EMANCIPATION AND EQUALITY

In the course of my researches into the 2nd of April, I encountered the following:

On 2nd April 1870 - Victoria Claflin Woodhull announced her candidacy for President of the United States. I am not sure how accurate that date is; however,

she was indeed the first woman to run for President of the United States, although her name did not appear on the ballot. She was quite a lady. Victoria Claflin Woodhull (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927) She became a colorful and notorious symbol for women's rights, free love, and spiritualism as she fought against corruption and for labor reforms. Her role as a representative of these movements was powerful and controversial. She was the first woman along with her sister to operate a brokerage firm in Wall Street and then open a weekly newspaper. She is most famous for her declaration and campaign to run as the first woman for the United States Presidency in 1872. Many of the reforms and ideals espoused by her for the common working class against the corrupt rich business elite were extremely controversial in her time.

She made a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange with her sister Tennessee Celeste Claflin, as the first female Wall Street brokers. Woodhull, Claflin & Co. opened in 1870 with the assistance of a wealthy benefactor, Cornelius Vanderbuilt, an admirer of Victoria's mediumistic skills and rumored to have been a lover of Tennessee's. Newspapers like the New York Herald hailed Woodhull & Claflin as "the Queens of Finance" and "the Bewitching Brokers." Many contemporary men's journals (e.g., The Days' Doings) published sexualized images of the pair running their firm (although they did not participate in the day-to-day business of the firm themselves), linking the concept of publicly-minded, un-chaperoned women with ideas of "sexual immorality" and prostitution.

Tennessee Claflin

On May 14, 1870, she and Tennessee used the money they had made in their brokerage days to found a paper, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which stayed in publication for the next six years. It became notorious for publishing controversial opinions on taboo topics, advocating among other things sex education, free love, women's suffrage, short skirts, spiritualism, vegetarianism, and licensed prostitution. It is commonly stated that the paper also advocated birth control, but some historians disagree. The paper is now known primarily for printing the first English version of Marx's Communist Manifesto in its December 30, 1871 edition.

Woodhull belonged to the International Workingmen's Association, also known as the First International. In 1871 most of the English speaking members of the First International's U.S. sections were expelled. Karl Marx commented disparagingly on Woodhull in 1872, expressing approval of the expulsions. Not his best expression some might think, but typical of his age.

She preempted the opening of the 1871 National Woman Suffrage Association's third annual convention in Washington. Suffrage leaders postponed their meeting to listen to the female broker address the House Judiciary Committee. Woodhull argued that women already had the right to vote — all they had to do was use it — since the 14th and 15th Amendments granted that right to all citizens. The simple but powerful logic of her argument impressed some committee members. Suffragists, including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Isabella Beecher Hooker, saw her as their newest champion. They applauded her statement: "women are the equals of men before the law, and are equal in all their rights."

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 1 of the 15th Amendment reads: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

A musical based on her life Onward Victoria (with a book and lyrics by Charlotte Anker and Irene Rosenberg and music by Keith Herrmann) directed by Julianne Boyd, opened on Broadway, on December 14, 1980 at the Martin Beck Theatre, Sadly it only ran for one performance. There have been other attempts at portrayals, but surely she should be celebrated. She was born Victoria California Claflin in Homer, Licking County, Ohio. Her father, Reuben Buckman Claflin was a con man, arsonist, snake oil salesman and occasional fraudulent doctor. What a way to start! I shall be pursuing this.

During the surfing round, I discovered this article from the Cleveland (Ohio) Herald, printed 2nd April 1861, and in keeping with liberty and suffrage I thought it worth including here. Ten days after this article was printed, the Civil War officially began. It is well worth the effort to read.