Votes for Women in Nebraska 5 of 8

Opposition to Women's Suffrage:
Men Get Organized in Opposition

The first organized male opposition to the Nebraska suffragists, like the female group, came from Omaha. In 1914, the Nebraska Men's Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NMAOWS) was organized. They published a document in 1914 expressing their reasons for opposing women's suffrage:
"Franchise [the right to vote] is a privilege of government granted only to those to whom the government see fit to grant it."
Anti-suffrage association
National Anti-Suffrage Association headquarters. Photographed by Harris & Ewing, 1911(?). Source — Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-25338 DLC.

The group argued that it was not a birthright or a right tied to taxation. After all, women's suffrage was contrary to the founding fathers' vision of republican government. Female suffrage was never suggested in the original constitution because the founders feared that "an excitable and emotional suffrage" would destroy the republic.

Their association focused on two key major arguments — woman suffrage would force women to serve on juries, and granting women suffrage was merely "the first step for women who demanded FREEDOM and POWER in their attempts to change HOME and MARRIAGE."

While the men's anti-suffrage organizations were typically smaller and less organized than the women's anti-suffrage organizations, they were more willing to take a public stand. The men's organizations also helped finance political campaigns against women's suffrage.