Wyoming was only a territory when it began to allow women to vote in 1869, which led to a cascade of other western states allowing the same. Before the 19th Amendment, outside of New Mexico, every territory and state in the West allowed women to vote. However, it was not because Western states such as Wyoming thought that women deserved this privilege. It was a time of rapid Westward expansion, and in 1869 Wyoming had barely been able to become a territory. They added that these laws were aimed exclusively at white women. One lawmaker in Wyoming even tried to water down the bill by adding a text that explicitly gave women of other races the right to vote. But his amendment failed "because everyone said, 'Look, we know we're only talking about white women here.'" After Wyoming passed the law, states around the West saw it as an opportunity for them, too. And interestingly, even though Wyoming was the first to grant women’s suffrage, Utah was the first place where women cast a vote because their elections came first.
Europe, India, and Africa
Ah cool!
This would be referring to the Homestead Act! They would give the land to anyone who was willing to work on or improve the land.
The land was given almost free of cost and all the new owner of the land was required to do, was work the land until it was ready for farming/crops, and then they had to build a house for themselves (and possibly their family).
