Why had western states adopted woman suffrage earlier than southern or eastern states?
- Acheck_circle
Frontier conditions, smaller populations, and the desire to attract settlers favored expanded voting rights for women.
- B
The federal government required western states to enfranchise women as a condition of statehood.
- C
Western women paid higher taxes than men, so suffrage was constitutionally compelled.
- D
Western states had no political opposition from any group.
Explanation
Wyoming (1869) led the way; territorial legislatures in the West adopted suffrage to attract female settlers, reward frontier contributions, and (in some cases) bolster white voting blocs. The 19th Amendment universalized this in 1920.