Every time the U.S. makes a great leap forward in civil rights, there are bound to be grumblers. I happen to live in the middle of “flyover country” where there was (and is) a shockingly strong concentration of grumbling over Lawrence v. Texas, U.S. v. Windsor, and most recently Obergefell v. Hodges. And, come to think of it, those folks have grumbled about basically every step forward in civil rights which made me celebrate ever since I moved here.
The idea of the low-density flyover states as a bastion of conservative grumblers is a relatively new one, though. There was a time, only about a century ago, when the states west of the mighty Mississippi were some of the most progressive of the lot, on the key social issues of the day, and the east coast was the abode of stodgy social conservatism.
It’s difficult to believe, I know, but on the issue of woman’s suffrage, prior to the 19th Amendment, the Old West beat almost everyone else to the punch. Even Oklahoma was ahead of the entire East Coast, with the sole exception of New York. Hell, the Mormon stronghold of Utah was already at equal suffrage before the close of 19th century.
Even more remarkably, perhaps, Maryland was still fighting woman’s suffrage even after the 19th Amendment was proclaimed ratified on August 26, 1920.
I don’t really have a point to all this, but it is nice to see something other than the usual Bible Belt / Old South vs. Everyone Else map on a vital social issue in America. I’m generally disturbed at how often the usual pattern prevails.
