Alice Paul: Impact On Political Landscape

She was a well respected woman that many thought was going to lead woman in the fight for equal rights.

One of the most influential and inspirational women of all time was Rosa Parks. By one action she helped change the lives of a majority of African Americans and more importantly society as a whole. Rosa Parks sparked the attention of America when she refused to settle for the black (lower class)standards. Not only did she help change the lives for many African Americans but she helped equality for all men and women in the United States. By one brave women our world will be forever thankful.

Guilt and lack of empowerment can cause people to stand up for what they believe in. Florence Kelley, a successful social worker delivered a speech in 1905 for the National American Woman Suffrage Association at Philadelphia. Passionately and pointedly, Kelley persuades her audience that if women were allowed to vote, then child labor laws could be fixed.

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.

As a result, she formed the National Women’s Party. The party was successful despite it’s unpopularity for antagonism in regards to NAWSA, but proved to be a more than adequate reinforcement for the association. Where NAWSA left off, the NWP continued its line of motion, like inertia that despite the friction, carries something onward until the end. Perseverance was the asset that created the effect behind her revolts.

Rights movement. She was willing to go the distance to get the equal rights she felt was owed to

In November 1917, Carrie Chapman Catt, leader of National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), gave an address to the United States Congress expressing her belief that woman’s suffrage was inevitable, and requesting that Congress see it as such and vote to pass the amendment. Catt’s speech was based on facts and figures (ethos) from our own country’s history, logic, reasoning, and common sense (logos); it was hard for any man to argue with, which was her goal. Catt had given hundreds of speeches in her life, and in this case, she planned her approach to be factual and unemotional to get through to those that thought of women as

These influential women are most widely known suffragist of their generation and has become icons of the women suffrage movement. These independent, bold, and intelligent female pioneers paved the way for so many women different races, and nationalities to come together as one for a common cause. These women are known today as idols, icons, and activists. Those women that took a stand when no one else would be: Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone. These women believed that all American women, just like men, deserve the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

(Hannam 296) During the Anti-Slavery Movement, she had valuable experience in public speaking and running poilitical organizations through her work in the abolishionist movement. (298 ) in the process women were generally discouraged from taking active part in public life and expected to join women only groups in support of male organizations (ibid) While Elizabeth Cady Stanton is best known for her long contribution to the woman suffrage struggle, without her struggles these issues wouldnt have been effective in winning property rights for married women, equal guardianship of children, and liberalized divorce laws. These reforms made it possible for women to leave marriages that were abusive of the wife, the children, and the economic health of the family.

She impacted the citizens of the United States because she helped with women’s rights, co-founded the woman’s party, and organize the suffragist parade. Lucy Burns was an important figure in American history because she co-founded the women's party after being ejected from the National American Woman Suffrage Association and she also co-organized the suffrage parade which was their first activity to help women's rights. This all led to the 19th amendment.

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.”

Lucy Burns was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate. She was a passionate activist in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Burns was a close friend of Alice Paul, and together they ultimately formed the National Woman's Party. Early life and education Burns was born in New York to an Irish Catholic family. She was described by fellow National Woman's Party member Inez Haynes Irwin as "blue-eyed and fresh-complexioned; dimpled; and her head is burdened, even as Alice Paul's, with an enormous weight of hair.

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

Women’s Rights was and still is a major issue throughout the entire world, but more specifically, in the United States of America. Women have been treated unjustly for awhile. From being beaten by their husbands, to not being able to own property if they were married, women have been through it all. Many of these situations started to change because of a group of women that decided to stand up for what they believe in. A few activists that helped improve the rights of women are Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott.

Throughout time, many individuals have stood up and fought for what they believed in. Many have impacted society, but the most important ones are the people who took charge and lead others to accomplish what seemed impossible. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has impacted American society by being a superb role model. Ruth Bader has demonstrated her idol stance by proving women could also excel as much as men can academically. When Ginsberg went to Cornell University in 1954, “She earned her bachelor’s degree in government as well as finishing first in her class.”