American Equal Rights Association (AERA), 1866
About the American Equal Rights Association (AERA)
The American Equal Rights Association (AERA), founded in 1866, was an organization dedicated to securing equal rights for all Americans, regardless of race or gender. Emerging in the wake of the Civil War, the AERA united activists such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and Lucy Stone to advocate for universal suffrage. Its mission was to extend voting rights to both women and African Americans. However, tensions arose within the organization as members debated whether to prioritize the rights of African American men or push for simultaneous voting rights for women. These divisions eventually led to the AERA’s dissolution in 1869, but its work laid the foundation for the continued fight for civil rights and suffrage movements in the decades to come.
