Alice Paul: A Brief Biography

When the time came to push for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment a group of women stood together to let their voice be heard. As Alice Paul said, "We came to be heard, not to be questioned or to be turned around. We will answer your questions and you may turn us around, but we will prove the burden of justice in our favor then you can no longer make us leave. With that we will

It was Theodore Roosevelt, who stated that, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”, conveying the idea that with no voice comes no change. In the morning of August 26, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, which centralized mainly on the enfranchisement of women. Today, they have the legal right to vote, and the ability to speak openly for themselves, but most of all they are now free and equal citizens. However this victorious triumph in American history would not have been achieved without the strong voices of determined women, risking their lives to show the world how much they truly cared. Women suffragists in the 19th century had a strong passion to change their lifestyle, their jobs around the

“It took 400 years after the declaration of independence was signed and 50 years after black men were given voting rights before women were treated as full American citizens and able to vote.” A women named Susan B. Anthony was one of those women struggling to be the same as mankind. Susan B. Anthony worked helped form women’s way to the 19th amendment. Anthony was denied an opportunity to speak at a convention because she was a woman. She then realized that no one would take females seriously unless they had the right to vote. Soon after that she became the founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. In 1872, she voted in the presidential election illegally and then arrested with a hundred dollar fine she never paid.” I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.”(Anthony) When Susan B. Anthony died on March 13, 1906, women still didn’t have the right to vote. 14 years after her death, the 19th amendment was passed. In honor of Anthony her portrait was put on one dollar coins in

The battle for suffrage was a long and slow process. Many women tried to initiate the fight for suffrage, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. “These were the New Suffragists: women who were better educated, more career-oriented, younger, less apt to be married and more cosmopolitan than their previous generation.” (pg 17) Eventually, in 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified; allowing women to vote, but it was not any one person or event that achieved this great feat. It was the confluence of certain necessary factors, the picketing and parades led by Alice Paul, militaristic suffrage parties and the influence of the media that caused the suffrage amendment to be passed and ratified in 1920. But most importantly, they successfully moved both

Alice Paul was one of the most necessary factors in the equation for Women's Suffrage. Her bold tactics revitalized the suffragists movement and allowed for her to achieve her long term goals. She is the most important person of this time period because she never compromises her beliefs in the face of adversity. From a young age she was taught that she deserved unconditional equal rights. This is a radical notion that will drive her work throughout the rest of her life. She underwent arrests, forced feedings and protest after protest all in the name of equality. This message still resonates with people today as this generation fights for their rights.

She did countless things to pass an amendment which would grant the women their wish of being able to have their rights. Including a hunger strike, a silent protest, and she even endured force feeding. In Alice Paul it says, “For five months the White House siege continued; while Congress refused to act without word from the president.” (William and Mary Lavender 4). This shows the frustration that she had to go through, and how much the government seemed stubborn. She never gave up despite knowing the fact that president Wilson wouldn’t budge. In the end she was able to convince president Wilson. She never even married. If that doesn’t show her devotion I don’t know what

Alice Paul was born on January 11,1885, in Moorestown, New Jersey. Her father, who died when Alice was sixteen, was a businessman, banker, and property owner. The Pauls lived in the small Quaker community of Moorestown. One of the beliefs of the Quakers was equality of the sexes. As a young girl, Alice attended the Quaker suffrage meetings with her mother.

Alice Paul had a very interesting and eventful life. She was born on January 11, 1885, in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. She grew up with a Quaker background and attended Swarthmore college. At the time women picked latin or english as their topic of study, but Alice had already mastered that so she picked biology. She was in a class with mostly men so from a young age she felt different. In 1906 through 1909, Alice was in london and she became politically active and was not afraid to use noticeable strategies in support of a cause. Furthermore, she joined the Women's Suffrage movement in Britain and on many occasions she was arrested. While Alice Paul and her supporters fought for Women’s rights, and the people that were against women’s rights

This movement is important because although it took years the goal was achieved. It was a long battle and women were brave enough to put their lives on the line. Alice Paul was a determined young woman

During the late 19th century, women were in a society where man was dominant. Women not having natural born rights, such as the right to vote, to speak in public, access to equal education, and so forth, did not stop them to fight for their rights. Women's lives soon changed when Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony played a prominent role to help bring about change.

During the 20th century, male and females were not being treated equally a lot of women started getting mad because they weren’t getting jobs or the right to vote as men, so it led to the Civil Rights Movement, the Equal Rights Amendment was involved, because women weren’t treated equally or given the same rights as males. The Civil RIghts Movement was when there was a lot of racism and black and white people weren’t given the same rights, it was unfair to the black because they couldn’t do so many things like vote and also there was sex discrimination. In 1923, Alice Paul, leader and founder of the National Woman’s Party, considered that ERA should be the next step in the 19th Amendment in granting equal justice under the law to both sexes, male and female, in the U.S. Alice Paul said “ We women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million women are denied the right to vote.” A text from the amendment said “Equal of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

This new generation of activists fought with this new agenda for almost 20 years until a few states in the West began to extend the vote to women. The Eastern and Southern states still refused to give in, but this didn’t stop the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1916, Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the NAWSA, worked vigorously to get women’s organizations from all over the country together and fight side by side. “One group of activists, led by Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party, lobbied for full quality for women under the law” (Divine). She used mass marches and hunger strikes as strategies, but she was eventually forced to resign because of her insistence on the use of militant direct-action tactics (Grolier). Finally, during World War 1, women were given more opportunities to work, and were able to show that they were just as deserving as men when it came to the right to vote. On August 18th, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, allowing women to vote. This drawn-out and arduous battle opened a new window of opportunity for women all over the country. Significant changes in both social life and job availability began to create what is now referred to as the “new women.”

Alice Paul returned to the United States of America in 1910 where she enrolled in yet another school. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a Ph.D. in sociology. This is one piece of evidence supporting the great leadership that Alice Paul portrayed. She found a cause to identify to and then obtained the needed knowledge and education needed to achieve her goals. After graduating from the University, Paul launched herself into her vocation, becoming a “full-time” suffragist. Paul then joined National American Woman Suffrage Association which was founded by Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony among others. Paul soon realized that the leadership styles employed by these two suffragist leaders did not agree with her personality and so she broke from the group, forming her own. Another piece of evidence, Paul understood herself and so knew what methods would agree with her leadership type and personality, essentially magnifying her impact. Paul then founded the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage with Lucy Burns. “In 1916, NAWSA found itself on the conservative side of the movement.” (ocp.hul.harvard.edu) Paul a radical at

In her book, Five for Freedom, Constance Burnett covers the inspirational women who helped America become what it is today. While she covered five amazing people the one I chose to focus on is Susan B. Anthony. Among other things, Ms. Anthony was known for being a tireless suffragette, an advocate for women's rights, and the founder of the International Congress of Women. When you think of voting you should think of her and the other women who worked so hard. Without them women may have taken much longer to recieve the right to vote.

Both Alice and Lucy couldn't accept these restrained freedoms existing in a certain manner and they formed the Congressional Union known as the National Women's Party, rallying together other supporters of the movement, and emphasizing their opinions on gender inequality through the technique of White House picketing. They directed their efforts toward change, opposing the exclusion of women and began asking the hard questions: Mr. President how long must women wait for liberty?"… quoting the Declaration of Independence: "We hold truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal". In addition proclaiming that they "shall fight for the things in which they have always carried dearest to their hearts", specifically to " have a voice in their own governments" They were met with brutality from the opposite sex, faced obstacles of imprisonment and responsibilities for instance to their children; they even received hostility from the National American Woman Suffrage