| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.5

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 310 words from this article are provided below; about 596 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.5 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Lorraine Gates Schuyler. The Weight of Their Votes: Southern Women and Political Leverage in the 1920s. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2006. Pp. xiii, 336. Cloth $59.95, paper $22.50.
Lorraine Gates Schuyler has written a superb and engaging book of historiographical significance. At the heart of the narrative, the author challenges the prevailing scholarly consensus that southern women employed a great deal of political savvy prior to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment only to discover that enfranchisement "had relatively little effect on the[ir] political activities and political power" in subsequent years (p. 3). Instead, argues Schuyler, "southern women, who were so adept at wringing power from powerless situations before 1920, were no less adept at using the ballot to achieve their political goals after 1920" (p. 6).	1
In an elegant introduction and seven well-conceived chapters, Schuyler lays out her argument in a confident yet balanced tone that specialists and nonspecialists alike will appreciate and find accessible. A major strength of the book lies in the prodigious amount of primary research that the author conducted in dozens of archives in every southern state (except Florida, for reasons she explains). Time and again, she marshals copious evidence from across the region to support her argument.	2
As Schuyler explains, historians have tended to minimize the effect of the Nineteenth Amendment in the South by emphasizing the extent to which the region failed to develop a vibrant two-party system after 1920. In every state in the South, the Democratic Party continued to maintain overwhelming electoral majorities. White supremacy remained the status quo. In Schuyler's view, however, such an emphasis misses the point. Instead, she argues, women had a profound effect on southern politics in the years after 1920—as lobbyists, as constituents, and as advocates of electoral reform.	. . .

There are about 596 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.