Wyoming Territory Becomes First in U.S. to Grant Women Full Voting Rights

On December 10, 1869, Wyoming Territory’s all-male territorial legislature passed “An Act to Grant to the Women of Wyoming Territory the Right of Suffrage, and to Hold Office,” making Wyoming the first place in the United States to grant women full voting rights since New Jersey rescinded women’s voting rights in 1807. The bill, introduced by William Bright and supported by suffrage advocate Esther Hobart Morris, passed both houses of the territorial legislature and was signed into law. This victory came just months after the bitter split in the national suffrage movement over the 15th Amendment in May 1869, demonstrating that western territories offered more fertile ground for democratic expansion than the established eastern states. Wyoming Day has been commemorated in the state every December 10 since this landmark legislation, celebrating the territory’s pioneering role in women’s suffrage.

The Wyoming victory reflected unique frontier conditions that made western territories more receptive to women’s suffrage than eastern states. The sparse population and need to attract settlers created incentives for granting women rights unavailable elsewhere. Additionally, western territories lacked the entrenched political machines, corporate interests, and traditional social hierarchies that resisted democratic expansion in the East. The absence of powerful liquor industry lobbying, textile manufacturer opposition, and deeply rooted patriarchal institutions allowed progressive legislation to advance more easily. However, the victory also revealed strategic considerations beyond democratic principles—some supporters believed women’s votes would help maintain racial hierarchies by diluting the political power of Chinese and other immigrant populations in the territory.

Wyoming’s commitment to women’s suffrage proved resilient when tested. When the territory applied for statehood in 1890, opponents suggested rescinding women’s voting rights to smooth the path to admission. The territorial legislature firmly rejected this pressure, with legislators reportedly declaring they would remain a territory for 100 years rather than abandon women’s suffrage. Wyoming entered the Union on July 10, 1890 as the first U.S. state allowing women citizens to vote, enshrining this right in its state constitution. This demonstration of political courage contrasted sharply with Utah’s experience, where the federal government revoked women’s suffrage through the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 as part of efforts to combat polygamy and the power of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Wyoming’s success demonstrated that western state victories could provide proof of concept for national suffrage while also revealing the limits of state-by-state strategy. Despite Wyoming’s 51-year precedent of women voting without societal collapse, the 19th Amendment would not be ratified until 1920, showing how deeply eastern political and corporate establishments resisted democratic expansion regardless of western evidence.