2008 Woodie Awards
This Day in History: Oct. 8
Nicole Heinzinger
Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Opinion
In the early 1900s tensions between sexes were at a boiling point. Women were continuing their efforts to receive the same rights as their male counterparts, and men were doing whatever they could to stop that from happening.
Women started to demand suffrage in 1848 during the Seneca Falls Convention and continued their battle until the 19th Amendment was adopted, although some argue that even though their war was won, the battles still take place. It was Jan. 10, 1917 that Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party decided to take the 69 years of struggling to a new level - they began picketing the White House, then under Woodrow Wilson's presidency.
Close to 500 suffragists were arrested for picketing near the White House in 1917-1918, according to http://law.jrank.org. Of those, 168 were affiliated with the NWP, including Paul. The women arrested for picketing were tried, convicted and imprisoned for months with the charges of blocking traffic and obstructing sidewalks.
It was these women who became the first US citizens to declare their imprisonment was due to political views differing from the government's. Paul and the suffragists were the first political prisoners.
Despite being warned by the District of Columbia's chief of police that she'd be arrested, Paul kept the protests going. She replied that her lawyers had assured her that picketing was legal. However legal protesting was, it failed to stop police from arresting the suffragists. On Oct. 4 1917 Paul was arrested with 10 other women.
When their trial started on Oct. 8, the women refused to be sworn in or to recognize the court. Paul claimed, "we do not consider ourselves to be subject to this court since, as an unenfranchised class, we have nothing to do with the making of the laws which have put us in this position."
Sentences were not given, but the charges were not dropped.
Paul was later arrested and tried. This time charges were filed and Paul was sentenced to seven months imprisonment. When arriving at Occoquan Workhouse, Paul united with other suffragists and joined a hunger strike. She was force-fed by guards, held in solitary confinement and the transferred to a psychiatric ward where they boarded her windows.
All suffragists imprisoned were released without condition or explanation Nov. 27-28, 1917. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled March 4, 1918 that all of the suffragists had been "illegally arrested, illegally convicted and illegally imprisoned."
Moral of the story: even if you aren't breaking the law, the government can still imprison you. No worries though, time will pass and all will be forgotten.
Women started to demand suffrage in 1848 during the Seneca Falls Convention and continued their battle until the 19th Amendment was adopted, although some argue that even though their war was won, the battles still take place. It was Jan. 10, 1917 that Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party decided to take the 69 years of struggling to a new level - they began picketing the White House, then under Woodrow Wilson's presidency.
Close to 500 suffragists were arrested for picketing near the White House in 1917-1918, according to http://law.jrank.org. Of those, 168 were affiliated with the NWP, including Paul. The women arrested for picketing were tried, convicted and imprisoned for months with the charges of blocking traffic and obstructing sidewalks.
It was these women who became the first US citizens to declare their imprisonment was due to political views differing from the government's. Paul and the suffragists were the first political prisoners.
Despite being warned by the District of Columbia's chief of police that she'd be arrested, Paul kept the protests going. She replied that her lawyers had assured her that picketing was legal. However legal protesting was, it failed to stop police from arresting the suffragists. On Oct. 4 1917 Paul was arrested with 10 other women.
When their trial started on Oct. 8, the women refused to be sworn in or to recognize the court. Paul claimed, "we do not consider ourselves to be subject to this court since, as an unenfranchised class, we have nothing to do with the making of the laws which have put us in this position."
Sentences were not given, but the charges were not dropped.
Paul was later arrested and tried. This time charges were filed and Paul was sentenced to seven months imprisonment. When arriving at Occoquan Workhouse, Paul united with other suffragists and joined a hunger strike. She was force-fed by guards, held in solitary confinement and the transferred to a psychiatric ward where they boarded her windows.
All suffragists imprisoned were released without condition or explanation Nov. 27-28, 1917. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled March 4, 1918 that all of the suffragists had been "illegally arrested, illegally convicted and illegally imprisoned."
Moral of the story: even if you aren't breaking the law, the government can still imprison you. No worries though, time will pass and all will be forgotten.
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