Picket The White House

Puzzle # 2

Use civil disobedience to gain attention for the suffrage movement by picketing the White House

Women had been regularly picketing the White House since 1913 but once the United States entered World War I, things changed. In 1917, the police began arresting women outside the White House. Undaunted by these arrests, women marched to the White House on Independence Day, carrying banners reading "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed;" they were promptly arrested. Arrests at the gates of the White House did nothing to stop the daily gathering of women picketers. More women were arrested and given sentences varying from six days to six months. Most of the women arrested were sent to Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. On arrival at the workhouse, women refused to put on prison uniforms or work; the guards became violent, kicking and beating the prisoners in what became known in the suffrage movement as "The Night of Terror." Women resorted to a hunger strike. After refusing food, they were force-fed. Some had a tube forced up her nose rather than through her mouth, resulting in bleeding and injury. Upon their release, many were too weak to walk on their own. Other tactics to suppress outspoken women was to label them as mentally unstable and threatened to be sent to institutions for the insane. SOURCE: Library of Congress

Created by Amanda Sandoval - @historysandoval - Inspired by BreakoutEDU
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