Equal Rights Amendment In The 1920's

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.

Remember your Ladies” (Revolutionary Changes and Limitations) is what Abigale Adams told to her husband John Adams when he was signing a new federal document. She was one of the earliest woman suffrage activists and her words towards her husband would eventually snowball into one of the most remembered suffrage movements in the history of the United States (Revolutionary Changes and Limitations). The women’s suffrage movement picked up speed in the 1840-1920 when women such as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul came into the spot light. These women spearheaded the women suffrage movement by forming parties, parading, debating, and protesting. The most renowned women suffrage parties that were created during the 1840-1920 was the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and the National Woman’s Party (NWP). The parties not only had similar names but similar goals: women will one day receive the right to vote. Each party had its own unique agenda of how women will receive the right to vote, the NWSA had Susan B. Anthony’s dedication, the NAWSA had Catt’s “Winning Plan” (Carrie Chapman Catt) and the NWP had Alice Paul’s perseverance to go to extremes by captivating people’s attention. Eventually the goal of the parties was reached when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. The Amendment granted women the right to vote, granting them all the same rights that were held by men. Women would have never

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.

In 1921, women were granted suffrage, but suffragists were still hungry for more. Knowing that the right to vote would not eliminate sex discrimination in America, Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment to step closer to equality. After half a century of struggle, women in America are still fighting for rights that men were given to when they were born. Even though women are just as intelligent, capable and hardworking as men, if not more, they are not considered an equal under the U.S. Constitution. Can you believe that today, in the 21st century, we still degrade women and treat them as inferiors to men? Can you believe that just because you are a woman, you are less than equal to the male population? Look around you, all those boys and girls are not equal to each other under our “just” country’s laws. As it is long overdue, the Equal Rights Amendment should be ratified because there is no other amendment that talks about sex discrimination, it would eliminate any inequality in regards to sex, and it would make the judicial stance on sex discrimination cases much clearer.

Equal rights have long been sought out by the people of America and they continue to be chased after today. Several of our freedoms were originally seen by the Constitutional to be inalienable, so ingrained in what the founding fathers saw as American values that the Bill of Rights has set them in stone. Unfortunately for some, universal suffrage was not one of those rights. While voting was largely limited at the founding of America, citizens, namely white males, slowly gained the right to vote without discrimination towards age or social status. However, women remained barred from the ballot, regardless of race. Though the suffrage movement started as a woman’s social movement, it evolved into a driving force that would hold the power to put in place a nineteenth constitutional amendment.

In A Woman’s Crusade, Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot, Mary Walton argues how important it is for women to actively know the history with their equality rights, and how Alice Paul and other women fought so hard for those rights throughout time. All through time women have fought for the right to vote, equal rights in the workplace, and rights for our own body, these fights have been so important for woman to move on in our society to been seen as equals and not the weaker sex. Moving back in time with Mary Walton’s book “A Woman’s Crusade,” in the early stages of women’s suffrage is an inspiring crusade of inspiration. Alice Paul started her early days as an eighth generation American Quaker, living a life as a Quaker Alice Paul

Things that attended to specifically women like labor laws in heavy industries and not having to be drafted in cases of war would be something of mere memory. Women also get lower rates for both life and automobile insurance because of the fact that they live longer and are involved in fewer accidents, to be fair, and equal right for women will take away the right to for lower rates. All of the legal rights that women had attempted to establish and were granted to them would be taken away if this amendment came to order.

In 1869 Staton, Mott, and Anthony created the “NWSA” also known as the National Women’s Suffrage Association. This group did not allow male figures in and focused around the right to vote in national elections and passing the constitutional amendment. Soon after the other suffragist Lucy Stone founded her own organization. Stone started the “NAWSA” also known as the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. This group focused on getting votes state by state for suffrage. The only difference with this organization was that men were allowed to join, which caused many problems. 20 years later in 1890 Lucy Stone had become very ill and had passed away, since no one was there to run her organization (NAWSA) the NWSA group connected together. It was now fully known as The National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) but this time men were not allowed to join.

The Equal Rights Amendment was created to give equal rights to both female and male because they weren’t getting treated equally. Women didn’t have the same rights as males, one of them was voting and during that time it was a really big problem in the U.S. Also, because there was so much sex discrimination like females weren’t getting the respect they should and they would treat them so bad, because women couldn’t vote, own

right to vote when the 19th amendment got ratified in the year 1920. Before the 19th amendment, only 4 states gave women the right to vote. The western states gave women the right to vote so that more people could come to their states. The women suffrage was run by strong women. Two of the women were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady. The women got the right to vote because they have been fighting for their rights since 1775, women were striking for their rights at their job to so that they can be equal as men, the women’s right convention that opened the new possibility for women, and the 4 states that gave women rights before 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.”

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

This gave all adult women the right to vote. After her death, Alice Paul decided to take action and began to agitate higher ranked people for a passage of federal Suffrage Amendment to the Constitution. Three years later, “On March 3,1913, Alice and some colleagues held a large Suffrage parade to coincide and distract from President Wilson’s inauguration.” (Williams, Yohuru). Not even a year later, she left the organization

The White House Picket that was spearheaded by Alice Paul because it was a turning point for women fighting for the right to vote. Ms. Paul along with Lucy Burns formed the National Women’s Party that would fight tooth and nail to help women gain the right to vote. The nineteenth amendment was the federal law that would provide voting rights for women. The most famous protest of the group was the White House Picket. Alice Paul and other party members were eventually arrested for protesting and staged hunger strikes, were force fed. There resolve endured and they refused to abandon their

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