Alice Paul: American Suffragist And Women's Rights Activist

Alice Malsenior Walker, an African American born into poverty, came into this world on February 9, 1944 in Eatonon, Georgia. She was the youngest child of eight children born to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Walkers. Both of her parents were sharecroppers as well as expert story tellers. Things were not easy for the Walkers and Alice often witnessed her mother’s frustration of having the burden to take care of eight children with little means. Even though children of share croppers were usually made to work the fields, Alice’s mother made sure that her kids received an education. Alice was brilliant at writing poetry.

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

Important amendments that took origin from this movement are the Anthony Amendment, 19th Amendment, and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Paul was a vital element in pressuring the ratification of those listed above, but even more so important in the fact that she was the one to first prepare and draft the ERA. While others believed the right to vote would in turn lead to equality between the sexes, Paul new better, and knew it well. Her fight was not over, and for distinguished success to be reached, one must give up something. It is a great compromise that lingers in this universe.

Alice was taught about the importance of equality from a young age. First of all, she was born into a family of Quakers who were descended from William Penn. Most Quakers at the time believed in equality between the sexes. On top of this, her mother, Tacie Perrie, was one of the first women to attend Swarthmore College. Tacie would often take her daughter to suffragette meetings in order to better educate her. Alices upbringing made her into a strong, independent young woman who was ready to take on many challenges. Alice Paul's roots are important because they set her up to be a fearless leader.

The journey of women’s suffrage beings with an aspired women named Alice Paul, who revolutionize the rights for women everywhere. Walton refers, how the inspiration all had flipped-the switch in Alice Paul when she heard speech on the “Votes for Women,” from a women named, Christabel Pankhurst, which was interrupted abruptly due to Christabel spitting in a police offers face, and being taken to jail. Walton refers to the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) as being seldom out of the news during the winter of 1907,

Making this movement public was essential in ratification of the Constitution. Paul organized women on all levels. She knew that selling the movement to the American people would further the cause. Her first attempt was to campaign against all Democratic candidates. That did not do much to the political party. She had to reformulate a plan. She organized a group of women to picket the White House daily, except for Sundays, with banners of the President’s own speeches written on them. Papers often carried the stories of the suffragettes’ struggles. When World War I was declared, that changed.

In the year 1923, Alice Paul, a famous suffragette, proposed an amendment to the Congress of the United States of America that would explicitly require the United States government to treat men and women equally. This proposed amendment, commonly referred to by the masses as the Equal Rights Amendment, reads as the following:

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

The rivalry between the National Women’s Suffrage Association lead by Carrie Chapman Catt, and the National Women’s Party lead by Alice Paul was only intensified by each group’s intense desire to as quickly as possible get the vote for American women. Progress having been stalled and stagnated after the Civil War, ignited by this halt in momentum the two groups to give no ground or tolerance for anything that might stall their progress.

First, I will talk about her growing up. “American suffragist Alice Paul was born into a prominent Quaker family in New Jersey in 1885” (History.com). In year 1905 Paul graduated from Swarthmore and then attended the New York school of Philanthropy. “While an activist it was acquired through series of arrest, imprisonments, hunger strikes and forced feedings in 1920”(History.com). Now it’s year 1910 Paul enrolled back to university of Pennsylvania for her return to the U.S. “She launched her full-time suffrage career. Working first within the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Paul gathered about her group of young woman, many of whom had also worked with the Pankhurst in England and who were willing to depart from the associations conservation” (History.com) (source 1 page 1).

In 1920, the 19th amendment was passed, it served for women’s right to vote. There had been many women who had been a part of the movement. One of the major people during the abolitionist movement was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She has impacted the world so much during the eighteenth century. Without Elizabeth, woman would not have the rights they have today.

Alice Paul and Lucy Burns form the Congressional Union that was focused on a federal law on giving women the right to vote.

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

Alice Walker, born February ninth of 1944, was a child of tenant farmers in Eatonton, Georgia. As she lost sight in one eye from being shot with a BB gun, she read and wrote surrounding herself with her mother and aunts. As she witnessed the independence of these women, along with the oppression of the sharecropping system and violent racist acts, her artistic view was shaped. In 1961, she got involved with the Civil Right Movement at Spelman College, and became active after moving to Mississippi. Together with her husband, Civil Rights Lawyer Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal, married in March of 1967, she worked registering blacks to vote in Mississippi. They divorced after her daughter, Rebecca, was born.

After women got the right to vote in 1920, the most devoted members of the women's movement focused on gaining other rights for women. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who had created the National Women's Party in 1916 to work for women's suffrage, turned their efforts toward passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment, which would make all forms of discrimination based on sex illegal, did not receive significant support and never passed. Arguments against the ERA, advocated by social reformers, such as Florence Kelley and Jane Addams, along with administrators in the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, were that the ERA would, in reality, eliminate protective legislation for women, harming working-class women instead of helping them.