What are you doing up here?
Canning fruit.
What fruit? It's winter.
Winter fruit.
You needed a rest, okay, you had a rest. You feel bad about Inez, we all do.
It's awful, but it's not over.
Inez was tired. She asked me to replace her.
Nobody ever made Inez Milholland do anything in her life.
She couldn't say no to me. Don't you read the Ladies' Home Journal?
"Alice Paul's relentless. 'Do it for suffrage, do it for suffrage."'
That's what we need to hear.
- Get a parrot. - Don't use her as an excuse.
She would hate that.
She said, "Men plan, God laughs."
You ever wonder what we're doing, Lucy?
'Cause it seems like he is laughing.
And it's so unfair...
that anyone should have to die in a fight...
that shouldn't even be a fight.
Especially her.
Isn't it ridiculous?
She's dead, and we're right where we started...
which is nowhere at all.
I'm lost, Lucy.
We laughed, too.
Remember? In London?
That time that we hid in the coat closet so that we could interrupt Parliament...
and you had to pee.
And I said to you, I said:
"Hey, here's some Lord's boot. Go ahead."
I thought to myself:
"If she's game for that, that's it. We're gonna be friends for life."
We laughed.
You know, we can still laugh.
I don't see that there is any other way. That is what we do.
We piss in the boot. We come out guns blazing, yeah.
I wish Alice was here.
My friend Alice, you can't say no to her.
It's beautiful.
Heads, we'll milk cows.
Tails, we'll go and find Wilson's boots.
Has there been any reaction from the President?
Who knew about this?
The National Woman's Party will station sentinels at the White House gate...
from dawn until dusk every day...
until the Constitution of the United States is amended...
to ensure that every citizen, regardless of sex...
- is entitled to vote for the man... - Or woman.
...or woman who occupies that House.
Give that good boy an extra cookie.
"Silent, silly, and offensive.
"A man's mind would never dream of something...
"at once so petty and so monstrous."
Listen. "The demonstration was denounced...
"by President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association...
"Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, who pointed out that the NWP..."
which is us, "represents only 10% of the nation's suffragists."
Is that true? Did she make that up? I think she might have.
What're you doing?
I'm heating bricks for the girls to stand on. It's freezing out there.
Give them double coats.
Check to see who can donate coats, gloves, sweaters, scarves. Try Mrs. Belmont.
"The President smiled and waved to the ladies as his automobile swept in."
Phony baloney.
"Mr. And Mrs. Richard Lane announce the marriage of their daughter Susan...
"to Roland Ashmore."
Just trying to mix it up.
"Captain of British steamer made prisoner by German U-boat."
"German submarines sink five more ships."
They're within their legal rights.
They'll get tired of the cold. It won't last.
How about they're trespassing?
- On public property? - Oh, yeah...
"The avenue is misty gray
"And here beside the guarded gate
"We hold our golden, blowing flags
"And wait."
Could you hold this, please? Thanks.
Senator Myers drafted a bill that would outlaw treasonous banners.
Those banners quote the President.
You're a brave girl.
This continued picketing by the National Woman's Party...
is the single greatest obstacle to the suffrage amendment.
We do not support it...
and we have made that clear to the President.
The Michigan suffrage committee is here to pick up their bus.
- Can we put them... - Ask Mrs. Lewis.
- Upstairs bathroom toilet's not working. - Ask Mabel.
- Can I have dinner with Ben Weissman? - Ask your mother.
Don't want to offend you. You're not seeing him?
- No. - That's what I told Lucy, but...
Heard you gave away your beau.
Beau?
Pardon my French.
If you mean Weissman, he's not, and I didn't.
He only asked Doris out because you never say yes.
Don't you want to get married, Alice?
I'm busy that day.
All the men I meet are idiots.
Or terrified of me.
But if I met someone like Weissman...
I would latch onto him like a mollusk.
It wouldn't be fair.
To him or Michael. A little boy needs a mother.
My whole heart's in this fight.
There's nothing to spare, not if I mean to win.
You underestimate your heart.
When you're alone...
you can make any choice you want.
But when someone loves you, you lose that right.
I won't give anything away until we have it all.
I can't.
Everything's a trade-off, isn't it?
Seems to be.
Tom, I need...
I need to tell you...
I want to tell you...
Tom, I have something to...
Looks like we've had enough of Kaiser Wilhelm.
The United States is declaring war.
There are, and may be...
many months of fiery sacrifice and trials ahead of us.
It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war...
"into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars.
"We shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts."
"We shall fight for democracy...
"for the right of those who submit to authority...
"to have a voice in their own governments."
- Wilson's going to fight for their rights? - He's not gonna fight.
He's gonna send men to fight the Kaiser for him.
He'll stay right here and tip his hat...
to all the American women standing at his gate.
There won't be any women standing at his gate.
- What? - We can't picket a wartime president.
- Why the hell not? - It's treason, that's why.
Treason is betraying your country.
Petitioning is not treason. At worst, it's just rude.
Give it any name you want. The war changes everything.
- This is not our war. - Women have husbands, women have sons.
No one is gonna thank us if we all slink off to roll bandages.
- It's not about being thanked. - This is my country...
and if our soldiers need bandages, I'm rolling bandages.
Roll them on the picket line.
We regretted it when we dropped the cause during the Civil War.
And what happened?
Congress gave Negro men the vote and told women to wait their turn, right?
And we're still waiting.
Tell me to be there, and I will.
Be there, right?
Right? Alice, tell her.
Inez said there was nothing more important than ending a war.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
You wanna go put your ear to your desk?
If we push Wilson now, there's gonna be consequences.
For everyone.
Land hard, roll left.
"We shall fight for democracy." He said it.
He should have to eat it and choke.
I'm not saying that we ignore the war.
I'm saying that we saddle up and fight it.
He can't fight for democracy abroad and deny it here at home. He can't.
- No mothers on the picket line. - And no Alice Paul on the picket line, either.
I can't ask women to risk it unless I risk it with them.
- No one's on the line if I'm not. - I'll be there, don't argue with me.
You're Mama duck. We follow you.
If you go down, they'll scatter. Use your head.
One of us on the line is enough.
- I'll flip you for it. - No, it has to be me.
I photograph better than you.
I can't tell you...
what's right and what's wrong. Not now.
Not this time.
I thought about what I would say to you.
You've all worked so hard for so long...
and I am grateful to all of you.
No matter what you decide, no one will judge you.
Certainly not me.
- Oh, my gosh! - What is this?
- You ladies, what are you thinking? - How dare you!
Our country's at war!
Shame on you! Shame on you all!
Never thought they'd picket a wartime president.
- Public opinion may put a stop to it. - And if it doesn't?
The President needs your support! Maybe you should go to Germany!
- Maybe you would be happier there! - Shame on all of you!
Shame on every one of you. You should be home right now.
He made you District Commissioner.
He's Commander-in-Chief now.
Commander-in-Chief doesn't get spanked by his mommy.
Not with the whole world watching.
- Ms. Alice Paul? - I'm Lucy Burns.
I'm sorry, Miss, you're under arrest. All of you.
What? We haven't done anything. What's the charge? I'm talking to you!
What is it? What's the charge?
They've been arrested. Contact their families.
Mabel, go to the station, then call me.
If we wanna hold them, we gotta charge them with something.
- What? - Obstructing traffic.
These arrests are purely political.
The charge of obstructing traffic is political subterfuge.
We know, and I believe the court knows, that President Wilson, his administration...
are responsible for our being here today.
We are not guilty of any offense.
I will continue to plead for the political liberty of American women.
- Where 16 of us... - Where 10 of us...
Where 12 of us, face your judgment today...
There will be 60 tomorrow.
I find these defendants guilty as charged of obstructing traffic...
in violation of the police regulations and the Act of Congress.
$10 each, or 60 days in the Occoquan workhouse.
That's not enough!
To pay the fine would be admitting guilt.
We haven't broken the law.
Not $1.
60 days in Occoquan.
What?
You can't do that!
Should we ask for presidential pardon?
Nothing to be pardoned for. They're false charges.
"American citizens were arrested on a bogus charge...
"while exercising their constitutional right."
Get them out and appeal. 60 days for obstructing traffic?
It must be the District Commissioner. The President appoints him.
- Are we picketing tomorrow? - Yes, no mothers.
Hold on.
- Is that The Times? - Yeah.
Don't bury this. What's your name?
Hold on.
Find a marshal and file a writ...
Just get them out.
What? No.
O-C-C-O-Q-U-A-N. It's a workhouse in Virginia.
Matthew O'Brien. He'll take the case.
- All right, men. - Let's go.
- Load up. - Yes, sir.
Get on board.
We're political prisoners. We wear our own clothes.
You'll wear what they all wear.
I want to see the warden.
You want to see him naked?
We haven't eaten, we've been sitting here for hours.
- We need food. - You'll eat when it's time to eat.
You'll bed down when it's time to bed down. Now you bed down. Matron!
We are not guilty of any crime. We're political prisoners.
I want these women fed...
and given pen and paper to write to their families.
And we want our own clothes back now!
Now you bed down.
What are you doing? You're hurting me!
Easy does it.
Mrs. Lewis, Doris!
Stevens, is anybody hurt?
Ruza, are you there?
- No talking. - Calm down.
Lock it down.
If she opens her mouth again, put a buckle gag on her.
- Yes, sir. - Any of them.
Where are the girls?
I had Mrs. Quinn take them to my mother's to free you up.
I know how busy you are with all your suffrage activities.
People saw you and Jenny at the suffrage trial.
I don't know what kind of mother...
takes an 11-year-old to a district courthouse.
Did you give her a look at the jail, too?
- I'll go and get them after breakfast. - No, you won't. You leave them be.
I don't know a judge in this district who would give you custody right now.
You won't take my children.
How will you stop me?
Can you afford an attorney?
An attorney?
To prove what, that I'm their mother?
And what will your judge say? That this is your house?
Your house and your children?
What am I to you, Tom? What am I then in your house? Chattel?
This is how you punish me? I'm their mother!
They are not your children to take!
- I can't find my hat. - Which hat?
- What do you mean, which hat? My hat. - Where were you when you took it off?
Jesus Christ, Mabel. If I'd remember, I'd know where it was.
Have we heard from O'Brien?
He filed the writ. He's meeting with the judge. He'll call us back.
The Home Defense League revoked Maude Younger's permit to speak in Nashville.
According to Senator Walsh, we're called "the iron jawed angels."
Is that supposed to be an insult?
And Carrie Catt told The New York Times...
that we were no better than anarchists and draft dodgers.
We drew straws to see who'd bring you dinner.
I lost.
- I'm not hungry. You can have it. - Thanks.
How can you eat with Doris in jail?
I can't find a photographer to show up at the West Gate tomorrow.
Call The Post. Talk to the news editor.
He said 326 Americans died at a ridge.
He said I wasn't holding any cards and I should know when to fold.
He doesn't know about the ace up your sleeve.
You couldn't fold if your life depended on it. You don't know how.
Don't take that as a compliment.
Doris is having the time of her life.
Don't worry. She'll write a book about it.
I changed my mind about the hat. It suits you.
Mabel, how many volunteers do we have for tomorrow's picket line?
I have to check my list.
- Okay, add my name. - No, I won't.
They'll lock you up, and it won't be for a lousy 60 days, either.
We need you out here.
Besides, I promised Lucy I wouldn't until we were up a creek, dead in the water.
Mabel, add my name.
"I believe the might of America...
"is the sincere love of its people...
"for the freedom of mankind."
Woodrow Wilson...
March 6, 1915.
"We've forgotten the history of our country...
"if we have forgotten how to agitate when it is necessary."
Woodrow Wilson, September 8, 1916.
"Liberty is a fierce and intractable thing...
"to which no bounds ought to be set."
Woodrow Wilson, a message to Congress.
"There is nothing in liberty...
"unless it is translated into definite action."
July 4, 1914, Woodrow Wilson.
I don't wish to make any plea before this court.
I have nothing to do with the making of the laws which have put me in this position.
I am not here because I obstructed traffic...
but because I pointed out to President Wilson...
that he is obstructing democracy.
Refused?
What do you mean?
Mrs. Leighton made it very clear I wasn't her attorney.
She instructed the court not to accept bail or fees on her behalf.
And she gave a statement to a reporter.
She said that, in prison or out, American women are not free.
No talking.
It's warm in here. Can we open a window?
Get to work.
Can't you see she looks faint?
I'm only asking that you open a window.
Matron, my needle broke. May I have another?
That's better, isn't it?
Put her in solitary.
You...
clean that up.
I'll have to report this to the warden.
I'm entitled to clean water and an empty slop bucket.
I'm a lawyer, not a magician, Miss Vernon.
If Whitaker says no one in solitary can see counsel...
no one sees counsel.
It's a new prison. He has the run of the place until their paperwork's in order.
I need a judge who's not on a string.
We can't have a martyr on our hands.
Get on your feet!
What are you doing?
Okay.
I'm Dr. White, Alice.
The District Commissioner asked me to speak with you.
Do you know where you are?
District prison hospital.
The mental ward.
You refuse to eat.
Can you tell me why?
The hunger strike was a tradition in old Ireland.
You starve yourself on someone's doorstep until restitution is made...
and justice is done.
It doesn't sound like a very effective method.
A stinking corpse on your doorstep?
What will the neighbors say?
So you stand on the President's doorstep.
He's treated you very badly, hasn't he?
It's the law that treats women badly.
But you picket President Wilson. He's the one who put you here.
We picket the office of the presidency.
It has nothing to do with Mr. Wilson...
and everything to do with the position he holds.
But he's responsible for your treatment here.
I believe I was sent here by a district commissioner.
You call yourself a suffragist.
Yes.
Tell me about your cause.
Just talk freely.
Explain yourself.
Do you understand the question?
You asked me to explain myself.
I just wonder what needs to be explained.
It should be very clear.
Look into your own heart.
I swear to you, mine's no different.
You want a place in the trades and professions...
where you can earn your bread.
So do I.
You want some means of self-expression...
some way of satisfying your own personal ambitions.
So do I.
You want a voice in the government under which you live.
So do I.
What is there to explain?
She shows no signs of persecution mania or delusion.
I concur with Dr. Hickling. There is no medical basis for a diagnosis.
You don't feel she needs to be permanently hospitalized?
For her own safety. She's suicidal.
You said so in your report. The prison doctor said so.
I said she was prepared to starve to death in order to further her cause.
Okay, I'm not a doc, but that sure sounds unhealthy to me.
"Give me liberty, or give me death."
Patrick Henry, an American hero.
Apples and oranges.
In oranges and women...
courage is often mistaken for insanity.
Eyes front!
Hunger strike?
I was standing
By my window
On a cold and cloudy day
Quiet!
When I saw that
Hearse come rolling
For to carry my mother away
Will the circle
Quiet!
Be unbroken
Get her out of here.
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Lord, I told that undertaker
"Undertaker, please drive slow
"For that body you are hauling
"Lord, I hate to see her go"
Will the circle
Be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
I will follow
Close behind her
Try to hold up and be brave
But I could not
Hide my sorrow
When they laid her in the grave
Will the circle
Be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Where is she? Tell me where she is.
Tell me!
If you do anything to hurt that girl...
You do anything...
Mrs. Leighton!
Sit here, Mrs. Leighton.
Senator, you need to stay where you are.
She's ill.
Has she seen a doctor?
She's not ill, sir. She refuses to eat.
Maybe you can persuade her.
I'd like to be alone with my wife.
Only monitored visits. Those are the rules.
Sorry, no exceptions.
How are the girls?
- I want you to come home. - No physical contact with the prisoner.
I'll speak to President Wilson.
- He can issue a pardon. - For what?
I haven't broken any laws.
The girls keep asking for you.
If Rebecca can't sleep, just sit beside her and pat her head.
Sometimes I do that.
They are the only reason I am here.
I'm sorry.
I know.
That's all the time we have.
- New York has voted to enfranchise women. - Carrie...
I've never pressed you for a federal amendment, Mr. President.
New York. That's 232 presidential electors.
- We're at war. - Then call it a war measure.
- Congress will never pass it. - Lf you support it, they will.
I'm sorry.
You've been very patient, I know.
Be patient a little longer.
I was put in a straitjacket and taken to the psychopathic ward.
I could not see my family or friends. Counsel was denied me.
I saw no other prisoners and heard nothing of them.
I could see no papers.
Today I was force-fed for the third time.
I refused to open my mouth.
My left nostril, throat, and muscles of my neck are very sore.
I vomit continuously during the process.
These women are not political prisoners.
Are you saying force-feeding is a medical procedure?
Why can't these women see their lawyers?
We have no such thing in this country.
Are there doctors present for this procedure?
The President has ordered many investigations.
And no abuse has been disclosed.
Who ordered the force-feeding?
Let's not waste time with pleasantries. I'll be blunt, may I?
The foreign press will pick this up.
Tell the President that he can look like a damned fool...
or he can deal me in.
Now, sir.
This war could not have been fought by America...
if it had not been for the services of women.
You're being released.
We have made partners of the women in this war.
Let her be.
Shall we admit them only to a partnership...
of suffering, sacrifice, and toil...
and not a partnership of privilege and right?
I know the magic it will work in their thoughts and spirits...
if you give this thing to them.
That is mere justice.
We shall need their moral sense...
to preserve what is right and fine and worthy...
in our system of life.
Be assured, the voices of the radicals who agitate and disrupt...
have no influence here today.
Got him.
The task of woman...
lies at the very heart of the war.
And I know how much stronger that heart will beat...
if you do this just thing...
and show our women that you trust them...
as much as you, in fact, depend on them.
We shall deserve to be distrusted...
if we do not enfranchise them...
with the fullest possible enfranchisement...
as it is now certain the other great free nations...
will enfranchise them.
Have I said that the passage of this amendment...
is a vitally necessary war measure?
And do you need further proof?
Congress doesn't make it a law.
Thirty-six states have to agree, and then they put it in the Constitution.
We need one more state.
- Hold still, Francis. - I want a red rose.
No, you don't. Red is what the anti-suffragists wear.
We don't need any more stars.
I can cut as many as I want. Ms. Paul said I could.
Come on.
What? I can't hear.
They're going in now.
Ruza says we're short one vote.
We had Turner last night. This morning he was wearing red.
Five will get you ten they sent a whore to his room.
We'll move to New Zealand. Women have been voting there since 1893.
I don't want to raise sheep.
Russia's got the vote.
Long winters.
I'd rather shovel than shear.
So that's your plan, then? Expatriate sheep farmer?
Let's hear your plan.
I'm gonna pray that God is a woman.
- Mr. Gordon. - Nay.
- Mr. Wells. - Nay.
- Mr. Grayson. - Aye.
- Mr. Fleming. - Nay.
Telegram, sir. It's from your mother.
- Mr. Turner. - Nay.
Traitor!
Mr. Burns.
Aye.
You need to take your seats. Order!
We better go outside. There'll be reporters here in a minute.
How's my hair?
- Red. - Good.