“‘Mothers’ Day’ … actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society.” #Politics #USPolitics #WomensSufferage #MothersDay #History https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-9-2026