If someone had asked me which U.S. state first gave women the right to vote, Wyoming would not have been my choice. I probably would have said New York or Pennsylvania.
But there it is, as sure as I sit here and type. Wyoming granted women the right to vote on this very date, December 10, 1869.
The year is not a typo. Most of the rest of the nation waited for the 19th amendment to be passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. That beautiful amendment gave all women in the United States the right to vote.
So why was Wyoming 50 years early on the draw? Initially, I thought, “Good for them, those Women Libbers!”
But the motivation for Wyoming was much different in reality. The Wyoming territorial legislators signed that bill into law because they were looking for a bit of publicity for their territory.
Apparently, a lot of western states led the nation in approving women’s suffrage — the motives were self-serving.
There were a couple of significant factors.
I should say, first, though, some of the men truly recognized the vital role of women in settling and working the Wyoming frontier.
But many men mainly voted for women’s suffrage to gain strength in their conservative voting blocks.
The other big reason was loneliness. In 1869, the territory had over 6,000 adult males and only 1,000 females. So they figured women might be more likely to move to that rugged territory of Wyoming if they were granted the right to vote.
Other surrounding states came on board, too, over the years. Like Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and so on. But Wyoming led the way.
The vote here in the United States is a precious thing. I value it with every ounce of my patriotic self. Throughout history, people have tried to ensure that the voting process in the United States is valid, giving people a voice and ensuring its citizens that precious freedom.
However. The voting process has often been falsely accused of being corrupt. We saw this run rampant in 2020 when Donald Trump slandered the reputation of the election process. His swarm of cult followers went right along with him. These days, many Republicans say before an election ever takes place, “If I lose, I will not accept the results.”
I usually do not swear, but that one deserves the biggest WTF stamp EVER! Completely ridiculous.
Hey. Here’s an idea. Let’s teach all our kids that if they lose their soccer game, no matter the score, don’t accept what everyone witnessed and what the officials proclaimed to be the outcome. Instead, say you WON, even though you lost, child, and call everyone else liars. Now there’s a school curriculum many of those Trump supporters can get behind.
Here’s another idea.
Let’s all get back to reality.
Let’s all get back to telling the truth.
Let’s all get back to being Americans acting with integrity.
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“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
― Isaac Asimov
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“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
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“Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.”
― Naomi Klein
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The vote. The earliest in the Westward Ho!
