From 1865, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton led campaigns for equal rights for all but were ultimately defeated by a Congress and reformers intent on applying suffrage established with constitutional amendments and legislation to men only. Ignoring all women, black and white, advocates argued that enfranchising black men would solve race problems, masking the effect on women. This book weaves Anthony's and Stanton's campaigns together with national and congressional events, in the process uncovering relationships between events and revealing the devastating impact on the women and their campaign for civil rights for all citizens.

When women picketed the White House demanding the vote on January 17, 1917, they broke new ground in political activism. They petitioned the President and Congress and marched in the streets in the nation's first ever coast to coast campaign for political rights. Women were imprisoned for peaceful protest, went on hunger strikes and were beaten and tortured by authorities. But they won the 19th Amendment, ensuring that the right to vote cannot be denied because of gender. Their successful nonviolent civil rights campaign established a precedent for those that followed, giving them the tools--including the vote--needed to advance their goals. This book chronicles the work of Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party and their influence on American political activism.