Suffrage, the right to vote in elections, was fought for by women beginning with the founding of the United States. In her March 31, 1776, letter to husband John Adams, Abigail Adams warned that “If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.” Her words, however, failed to move the framers of the new American government. A woman’s role in society was believed to be in the home, educating the next generation of Americans in republican values and exerting influence on their husbands. Voting was not guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. It fell to the individual states to decide suffrage. Most states excluded large portions of men, in particular, those not owning land, in addition to women.