Final answer:
The post-Civil War era was a divisive period for the women's suffrage movement, marked by internal disagreements over strategy and alignments, progress in state and local suffrage victories, and societal challenges such as racial divides and personal attacks against suffragists. Ultimately, these challenges were overcome, leading to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
Step-by-step explanation:
Divisions in the Women's Suffrage Movement
Following the Civil War, the women's suffrage movement saw a period of division and debate regarding its strategies and goals. Organizations like the American Women's Suffrage Association (AWSA) opted for a more conservative approach, focusing on winning suffrage rights at local and state levels and often employing the era's gender norms to argue their role in school and community governance. In contrast, other factions of the movement, including some led by notable figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, encountered ideological splits, especially concerning the priority given to women's suffrage over African American enfranchisement. This led to Stanton and Anthony controversially aligning with white supremacists who supported women's equality but opposed black suffrage.
Despite these internal conflicts, the suffrage movement made notable advances. Real progress included an increasing number of women graduating from high school by 1870, involvement in newly accessible professions like teaching and nursing, the establishment of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and the slow but growing right to vote in several Western states. However, challenges such as societal backlash, personal attacks against suffragists, and competition with the abolitionist movement for support significantly slowed down the advance toward a national suffrage amendment.
Racial tensions also affected the unified front of the suffrage movement with white and black women often finding themselves in separate organizations despite having shared goals. Nevertheless, the efforts of a diverse set of suffrage advocates cumulatively led to the inclusion of women's voting rights in the form of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.