ists fought back with hunger strikes anddemands that they be treated as political prisoners. Prison officials responded with painfulforced feeding," using a tube running through the nose into the stomach. In November1917, Alice Paul herself was arrested and placed in the prisons psychopathic ward.However, the arrests actually increased public pressure to solve the suffrage issue.Governmental intimidation were not the only players women had to contend with.There was also the issues of the individual women, aside form the group. Although thiswas called a bloodless revolution and no one lost a life, there was also a slew of violencethat is not often mentioned in history. Women who joined the movement were often firedand blackballed from their jobs. They were beaten during demonstrations and even whennot demonstrating. Their houses were vandalized and signs were put out in their yards,there were a few cases of burning crosses, when the movement because involved withabolition. Then there were the more horrifying cases of rape, and savagery with inmarriages. Husbands of women in the movement if they were not supportive would oftenuse spousal abuse and inter-marital rape to force the women to drop out of the protest. This was an effective method of diminishing the movements numbers. Finally, all the campaigning paid off. In the summer of 1919 the nineteenthamendment passes both the house and the senate. After a few more years of campaigning,on August 26 the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted after the thirty-six states ratify it.The struggle for suffrage was an important one because it showed that throughpeaceful protest one can obtain political power. Perhaps it was only because they werewomen that they were not put down by the government, but in any event theyaccomplished an important feat that took precedent for the womens movement forcenturies to come....
