Editing Lucy Stone (section)

=== American Equal Rights Association ===

Slavery was abolished in December 1865 with the ratification of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]], which raised questions about the future role of the [[American Anti-Slavery Society]] (AASS). In January 1866, Stone and Anthony traveled to an AASS meeting in Boston to propose a merger of the anti-slavery and women's movements into one that would campaign for equal rights for all citizens. The AASS, preferring to focus on the rights of African Americans, especially the newly freed slaves, rejected their proposal.<ref>DuBois, 1978, p. 63</ref>

In May 1866, Anthony and Stanton organized the Eleventh [[National Women's Rights Convention]], the first since before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] began.<ref>Stanton, Anthony, Gage, Harper (1881–1922), Vol. 2, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofwomansu02stanuoft#page/152/mode/2up pp. 152–53]</ref>
In a move similar to the proposal that had been made earlier to anti-slavery forces, the convention voted to transform itself into a new organization called the [[American Equal Rights Association]] (AERA), whose purpose was to campaign for the equal rights for all, especially the right of suffrage.<ref>Stanton, Anthony, Gage, Harper (1881–1922), Vol. 2, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofwomansu02stanuoft#page/170/mode/2up pp. 171–72]</ref> Stone did not attend the AERA's founding convention, most likely for fear of the recent [[cholera]] outbreak in New York City, the meeting's location. She was, nevertheless, elected to the new organization's executive committee. Blackwell was elected as the AERA's recording secretary.<ref>McMillen, 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tPCRBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA164 p. 164]</ref>

In 1867, Stone and Blackwell opened the AERA's difficult campaign in [[Kansas]], in support of [[referendum]]s in that state that would [[suffrage|enfranchise]] both African Americans and women. They led the effort for three months, before turning the work over to others and returning home. Neither of the Kansas referendums was approved by the voters. Disagreements over tactics used during the Kansas campaign contributed to a growing split in the women's movement, which was formalized after the AERA convention in 1869.<ref>DuBois, 1978, pp. 79–81, 189</ref>