other women's rights issues, including improved property rights for married women and laws that would make it easier for married women to obtain a divorce. The AWSA believed success could be more easily achieved through state-by-state campaigns. As a part of this strategy, the group adopted a federated structure, establishing state and local chapters throughout the nation, and particularly in the East and Midwest. The early NWSA advocated for securing woman suffrage through a federal constitutional amendment, although its work also moved to the state level during the 1880s. The AWSA supported traditional social institutions, such as marriage and religion. The NWSA criticized aspects of these institutions that they felt were unjust to women. The AWSA employed less militant lobbying tactics, such as petition drives, testifying before legislatures, and giving public speeches. The NWSA used litigation and other confrontational tactics. The author of a study of African American women in the suffrage movement lists nine who participated in the AWSA during the 1870s and six who participated in the NWSA. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and additional NWSA members employed racism in order to distinguish female suffrage from black male suffrage. In contrast, Lucy Stone and AWSA members countenanced the absence of a female suffrage clause in the Fifteenth Amendment, while arguing that suffrage for women would be more beneficial to the country than suffrage for black men. Policy victories Several modest but significant gains for women suffrage occurred during the twenty-year period of AWSA activity. Women in two Western states, Wyoming and Utah, won the right to vote. An average of 4.4 states per year considered, but did not adopt woman suffrage. Eight additional states also considered referendums on the issue; none, however, were successful. Formation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association The AWSA was initially larger than the NWSA, but it declined in strength during the 1880s. Stanton and Anthony, the leading figures in the NWSA, were more widely known as leaders of the women's suffrage movement during this period and more influential in setting its direction. During the 1880s, it became increasingly clear that group rivalries were counterproductive to the goal of votes for women. Conversations about a merger between the AWSA and NWSA began in 1886. After several years of negotiations, the organizations officially joined in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The leaders of this new organization included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan