the rising interest in women’s suffrage throughout the state. President Henderson described the citizens of North Carolina as “friendly” and “sympathetic to the Suffrage movement but cautious about committing themselves too hurriedly.” The members discussed political strategies and their plans for garnering public interest. Aquohee District Courthouse, Murphy

The Aquohee District Courthouse was the main location for judicial decisions made by the Cherokee communities in southwestern NC. Representatives from the Aquohee District attended a meeting in New Echota, Georgia with other Cherokee Nation districts in July, 1827 and wrote a new Constitution. This constitution excluded women from holding office within the Cherokee Nation, despite their history of relative gender equality. It stated, ““No person shall be eligible to a seat in the General Council, but a free Cherokee malecitizen…” This constitutional change demonstrates influence from the U.S. government and its attitude on women’s suffrage.

Chief Justice Walter Clark, 1846–1924

Clark was a white supremacist and advocate for women’s suffrage. While he said that suffrage would “lift humanity to a higher level and better conditions,” he also believed that suffrage would bolster the oppression of people of color and strengthen inequality. To him and many people in North Carolina, these were not mutually exclusive ideas. Clark is an example of white men in the United States who defended women’s suffrage because they believed, “Equal Suffrage will strengthen and not jeopardize White Supremacy,” instead of having a belief in true equality. While Judge Clark defended the political rights of women, his reasoning was based on the belief that white women