The women and men of the Oregon woman suffrage movement campaigned ardently to gain citizenship for women – not merely the right to vote, but also the right to all federal, state, and tribal civic rights granted to full citizens under the law. This includes the right to equal ownership of property, equal pay in employment, and the right to equal opportunity for employment through adequate and equal training for vocations and professions. Although the 14th Amendment to the Constitution granted all residents, born or naturalized, the right to citizenship, practical application of the amendment demonstrated that citizenship did not include the right to vote (Jensen, 2012).

The Oregon woman suffrage movement may be divided into three phases. The first phase spanned from 1870-1900, and involved the burgeoning use of organized tactics of working with elected legislators to place woman suffrage on the ballot. Duniway's hard work embodies this phase of the suffrage movement. The second phase from 1900-1912, enlivened by more radical action, included the use of the new Oregon System of Initiative and Referendum, the distribution of pamphlets and leaflets, and skillful oration. It was led by Dr. Esther Pohl Lovejoy, Elizabeth Eggert, and African American suffragists Hattie Redmond, Katherine Gray, and Mary Beatty. The third phase following the passage of suffrage in Oregon in 1912 extended to 1920, as Oregon suffragists joined the national rally for ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Jensen, 2019).

In the quest for constitutional victory, suffragists Carrie Chapman Catt of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Alice Paul of the National Woman's Party used seemingly opposing tactics to win the vote. Carrie Chapman Catt aligned herself with President Wilson and showed solidarity and support for World War I in order to influence the politics of Wilson and Congress, and Alice Paul used civil unrest and protest in front of the White House as her main strategy. Together these perhaps oppositional tactics – the more passive inclinations of Catt and NAWSA, and the militant, radical strategies of Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party – both melded together to collectively publicize woman suffrage and put pressure on the government, ultimately leading to the enactment of the 19th Amendment (PBS, "The Vote, Part One").

The woman suffrage movement marked an era of non-violent civil disobedience. The movement exemplified the ability to challenge causes of human rights and civil rights with tactics devoid of violence, but instead to utilize the power of politics, the right to protest, and the exercise of 1st Amendment rights of freedom of speech in order to push for change (PBS, “The Vote, Part One,” “The Vote, Part Two”).