Perhaps the first effect of the war on us was the flu epidemic of 1917, killing more people than the war itself; it leaves the nation in mourning. Another effect of the war involves America's women. Women have been doing more than war work. They've been marching for their rights. Some of the men chuckle when they hear of it. Imagine, women are demanding equality: They want to be full citizens, they want to vote. Why, soon they may want to wear pants, too!

In 1917, Alice Paul , a suffragist, and some other women march in front of the White House. They carry a big banner. It says: "20 Million American Women Are Not Self-Governed." Anne Martin is one of the women protesters. She writes, "This is what we are doing with our banners before the White House, petitioning the most powerful representative of the government, the president of the United States, for a redress of grievances; we are asking him to use his great power to secure the passage of the national suffrage amendment."

The police tell the women to leave. "Has the law been changed?" asks Alice Paul, leader of the group. "No," says the police officer, "but you must stop." Alice answers, "We have consulted our lawyers. We have a legal right to picket. Later, from prison, Anne Martin speaks passionately: "Persecution has always advanced the cause of justice. The right of American women to work for democracy must be maintained."

The women keep marching. All kinds of women. Rich and poor women together . In response, President Wilson asks Congress to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It reads, in part, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

The fight for women's equality began in the nineteenth century when some dedicated women and a few intrepid men met at Seneca Falls in northern New York and changed the words of the Declaration of Independence to "all men and women are created equal." Now, all over the nation, women and men work to get the Nineteenth Amendment passed. Finally, only one state is needed to ratify and give women the right to vote. In Tennessee the state legislature is undecided. Harry Burn, who, at twenty-four, is the youngest representative, gets a letter from his mother. She is a strong supporter of Carrie Chapman Catt, head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association . She writes, "Don't forget to be a good boy, Harry, and help Mrs. Catt put the "Rat" in ratification." Harry Burn follows his mother's advice. It is 1919, and Tennessee is the last state to ratify. The next year, 1920, America's women finally go to the polls .

Hardly anyone is fighting for equal rights for blacks. In the South, only rarely are they allowed to vote. Hundreds are lynched—and no one does anything about it. W. E. B. DuBois is a Harvard-educated scholar who will not keep quiet. He writes, "All my life I have been painfully aware of the dichotomy between American freedom for whites and the continuing subjection of Negroes. We claim for ourselves every single right that belongs to a freeborn American; and until we get those rights we will never cease to protest." Blacks migrate from Southern fields to Northern factories. By 1920, nearly half a million blacks have left the South. But many face conditions nearly as bad as those they left behind .