The reason that the women of New Orleans were reluctant to join the National American Woman Suffrage Association is the conservatism of the region. The suffrage movement was seen as an offshoot of the abolitionist movement, which the many of the locals did not support. White supremacists also tried to commandeer the movement for the protection of their own interests, which was divisive enough on its own, and southern legislatures ultimately rejected this proposal, effectively shutting down this wave of suffragism.