The Vote, Part 2

"The Vote" was actually shown in two parts for "American Experience" because it clocks in at 3.75 hours in length!

Part one covers many issues related to women's suffrage. First, the creation of the first women's movement in 1848 is discussed. During the next couple decades, sadly, many of the folks advocating suffrage for Black Americans were against pushing for women's suffrage. The show then discusses states which DID offer voting rights for women and the focus on the progress of this to several other states...as well as failures. Women's marches, especially just before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, are discussed near the end as well as a Congressional vote for a constitutional amendment...which failed, rounded out the episode.

Part two discusses women showing 'unladylike behaviors' since polite methods simply didn't work. Now instead of pushing for individual states to grant women voting rights, they pushed more at the federal level...especially since by now all the western states had allowed women to vote. It also concerns the suffrage movement during WWI, with jailings for protests and the winning of suffrage in New York in 1917. Finally, the program talks about the constitutional amendment and its eventual passage.

This is a great documentary, as it was very thorough and mostly complete. Well worth seeing. By the way, I was surprised how little the documentary talked about the founders of the movement, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. If you want to learn more about them, you might want to try a different documentary.

The production staff listed on IMDB must be for the series overall, as all the folks who wrote, produced, directed, narrated and edited "The Vote" were women. Likewise, the vast majority of experts talking about the issue were women as well. Considering it's about women's suffrage, this does make sense!

Part one of the two-part series begins during Reconstruction and ends around 1915. This second episode picks up in 1915 and concludes with the adoption of the 19th Amendment which game women the vote. Much of the episode is about steps that made adoption more likely as well as the process by which it took for the amendment. Very interesting stuff even though viewers can easily figure out how it all will end.

Like part one, this second part if great viewing...one of the better installments of a brilliant series, "American Experience".