I do not believe that giving the woman the ballot is immediately going to cure all the ills of life. . . . I think that like men they may be divided into three classes, the good, the bad, and the indifferent. The good would vote according to their convictions and principles; the bad, as dictated by preju[d]ice or malice; and the indifferent will vote on the strongest side of the question, with the winning party.
–“We Are All Bound Up Together,”
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
The author’s purpose in this passage is to persuade the audience that women
should be treated more kindly.
can cure society.
are more thoughtful than men.
will vote for the same reasons men do.