Remembering the Night of Terror: A Pivotal Moment in the Suffrage Movement
While it’s true that the struggle for women’s suffrage in the United States is defined by resilience and determination, it’s also important to remember that it required sacrifice. The Night of Terror stands out in the history of the women’s suffrage movement as one of the biggest examples of sacrifice and resistance. Today, we want to explore this story and understand the impact it had.
The Road to the Night of Terror
On November 14, 1917, 33 women, including Dorothy Day and Lucy Burns, were imprisoned in the Occoquan Workhouse. Their crime? Peacefully picketing outside the White House as part of the National Woman’s Party’s ongoing campaign for a federal amendment granting women the right to vote. This would be the first time in American history that women would be imprisoned for non-violent reasons.
But what happened before the Night of Terror? How did they get there? Well, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and their allies were not pleased about the pace of progress at the time. Because of that, they decided to break away from the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to form the more militant National Woman’s Party (NWP).
Inspired by the tactics of the suffrage movement in England, they organized protests and pickets in Washington, D.C., to pressure President Woodrow Wilson into supporting their cause. President Wilson was tolerant at first, but things changed when World War 1 started. The suffragists were seen as unpatriotic for their activism at a time like that and that’s why the arrests started. The Night of Terror is when the conflict between the suffragists and the authorities escalated.
What Happened That Night
When the 33 suffragists were arrested and taken to Occoquan Workhouse, the conditions were horrible. But the worst of it is that the suffragists received physical and psychological abuse from the authorities. The accounts of Mary Nolan, Dorothy Day, and other suffragists detail the brutality they had to endure. Including shackles, beatings, and force-feeding.
When news of their mistreatment broke, allies both inside and outside of the suffrage movement were outraged. The Night of Terror rallied people in support of the suffragists and it gave the movement a lot of momentum. One of the things that happened was that Dudley Field Malone, a former member of the Wilson administration, resigned in solidarity with the suffragists.
Additionally, public pressure was mounting for the release of the suffragists. All this led President Wilson to reconsider his stance on the Amendment they were proposing. In 1918, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the suffragists, declaring their arrests illegal. Of course, the suffragists continued advocating, which eventually led to the passage of the 19th Amendment.
Final Words
While the Night of Terror is a traumatizing chapter in the history of the women’s suffrage movement, it also highlights the determination of the women who fought so hard for equality. The sacrifices they made show the importance of working together toward social justice and they helped create a legacy of female strength and solidarity that endures today.
Sources:
https://www.loc.gov/static/collections/women-of-protest/images/prisoners.pdf
https://www.history.com/news/night-terror-brutality-suffragists-19th-amendment
https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=16987
