Women vote on the issues. The world around them may change and new issues may arise thereby making voting more complicated, but women will voice their concerns by choosing a candidate after carefully studying the issues. Candidates may use countless of means to covet their vote, but in private, women are concerned with the basic things that will affect their money, the safety of America, and their families.

With the enactment of the 19th Amendment, women won the right to vote in 1920 but the elections didn’t see much of their participation immediately. Rather, it seemed that they settled to the back, uncertain at first on how to use this new found power. While Historians claim that there was apathy among women voters at first, it appears that they were more cautious. It was thought they took a big sigh to eye and figure out how to exactly how to use this new responsibility. For example, in 1929 women were in fact drawn to the Presidential election to support the candidate that they liked. Al Smith (D) was a New Yorker and anti-prohibition candidate, while Herbert Hoover (R) was the quiet candidate who was pro-Prohibition. Women could associate with conservative thought and Hoover. Moreover, Hoover was the Food Administrator during the Great War, something women saw as “familiar.” These were two basic but important issues to women and how they thought and more importantly, these issues directly affected their family. As a result, Hoover won the Presidency with, 41% percent of the women vote as compared to 35% of the male vote.

As women became more politically savvy, female voters were already setting the litmus test on how they would determine how to vote on issues. Women voters were using their everyday life to discern those issues that were important to them when deciding to support a candidate.

By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected, men voted as democrats at a higher rate than women. As this was a time of great economic depression and new situations, women retreated to assess the development of these issues. Women were the head of household during the depression. Although, they did not vote in a high number, they were acquiring new skills that would test their new found responsibilities. The last part of Roosevelt’s term saw the beginning of World War II which turned some women into hard workers. For example, women were left as single parents or widows during those bleak times, as a result of the War. Moreover, women learned new skills of survival that included managing their own money, entering the workforce is vast numbers, and voting according to their “needs.” This was the first time that they were able to demonstrate how their survival depended on their own sense of responsibility to their country and their family. By this time, they had developed a trend of stepping back to assess, learn, and then decide their vote. It was a trend that would continue even to date.

Women’s voting power reemerged during the election with Dwight Eisenhower, who won two terms. Women declared, at that time, that they had in fact, “put him” (Eisenhower) in power from 1953 to 1961. There was probably some truth to that. For the first time since obtaining the right to vote, women voted, at a 6% rate higher than men. But what drove them to the polls? Perhaps it was that women saw issues as the Korean War, inflation and corruption in D.C. as problematic. Hence, the only way to show their disdain against these issues was to use their voting power. They did.

Women by this time had learned how to protect their interests by using their vote. During the Eisenhower era they voted for a leader who brought calm after a war. Eisenhower created jobs with his highway plan and America was at a calm state since the end of the war. It was a prosperous time for America, and for the most part women felt that their families were unified and protected. The issues affecting the nation existed, but the economy provided for a time where women could focus on raising their families in a two parent household since before the war. It was a decade of prosperity, safety, and family stability and something women desired when selecting their candidate.

Outside the U.S. Supreme Court, the Goddess of Justice contemplates as she holds another female figurine that is blind folded. Throughout the world, this image is repeated in front of Courthouses and Government buildings: a blindfolded woman holds up scales, under-determined which way they will tilt. It is the image of fairness in the Justice System and in governing. Like with fairness, liberty is depicted by a woman in America with The Statute of Liberty. She holds the torch as if to light the way, for those who crossed the Atlantic Ocean to a better life. During American’s early years, she was the beacon of “Welcome” as they entered the U.S. for the first time. She evoked a safe haven and was seen as the welcoming ambassador for those seeking freedom from persecution, then and now. These Greek goddesses, as used around the world, evoke the same thoughts as in America: justice, liberty, and courage.

America has seen women undergo a development of great strength, a revolution if you will. During the initial settlement of America, it said that Abigail Adams often reminded her husband to not forget the females and their rights when drafting the documents that would procure freedom and rights for the new citizens of America. Yet women, who were involved in the settlement of this country, were not granted the same rights given to their husbands and leaders who penned the documents of freedom and laws. It is not clear as to whether the exclusion was a means to protect women or to carry on the tradition of seeing them as an extension of their husbands. Nevertheless, these documents that are the nexus of American freedom did not extend to women. Yet women were the quiet strength, and they took part in their contribution by creating symbols that depict the strongest sense of pride of patriotism to this day.

One particular symbol that Americans are jingoistic about is the American Flag or Old Betsy as it is often referred to. Although there are variations of the story on how Betsy Ross came to be the creator of the flag, she was commissioned by General George Washington, as many historians have documented. It was during that time that George Washington and others sought to display a flag at their first convention. Some accounts state that Ross made some changes on the stars and colors, and in fact she determined the shaping of the five star, as opposed to the six pointed star wanted by the men, was a better decision. The reasoning she gave was a simple and a more practical solution to the flag’s construction, from a woman’s point of view. Whether or not this is true, all agree that the U.S. flag is the symbol that evokes the most true and heartfelt ache of patriotism during funerals of fallen heroes, on the Fourth of July, and during war time. It is the most recognized symbol of America throughout the world.

In 1787, the U.S. Constitutional Convention allowed states to decide voting rights to extend to women. However, all of the states voted against it except for New Jersey, but shortly thereafter, this right was reversed in this state and women fell short in having a voice in government once again. Even at this time, States were flexing their strength in procuring rights for their residents without the intrusion of the Federal Government. In fact, The Tenth Amendment did not grant states their own right to regulate until 1791, but as stated previously, states were a strong voice when trying to give women access to voting.

Women transitioned from an unheard voice to that of great strength for America, from 1868 until 1920. It was during this string of years, that women gained the right to inherit property, keep their wages, file for divorce, and finally the right to vote. Yet all of this came with the heavy price of being ostracized from society because of their civil disobedience. The more restricted the rights became, the more tenacious women became about seeking a solution. For instance, they met in small sewing groups or tea time groups where they organized themselves into powerful bodies of social change. These groups were formed where women discussed everything from family, history, daily gossip, and politics. These groups grew in numbers and were quiet in their challenging laws they saw as restrictive, yet as they gained in numbers and confidence, their defiance increased as did their voice. States like New York, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, and Ohio allowed women to keep their own wages about this time. Women halted their strife during the Civil War, but when they saw that the granting of freedom to slaves in 1869 by way of the 15th Amendment also afforded them the right to vote, women began to gain momentum in their stride for a more equitable voice in their country.

In 1893, Colorado was the first state to grant women the right to vote. Soon others like Utah, Idaho, and California soon followed. These States granted female citizens rights that the U.S. Government did not see as essential or purposeful at that time. Susan B. Anthony and others joined in large amounts to procure strength and camaraderie for their suffrage movement. Finally, in 1920 after various protests and meetings, the 19th Amendment was passed granting women the right to vote. The Amendment states: “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.”

History shows us that women will be tenacious for a law that is equitable and fair. The right to vote and partake in electing leaders is a freedom that is pinnacle to shaping the America we now seek to advance and protect. Moreover, when laws are contrary to what women see as unjust, they will look for solutions that will slowly chisel away the strength of their existence until a resolution is implemented. Women have been demanding RESPECT, long before Aretha Franklin sang the chorus to make that mantra famous for all occasions. The methods women have been ensuing are crafty and intelligent. They formed groups of “similarly minded” individuals, or Rescuers, who took the leadership role and risked their lives, at times, to voice their concerns for other women in similar situations. These Rescuers saw the motions to shake up the establishment by echoing the desire to be equal, at least in political power.