

broke out in 1861, women's suffrage activities largely ceased in the state.

After the Civil War

In December 1866, Stone and Blackwell encouraged the formation of the Vineland Equal Suffrage Association, which supported both women's and African-American suffrage. The next year, in November, the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association (NJWSA) was formed in

Vineland ''Vineland'' is a 1990 novel by Thomas Pynchon, a postmodern fiction set in California, United States in 1984, the year of Ronald Reagan's reelection.Knabb 2002 Through flashbacks by its characters, who have lived the sixties in their youth, th ...

with

as a leader. Vineland was very much a hotbed of political activity at the time. In early 1867, Stone and

Antoinette Brown Blackwell Antoinette Louisa Brown, later Antoinette Brown Blackwell (May 20, 1825 – November 5, 1921), was the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the United States. She was a well-versed public speaker on the paramount iss ...

created a petition to send to the New Jersey legislature to remove the words "white male" from the voting qualifications in the state constitution. Stone also testified in front of a legislative committee on universal suffrage for both black people and women. Her speech was published and shared throughout the state. On March 10, 1868, inspired by Stone, Portia Gage attempted to vote. The next November, on the third, 172 women in Vineland, including four black women, attempted to vote. The Vineland ballot box for women was created by teacher and farmer, Susan Pecker Fowler, who made it from blueberry cartons and green fabric. The point of the exercise was to publicize the idea that women did want to vote. Lucy Stone and her mother-in-law also attempted the same thing in

. Fowler also wrote the first of around 40 annual letters to the editor in protest of women's disenfranchisement. After Stone moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1869 the suffrage group she started dissolved. During the 1870s, women in New Jersey participated in further protest votes. In 1872,

National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...

(NWSA) encouraged women to vote to "test the word 'citizen' in the Fourteenth Amendment."

also attempted to vote on November 2, 1880, in

Tenafly Tenafly () is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,Phebe Hanaford, a Universalist preacher in the state, complained that "At the present time the Constitution of our State is in strict accordance with the statement, ''viz'', that all persons may become voters except lunatics, criminals, idiots, and women." In the early 1880s, the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

(WCTU) grew in New Jersey, especially among African-American women who formed separate groups and committees.

Therese Walling Seabrook Therese or Thérèse is a variant of the feminine given name Teresa. It may refer to: Persons Therese *Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1773–1839), member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg *Therese of Br ...

worked with the WCTU of New Jersey and helped push it towards affirming women's suffrage. Seabrook worked on the New Jersey WCTU's legislative committee and learned effective strategies for conducting petition drives and lobbying the legislature. In 1884, Seabrook and suffragists Henry Blackwell and Phebe Hanaford began to work together and were able to get some support for women's suffrage from state legislators. In February 1887,

William Miller Baird William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

introduced a bill to allow all people, regardless of race or sex to vote in school meetings. In a surprise move, the New Jersey legislature unanimously passed a rural school suffrage bill in 1887. The new law would only affect women who lived in areas, mostly rural, that voted in open meetings. Cities with formal elections could still block women from voting. In September 1887, Seabrook and

Lillie Devereux Blake Lillie Devereux Blake (pen name, Tiger Lily; August 12, 1833 – December 30, 1913) was an American woman suffragist, reformer, and writer, born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and educated in New Haven, Connecticut. In her early years, Blake wrote se ...

encouraged women to protest vote in the next election, however it is unknown if any women tried to actually protest vote that year. In 1890, the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association (NJWSA) reorganized with the help of

Mary Dudley Hussey Mary Dudley Hussey (July 31, 1853 - October 26, 1927) was an American lawyer, physician, and suffragist. Hussey worked towards women's rights both through legal efforts and through activism. She was based in New Jersey. Biography Mary Dudley Hu ...

and elected Judge John Whitehead as the president. This group not only advocated for full women's suffrage, but also encouraged women to vote in school elections. They also began to work more closely with the New Jersey WCTU and the New Jersey Grange on suffrage issues. The state of women's ability to vote in different elections continued to be challenged in the courts in New Jersey. In 1893, a law passed in the state allowed any freeholder, which could include women, the right to vote for local road commissioners. Women's right to vote for the road commissioners was challenged through the case, ''Allison v. Blake''.

William Outis Allison William Outis Allison (1849 – December 18, 1924) was the first Mayor of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey after it split from Englewood, New Jersey in 1895 and served four terms in office. Biography Allison was born in 1849 in Undercliff (now Edge ...

who ran for road commissioner and lost, claimed that his opponent, Clinton Hamlin Blake, had won due to illegal voting. Allison claimed that the women's votes were invalid. The

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases ...

ruled in this case on June 11, 1894, that women's votes were "unconstitutional under the 1844 New Jersey Constitution. There were continued efforts to get women out to vote and just as much opposition to women voting in school elections. The state Attorney General,

John P. Stockton John Potter Stockton (August 2, 1826January 22, 1900) was a New Jersey politician who served in the United States Senate as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat. He was New Jersey Attorney General for twenty years (1877 to 1897), and ser ...

, issued a formal statement on June 13, 1894, that women's right to vote for school election issues was not affected by the supreme court decision in ''Allison v. Blake''. The case of ''Kimball v. Hendee'' took issue with women's votes being rejected during a school election on July 27, 1894, and the courts decided in November 1894 that women voting in school elections was unconstitutional. ''Landis v. Ashworth'' was focused on an issue in 1893 were women had voted during a school meeting that included a

tax levy A tax levy under United States federal law is an administrative action by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under statutory authority, generally without going to court, to seize property to satisfy a tax liability. The levy "includes the power ...

. In this case, decided on February 1895, it was decided that women could vote in school meetings for everything except electing school trustees. The campaign for the 1894 New York constitutional amendment for women's suffrage also had a positive effect on people in New Jersey. NJWSA president,

Florence Howe Hall Florence Marion Howe Hall (August 25, 1845 – April 10, 1922) was an American writer, critic, and lecturer about women's suffrage in the United States. Along with her two sisters, Laura Elizabeth Richards and Maude Howe Elliott, Hall received t ...

hoped that this ruling might inspire more people to advocate for full women's suffrage in the state. Due to legislators' opposition to full suffrage, NJWSA decided to embark on restoring school suffrage. The year 1895 was the beginning of the New Jersey suffragists' effort to restore women's right to vote in school-related elections. During this year, NJWSA, working with the Jersey City Woman's Club, supported women's right to become lawyers. Their work enabled

Mary Philbrook Mary Philbrook (1872-1958) was the first female attorney in New Jersey, and the first female to be admitted to the bar association in New Jersey. The New Jersey Supreme Court initially refused Philbrook's petition in 1894 on the grounds that no ...

to become the first woman admitted to the New Jersey bar. Later Philbrook became legal counsel to the NJWSA. In September 1897, the effort to pass the school suffrage bill failed. This slowed down suffrage efforts in New Jersey again.

Reinvigorating the fight

In the early 20th century,

Harriot Stanton Blatch Harriot Eaton Blatch ( Stanton; January 20, 1856–November 20, 1940) was an American writer and suffragist. She was the daughter of pioneering women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Biography Harriot Eaton Stanton was born, the sixt ...

in New York was able to create a movement of suffragists that included working women. Minola Graham Sexton, who served as president of NJWSA, began to hold suffrage meetings in Ocean Grove in 1902. Sexton also began to give women's suffrage speeches at

women's clubs The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a par ...

and the New Jersey WCTU, starting in 1904. New Jersey suffragists held a memorial suffrage meeting in Orange in 1906 in honor of the death of

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

Mina Van Winkle Mina Caroline Ginger Van Winkle (March 26, 1875 – January 16, 1933) was a crusading social worker, suffragist, and groundbreaking police lieutenant. From 1919 until her death in 1933, she led the Women's Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Depa ...

, a friend of Blatch, started the Equality League for Self-Supporting Women of New Jersey (ELSSWNJ) in 1908 which would later be known as the Women's Political Union of New Jersey (WPU). That same year, Clara Schlee Laddey, a more modern leader took over the NJWSA. In 1909, Emma O. Gantz and Martha Klatschken formed the Progressive Woman Suffrage Society which held the state's first open air meetings. Sophia Loebinger gave a speech in

Palisades Amusement Park Palisades Amusement Park was a 38-acre amusement park located in Bergen County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was located atop the New Jersey Palisades lying partly in Cliffside Park and partly in Fort Lee. The par ...

in 1909 where she discussed the influence that Native Americans had in suffrage issues and brought three

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

people with her. In 1910, Blatch organized a parade in New York City in which New Jersey suffragists also participated. The next year, the parade in New York City was even larger and attracted between 80 to 100 suffragists from New Jersey. In 1910, the Equal Franchise Society of New Jersey (EFSNJ) was organized in Hoboken with the national founder of the

Equal Franchise Society The Equal Franchise Society (EFS) was a state-by-state organization that advocated women's suffrage in the United States. Created and joined by women of wealth, it was a conduit through which the energies of upper-class women could be channeled in ...

Katherine Duer Mackay Katherine Alexander Duer Mackay (1878–1930) was an American suffragist, socialite and writer from New York city. She was the founder of the Equal Franchise Society. Her involvement with the woman's suffrage movement "encouraged other wealthy wo ...

present. Around 200 women joined the group. The EFSNJ was made up of prominent and wealthy women living in the state and was based on the New York Equal Franchise League. The New Jersey Men's League for Equal Suffrage also formed in 1910.

Lillian Feickert Lillian Ford Feickert (July 20, 1877 – January 21, 1945) was an American suffragist, New Jersey state political organizer, and the first woman from New Jersey to run for United States Senate. She served as the President of the New Je ...

and Miss Pope helped increase the number of members of NJWSA in Jersey City by 1,400 just by canvassing door to door. EFSNJ began a campaign in 1911 to educate women on the importance of equal suffrage. In November 1911, lawyer,

, went with a teacher from Newark, Harriet Carpenter, who attempted to register to vote. Philbrook went on to file a case to challenge the "exclusion of women from NJ suffrage." In the case, ''Carpenter v. Cornish'', she argued that the 1844 state constitution "illegally deprived" women of their voting rights in the state. Philbrook took on the case to bring publicity to women's suffrage issues and the case went on to be "highly-publicized." Philbrook's case was rejected on April 11, 1912, by the

with the court upholding the limitation on suffrage. The opinion said that "women had not been authorized to vote under the constitution of 1776." The opinion also cited ''

Minor v. Happersett ''Minor v. Happersett'', 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162 (1875), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, while women are no less citizens than men are, citizenship does not confer a right to vote, and therefore state laws barri ...

'', where the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decided "that the constitution of the United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon anyone." At the end of 1911, NJWSA and other suffrage groups in New Jersey worked to create a legislative committee. A women's suffrage amendment was brought up again in the state legislature in January 1912 by Senator William C. Gebhardt. Gebhardt's daughters were active in the NJWSA and also in the

(WCTU). The legislature held a public hearing on the amendment on March 13, 1912. There were around six hundred suffragists and

anti-suffragists Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. To ...

attending the hearing. Working woman, Melilnda Scott, participated in the hearing, marking the first time a prominent

labor activist A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...

joined the suffragists in New Jersey. Several people, including

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman (; née Perkins; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer, advocate for social reform, and eugenicist. She wa ...

, Laddys, Linton Satterthwaite, Rhea Vickers, and

Fanny Garrison Villard Helen Frances “Fanny” Garrison Villard (December 16, 1844 – July 5, 1928) was an American women's suffrage campaigner, pacifist and a co-founder of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She was the daughter of promin ...

all testified on behalf of women's suffrage. George Vickers addressed the hearing and said that "No state had ever taken from women the right to vote once it had been given them, excepting New Jersey." The amendment did not pass both houses. The Equality League, run by Van Winkle, changed their name to the Women's Political Union of New Jersey (WPUNJ) and affiliated with NJWSA in 1912. This group did outreach to

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

women and working women, including the

Women's Trade Union League The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) (1903–1950) was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions. The WTUL played an important ...

. Van Winkle included working women including both professionals and blue-collar workers. The WPUNJ had more modern suffrage tactics, planning speeches, suffrage events, and parades. The group planned a "Caravan hike" which toured through 41 different towns throughout New Jersey. WPUNJ and NJWSA collaborated on a parade that was held on October 26, 1912, in Newark. There were between 800 and 1,000 men and women marching with banners, a band, and a police escort.

participated in the parade and was billed as the "oldest suffragist in the United States." After the parade, Van Winkle headed a mass meeting. In 1912,

became co-chair of the Congressional Committee of the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

(NAWSA). Paul, who was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

from New Jersey learned militant suffrage tactics in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She moved to Washington D.C. and rented a basement room to house the NAWSA committee. By April 1913, Paul and

Lucy Burns Lucy Burns (July 28, 1879 – December 22, 1966) was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate.Bland, 1981 (p. 8) She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns w ...

started the

(CU) to lobby for a federal suffrage amendment. NAWSA removed Paul and Burns from the Congressional Committee and the CU became independent. In July 1913,

Mabel Vernon Mabel is an English female given name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering th ...

spoke throughout New Jersey and helped secure thousands of names for a women's suffrage petition to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. During 1913, the New Jersey joint legislative committee for women's suffrage, made up of multiple suffrage groups, continued pressing for a state women's suffrage amendment. In February 1913, a "Votes for Women Special" train left Newark to carry suffrage supporters to Trenton to attend the hearing of the bill. An amendment for women's suffrage passed the New Jersey state legislature in the spring of 1913. However, issues with the wording were discovered on March 27, and so it had to be rewritten and passed again. After this first passage, to become an amendment, it would have to pass again in the next legislative session. It also had to be posted in "designated newspapers" in each county of the state. However, the proposed amendment wasn't published before August 4 when it should have been. This voided the bill and the suffragists would have to try again in the next legislative session. Governor

James Fairman Fielder James Fairman Fielder (February 26, 1867 – December 2, 1954) was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as the 35th governor of New Jersey, from 1914 to 1917. He had previously served as acting governor in 1913 but stepped ...

blamed his secretary for forgetting him to send the information to the newspapers on time. The situation enraged many activists. After the state suffrage convention held in November 1913, a delegation of 75 suffragists met with President-elect

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, who was the former governor of New Jersey, to request his support of the federal women's suffrage amendment. President Wilson said that "he was giving the matter careful consideration and hoped soon to take a decided stand." On March 3, 1913, Paul organized the

Woman Suffrage Procession The Woman Suffrage Procession on 3 March 1913 was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C. It was also the first large, organized march on Washington for political purposes. The procession was organized by the suffragists Alice Paul and L ...

which drew around 7,000 women to march through Washington, D.C. the day before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. Later in March, Paul led a delegation of suffragists to meet with the president to support women's suffrage. Wilson said that he hadn't thought much about equal suffrage, but would consider the issue carefully. In mid-November 1913, a delegation of 73 New Jersey activists attempted to meet with the president. Despite getting help from state representative

Walter I. McCoy Walter Irving McCoy (December 8, 1859 – July 17, 1933) was a United States representative from New Jersey and later was an United States federal judge, Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Educa ...

, they were unable to get an appointment with President Wilson. When they weren't able to see him through usual channels, Paul decided they would see the president anyway. The delegation of suffragists marched to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

where President Wilson did meet with them and talked to them about starting a Suffrage Committee in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. In 1914, NJWSA opened up a new office in Plainfield. Another amendment bill for equal suffrage passed in the state legislature early in the year.

The 1915 campaign

Suffragist_with_a_canal_worker_during_the_1915_New_Jersey_referendum

On May 6, 1915, the amendment bill was passed a second time. The state suffrage groups created a Cooperative Committee and set up branch headquarters throughout the state. A New Jersey Suffrage Press Committee was organized to send press releases and information to journalists. They also created banners and other forms of advertisement around the state. Elizabeth Colby, leader of the EFSNJ, raised money for the Press Committee. Other forms of publicity included using baseball games to promote suffrage and the usage of a "suffrage camel." Activists organized their efforts into counties and political districts. Outreach efforts and canvassing took place on a large scale. The WPU didn't limit their outreach to white women and included German-speaking and African American women in their efforts. They also brought in suffrage campaigners to speak to factory workers during lunch. Around 1,000 outdoor meetings were held and an estimated 20,000 pieces of literature were handed out every day. Campaign events were "extensively covered in national magazines and newspapers."

Anna Howard Shaw Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States. Early life Shaw ...

lobbied President Wilson to support women's suffrage efforts in New Jersey in 1915.

John Cotton Dana John Cotton Dana (born August 19, 1856, in Woodstock, Vermont – died July 21, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey) was an American library and museum director who sought to make these cultural institutions relevant to the daily lives of citizens. As ...

, W. E. B. Du Bois,

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

John Franklin Fort John Franklin Fort (March 20, 1852 – November 17, 1920) was an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 33rd governor of New Jersey, from 1908 to 1911. His uncle, George Franklin Fort, was a Democratic Governor of New Jersey f ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, and eventually, President Wilson, came out in support of women's suffrage in New Jersey during this campaign. The State Federation of Labor, however, refused to support the suffrage amendment, and Melinda Scott of the Hat Trimmers Union of Newark refused to affiliate with the state group because of this. As a publicity stunt, the

Suffrage Torch The Suffrage Torch (also known as the Torch of Liberty and the Suffrage Torch of Victory) was a wooden and bronze-finished sculpture of a torch that was used in the New Jersey, New York (state), New York, and Pennsylvania women's suffrage campaig ...

was used in the suffrage campaigns in both New York and New Jersey. The torch was taken around New York and then handed off in middle the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

of the WPU.

organized a "Flying Suffrage Squadron." The Squadron toured throughout Middlesex County and held meetings in different locations. New York suffragists also helped the effort, canvassing commuters from New Jersey on the Hudson ferries and conducting

efforts. NJWSA held an event on August 13 in Orange to celebrate the birth of

and her tax protest there.

Alice Stone Blackwell Alice Stone Blackwell (September 14, 1857 – March 15, 1950) was an American feminist, suffragist, journalist, radical socialist, and human rights advocate. Early life and education Blackwell was born in East Orange, New Jersey to Henry Browne ...

, and Shaw attended the event. Shaw brought her yellow roadster, Eastern Victory, and drove it in the parade that was held afterwards. The election was held on October 19, 1915, and had a high voter turnout. Some suffragists claimed that anti-suffragists, especially James R. Nugent, had brought in voters from New York to defeat the amendment. Women, including black women served as

poll watchers A scrutineer (also called a poll-watcher or a challenger in the United States) is a person who observes any process which requires rigorous oversight. Scrutineers have the tasks of preventing the occurrence of corruption and of detecting genuine ...

at the majority of the state's

polling place A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building

s. The amendment was defeated by more than 51,000 votes and did especially poorly in urban areas. After the loss of the women's suffrage amendment,

Mary Garrett Hay Mary "Mollie" Garrett Hay (August 20, 1857 – August 29, 1928) was an American suffragist and community organizer. She served as president of the Women's City Club of New York, the Woman Suffrage Party and the New York Equal Suffrage League. ...

said that "If the women had had a fair vote it would have been wonderful."

The fight continues

On December 1, 1915, a chapter of the

(CU) was formed in New Jersey with Alison Turnbull Hopkins serving as the president. The temporary headquarters for the CU were in Morristown. Feickert, involved with the NJWSA, was unhappy that another new suffrage organization had set up in New Jersey. The NJWSA outlined a new direction for the group at its annual convention in January 1916. In February 1916, the Joint Legislative Committee was able to convince the state legislature to submit a presidential suffrage bill, however, it did not pass the state senate. In 1917, another presidential suffrage bill was introduced, but never made it out of committee. By spring of 1917, the

New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs (NJSFWC) was founded in 1894 and is currently located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. NJSFWC is the largest volunteer women's service organization in the state of New Jersey and a member of the General F ...

(NJSFWC) finally endorsed women's suffrage. The Eastern Campaign of the CU held a mass meeting in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

to discuss their opposition towards Democratic members of the government who were blocking the federal suffrage amendment. By March 1917, the CU changed their name to the

(NWP) New Jersey branch. Members of the NWP picketed the White House as "

." NWP members represented their state on New Jersey Day, picketing the White House as well as participating in a mass picket of around 1,000 women. As the United States voted to enter

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, NAWSA leaders decided that suffragists would help support the war effort. The NJWSA began to work on patriotic tasks to support the effort in WWI and were the first group to offer their services to the New Jersey governor to help with the war effort. Feickert became a vice-chair on the New Jersey Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense where she represented NJSWA. Paul and NWP continued to picket the White House despite the US entry into the war, and emphasized that it was hypocritical to go to war for democracy when women in the US could not vote. As a federal women's suffrage amendment began to make headway in early 1918 in the United States House of Representatives, NJSFWC resolved to put pressure on President Wilson to influence members of his party to vote for the bill in the United States Senate. In New Jersey, suffragists campaigned for pro-suffrage candidates with some real success. The vote on the federal amendment in the U.S. Senate was lost by only one vote on February 10, 1919, when New Jersey Senator David Baird Sr. voted "no." Eventually, the federal suffrage amendment was passed and waited on ratification by 36 states. Feickert started chairing a new group, the New Jersey Suffrage Ratification Committee (NJSRC), to fight for the state legislature to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Nineteenth Amendment. This group included NJWSA, NJSFWC, the New Jersey Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (NJFCWC), the New Jersey WCTU, and other groups of professional women. The NWP of New Jersey worked to selectively lobby state legislators. Like before, NJSRC used the tactic of supporting pro-suffrage candidates in elections. In January 1920, the state legislature took up the issue of the federal amendment. It passed the Senate by a large margin on February 2. The debate on the ratification took place in the state assembly on February 9. Suffragists filled the chamber to listen to the debate and early into the night the Assembly passed the resolution on February 10, leading to women celebrating in the halls of the building after the passage. Suffragists celebrated the ratification formally on April 23 in Newark, where the NJWSA transitioned into the League of Women Voters of New Jersey.

African-American women suffragists in New Jersey

In the early 1880s, African Americans, African-American women created their own organizations in New Jersey to promote Temperance movement, temperance and which were affiliated with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, WCTU. During the annual convention in 1887, the New Jersey WCTU voted to support women's suffrage. White members of the Women's Political Unions did outreach to black women in

. W. E. B. Du Bois publicly supported the 1915 New Jersey campaign, writing in ''The Crisis'', "To say the woman is weaker than man is sheer rot: It is the same sort of thing we hear about the 'darker races' and 'lower classes.'" Mary Church Terrell campaigned in New Jersey in October, urging black men to vote for the women's suffrage amendment. During the 1915 election, black women were also part of the Scrutineer, poll watching effort. In a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' article, the black poll watchers were blamed for losing the women's suffrage amendment in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County. The paper wrote, "According to responsible citizens, many voted against suffrage for this reason who might have favored the amendment." Florence Spearing Randolph was involved with getting the New Jersey State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (NJFCWC) to affiliate with the NJWSA which took place in November 1917.

Anti-suffragists in New Jersey

During a testimony on women's suffrage held on March 13, 1912, many anti-suffragists came to testify against equal suffrage. Some the speakers included Harriet White Fisher and Minnie Bronson. The anti-suffragists decided to organize after the hearing, creating the New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NJAOWS) in Trenton on April 14, 1912. The group was an affiliate of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS). The Men's Anti-Suffrage League also opposed suffrage in New Jersey and argued that women did not want the vote. The Dean of Princeton University, Princeton College, William Francis Magie, served as president of the New Jersey Men's Anti-Suffrage League. Magie argued that women's suffrage would disrupt gender roles and "undermine civilization." Anti-suffragists began to mobilize against the 1915 women's suffrage amendment starting in May 1915.

, president of the NJWSA accused anti-suffragists of misrepresenting her speech, given in 1915. When the women's suffrage amendment was lost in 1915, anti-suffragists celebrated.

References

Sources

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External links

New Jersey Suffrage Resources
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Woman Suffrage in New Jersey
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{{DEFAULTSORT:New Jersey women's suffrage movement Feminism and history Politics of New Jersey Suffrage referendums New Jersey suffrage