ing to
statements made in later years by John A. Bingham and Roscoe Conkling,
both sponsors of the amendment and concerned with its drafting, the
possibility was considered of protecting corporations and the property
of individuals from the interference of state and municipal
legislation, through the federal control extended by this amendment.
At any rate, they wrought well for the corporations which have
received abundant protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, along
with all male citizens, while women were left outside the pale.[181]

Tactfully the Republicans explained to women that even Negro suffrage
could not be definitely spelled out in the Fourteenth Amendment, if it
were to be accepted by the people; and added that Negro suffrage was
all the strain that the Republican party could bear at this time; but
neither Susan nor Mrs. Stanton were fooled by this sophistry. They
knew that Republican politicians saw in the Negro vote in the South
the means of keeping their party in power for a long time to come, and
could entirely overlook justice to Negro women since they were assured
of enough votes without them. The women of the North need not be
considered, since they had nothing to offer politically. They would
vote, it was thought, just as their husbands voted.

Completely deserted by all their former friends in the Republican
party, Susan and Mrs. Stanton now made use of an irregular Republican,
Senator Cowan of Pennsylvania, whom the abolitionists had labeled "the
watchdog of slavery." When Benjamin Wade's bill "to enfranchise each
and every male person" in the District of Columbia "without any
distinction on account of color or race," was discussed on the Senate
floor in December 1866, Senator Cowan offered an amendment striking
out the word "male" and thus leaving the door open for women. He
stated the case for woman suffrage well and with eloquence, and
although he was accused of being insincere and wishing merely to cloud
the issue, he forced the Republicans to show their hands. In the
three-day debate which followed, Senator Wilson of Massachusetts
declared emphatically that he was opposed to connecting the two
issues, woman and Negro suffrage, but would at any time support a
separate bill for woman's enfranchisement. Senator Pomeroy of Kansas
objected to jeopardizing the chances of Negro suffrage by linking it
with woman suffrage, but Senator Wade of Ohio boldly expressed his
approval of woman suffrage,