American Equal Rights Association (AERA)

The American Equal Rights Association (AERA) was an organization that existed in the United States from 1866 to 1869. Cofounded by equal rights activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Frederick Douglass, AERA's mission was to ensure equal rights for all American citizens, regardless of gender or race. AERA preceded the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association, two groups that later merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. AERA's campaigns focused on getting Congress to grant suffrage, or the right to vote, to both women and African Americans. The organization also worked to secure citizenship for African Americans.

Background

Beginning in the late 1840s, the women's rights movement in the United States saw steady growth. Its progress stalled during the American Civil War (1861–1864), however, as activist efforts began to focus more on the abolition of slavery. Despite the emphasis on slavery abolition, women felt empowered by their involvement in the war's activist efforts. Women's broader political role while the men were away at war encouraged them to further develop the women's suffrage movement. The support women saw from various advocacy groups during this time also bolstered their motivation.

The American Anti-Slavery Society was a major opponent of slavery during the Civil War. Led by William Lloyd Garrison, a known supporter of the women's suffrage movement, the group encouraged the involvement of female suffragists. The group's support inspired a number of female activists to continue their push for women's rights. After the war, the society's efforts extended beyond slavery abolition and worked to grant other basic rights to African Americans, such as citizenship and voting. This reawakened the enthusiasm of women suffragists. During a meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1866, a group of female activists proposed a united suffrage campaign between women and African American groups. The idea was dismissed, however, with opponents arguing that dividing the focus between women and Black men would hinder Black men's chances of gaining suffrage.

Later that year, respected suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony called to order the eleventh National Women's Rights Convention in New York City. The annual meetings brought together both men and women to discuss progress and strategies aimed at increasing the visibility of the women's suffrage movement. That year's featured speaker, writer Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, highlighted her struggle as both a female and an African American. Harper's story influenced suffragists to reconsider a joint effort between women and African Americans. The meeting led to the formation of the American Equal Rights Association (AERA), which would advocate voting rights for women and African Americans.

Active Years

AERA elected activist Lucretia Mott as president and soon began work on various campaigns in different states. AERA organized two major campaigns during its existence. The first campaign took place in New York in 1867. Activists scoured the state giving speeches and seeking petition signatures in support of the vote for both women and African Americans. The group worked with newspaper editor Horace Greeley during its campaign. Greeley supported women's suffrage but placed suffrage for African American men ahead of women's right to vote. This led to a rift between Greeley and AERA's founders, who wanted the campaign in New York to support both efforts. Eventually, Greeley ended his ties with AERA and refused to support women's suffrage in his newspaper from that point on.

The campaign then moved to Kansas, where AERA advocated the passage of two referendums dealing with the enfranchisement of women and African Americans. Though Kansas was anti-slavery, the state's Republicans greatly resisted women's suffrage. Alongside this aggressive opposition, AERA also was plagued by financial strains. AERA's campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, and both referendums failed to pass. The setback led to discord within the organization.

Further conflict erupted after Stanton and Anthony accepted financial help from a known racist. The move estranged the pair from their fellow AERA members. Public perception of these actions also fostered a broader divide between women suffragists and African American suffragists. The issue was addressed at AERA's second annual meeting in 1868. The meeting involved a number of arguments concerning Stanton and Anthony's actions and the future of the group. Members also discussed the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which granted citizenship and suffrage to Black men. The Fourteenth Amendment introduced the word "male" into the Constitution, which Stanton and Anthony adamantly opposed. Differences of opinion divided AERA's members, with some in favor of the amendments and some opposed. The meeting ended with Mott resigning as president and suggesting the dissolution of AERA.

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in July 1868. AERA held its third annual meeting in May of the following year. Members once again bitterly clashed over the pending Fifteenth Amendment. They also disagreed over which cause deserved more attention. AERA did not hold another meeting after this, eventually dissolving and branching off into separate organizations. Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), while Stone and others formed the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). The NWSA opposed the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, while the AWSA supported it. The Fifteenth Amendment was eventually ratified in February 1870. Both the NWSA and the AWSA continued their efforts through the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which finally granted women the right to vote.

Bibliography

"The American Equal Rights Association and the Battle for the Vote." New York Historical, 31 Aug. 2023, www.nyhistory.org/blogs/the-american-equal-rights-association-and-the-battle. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Dudden, Faye E. Fighting Chance: The Struggle over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America. Oxford UP, 2011.

Goodier, Susan. “Doublespeak: Louisa Jacobs, the American Equal Rights Association, and Complicating Racism in the Early U.S. Women’s Suffrage Movement.” New York History, vol. 101, no. 2, 2020, pp. 195–211, doi.org/10.1353/nyh.2020.0036. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

"Proceedings of the First Anniversary of the American Equal Rights Association." Library of Congress, tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/rbc/rbnawsa/n3542/n3542.pdf. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, et al. History of Woman Suffrage, vol. II. 1861–76. Susan B. Anthony, 1887, pp. 172–75, archive.org/stream/historyofwomansu02stanuoft#page/172/mode/2up. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.