100 years ago today, the Suffragette movement took the world by storm by engaging in the first major civil rights march in Washington, D.C. in history. Thousands of suffragettes marched down Pennsylvania Avenue on March 3, 1913 demanding "Votes for Women." Drawing women from across the country, it had several components, including striking displays of "Columbia" and similar extravagant displays.Stealing the spotlight from President Wilson's inauguration the next day (he arrived in D.C. the day of the parade), the tactics were condemned, the message mocked, and the women assaulted by a huge hostile crowd.
The violent outbreak that ended the parade led to Congressional hearings and the firing of the D.C.'s police chief, and more importantly, to huge publicity for the suffragette movement. The brainchild of Alice Paul and organized by the American National Woman Suffrage Association, the parade paved the way for increasingly aggressive tactics, and the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, effective on August 26, 1920.
We owe much to the brave women who upended Washington, D.C. a century ago.
To learn more about the First Principle of equality and the great Patriots, documents, and flags that made it so, visit PatriotWeek.org and AmericasSurvivalGuide.com.
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