Temperance Crusaders Demand the Ballot
A historic convention of the W.C.T.U. in Seattle adopts a radical platform demanding suffrage for women as a weapon against the 'liquor traffic.'
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The convention proceedings focused on a moral and political campaign against the liquor trade. Delegates passed resolutions arguing that since women and children are the primary victims of the drink habit, they should be armed with the ballot. The convention petitioned the Governor and Legislature to grant women the right of civil and political suffrage, pledging to vote only for candidates who would work for the advancement of the temperance cause. A total of 179 delegates—105 women and 74 men—attended from across the territory.
“They should be armed offensively and defensively with the ballot and not be left to fight the shotted guns of the liquor voters with blank cartridges.”
This 1883 convention captures a pivotal moment when the temperance movement directly intersected with the push for women’s suffrage in the Washington Territory. Today, the debate over how civic movements leverage the ballot to regulate vice or social ills continues to echo in local politics.
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