'As Badly off as the Filipinos': U.S. Women's Suffragists and the Imperial Issue at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

• Published in: Journal of women's history 2001-07, Vol.13 (2), p.9-33
• Main Author: Hoganson, Kristin L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 20th century; Asian Cultural Groups; Civil rights; Coalition Formation; Gender; Gender studies; History; Imperialism; International Relations; Organizations; Politics; Social equality; Turn of the Century; U.S.A; United States of America; Universal suffrage; Voting Rights; Women; Women's movements; Womens Rights; Womens rights movements; Womens suffrage
• ISSN: 1042-7961; 1527-2036; 1527-2036
• DOI: 10.1353/jowh.2001.0050

This article considers why turn-of-the-twentieth-century U.S. women's suffragists failed to build a coalition with anti-imperialists comparable to the antislavery-women's rights alliance of the antebellum period. Although some prominent suffragists--including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton--accepted the fundamental principle of empire and only critiqued the implementation of U.S. policies, others regarded anti-imperialism as a necessary outgrowth of their suffrage principles. Since imperial endeavors gave rise to an anti-imperialist movement, that, during the Philippine-American War, gained more political salience than women's suffrage, anti-imperialist suffragists also regarded their opposition to empire as a politically astute strategy. Yet the suffragists who strove to build a reform coalition were frustrated by both male anti-imperialist leaders and many of their suffrage associates. And despite their interest in coalition building, anti-imperialist suffragists failed to reach out to Filipina women, who faced protracted struggles for political rights.