Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 43

 Thaddeus Stevens and women's suffrage

July 2024

By Ross Hetrick

If one of Thaddeus Stevens's original proposals for the 14th Amendment to the Constitution had been approved, women may have gotten the vote 50 years before they did.

In the early stages of hammering out the amendment in 1866, Stevens proposed to base representation in the House of Representatives and in the Electoral College on the number of eligible voters rather than the number of people. "Representation shall be apportioned among the States which may be within the Union according to their respective legal voters," Stevens's proposal read. 

With basically only white males allowed to vote at that time, states could significantly increase their number of representatives in Congress by simply giving Blacks and women the vote. Once that started, more conservative states would be under pressure to expand their voting lest they lose political power. But this was seen as way too radical to be approved by the states even if it could get through Congress. "It was dear to my heart, for I had been gestating it for three months," Stevens said to laughter in the House, "but when I came to consult the others and found that the States would not adopt it, I surrendered it."

But then the House went in the opposite direction and inserted the word "male" into the proposed amendment, the first time in the history of the Constitution. This angered Stevens, who threatened to vote against his own amendment. Yet, he was still able to make a joke about it that referred to his bachelorhood.

"Why make a crusade against women in the Constitution of the nation?" Stevens asked. "I do not think we ought to disfigure the Constitution with such a provision. I find that every unmarried man is opposed to the proposition. Whether the married men have particular reason for dreading interference from that quarter, I know not. I certainly shall never vote to insert the word 'male' or the word 'white' in the national Constitution."

Despite his protest, "male" remained in the amendment and Stevens backed down on his threat. "Believing, then, that this is the best proposition that can be made effectual, I accept it." he said. "I shall not be driven by clamor or denunciation to throw away a great good because it is not perfect. I will take all I can get in the cause of humanity and leave it to be perfected by better men in better times. It may be that time will not come while I am here to enjoy the glorious triumph; but that it will come is as certain as that there is a just God."

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.