Women's Equality In The United States

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. The primary goal of the organization is to achieve voting rights for women by means of a Congressional amendment to the Constitution.

Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton knew that they were being discriminated against because of their gender, and they refused to take it. "In 1869, however, a rift developed among feminists over the proposed 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to black men. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and others refused to endorse the amendment because it did not give women the ballot." (Grolier). Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association to work for suffrage on the federal level and to press for more extensive institutional changes, such as the granting of property rights to married women. (Grolier)Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), one of the main leaders in the women's rights movement, she worked for over 50 years to help women achieve the right to vote. She gave speeches to make her views known to everyone. On January 18, 1892, she spoke before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. The speech was highly favorable, both within and outside the woman suffrage movement. (Solitude of Self)Susan B. Anthony registered and voted in the 1872 election in Rochester, NY. As planned, she was arrested (Susan B. Anthony Petition)

Prior to this time period woman were expected to follow rule of man and had little to no rights, unlike men. The Seneca Falls convention was an event that changed this. Declaration of Sentiments proclaimed, “He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women,” (Seneca Falls 305) Somewhere along the way of creating America the roles of a gender were created and misinterpreted. This is saying that women are equal to men and can do everything men cannot and that it is not morally wrong for this to occur. Support for women’s rights came from important funding documents such as the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Sentiments expressed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights;” (Seneca Falls 304) This quote explains that the Declaration of Independence is in support of women’s rights. No man should be greater than women and vice versa. The reform grows in size and significance because as soon as one person speaks up others feel as though they can as well. Many events were significant to the reform impulse but slaver and women’s rights are two that stand

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 early 19th century in the United States was a period of many social upheavals and reforms including women’s rights. The women's rights movement in the United States began with a convention held at the Wesleyan Church chapel located in Seneca Falls, New York, which became known as the Seneca Falls Convention. Approximately 200 people, men and women, attended; many of them were already activists in various movements. During the convention the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was created and presented. This document defined the rights that both men and women should have. This eventually led to women’s right to vote, own property and have independent lives. The Seneca Falls Convention was a monumental event that resulted in a movement that truly changed the idea of women being less equal

In the early 1800's, many of the women in the United States were plain and simple getting fed up with their lack of writes. Men had dominated everything in the past and they were still continuing to do so. Women were finally ready to come forward and voice their opinions about how men and women are created equal. It was now time for women to go out and become what ever they want to be and not have to worry about the fact that they are females. The Seneca Falls Convention would soon be one of the biggest victories for women's rights.

Of all the issues that were in the middle of reformation mid 1800’s, antislavery, education, intemperance, prison reform, and world peace, women’s rights was the most radical idea proposed. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was a rally held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton with the common goal to eventually achieve equal rights among all citizens. Frederick Douglass, who became an acclaimed activist in the African American Equal Rights movement, accompanied the movement. Moreover, The Declaration of Sentiments was a document that reflected the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, reiterating the sentiment from the Bible that “all men [and women] are created equal.” Concurrent to the publication of this document, for the first time, women insisted that they were men’s equals in every way. The Declaration of Sentiments was pivotal in Women’s history, although it was not given credit until the late 20th century. However, immediately after the Declaration of Sentiments was published, women and activist groups were inspired to take action towards rights for all underprivileged American citizens. The convention took place in a small town in upstate New York, which was home to four of the five people who organized the gathering. (DuBois, 1999, p. 45) This was the first time female equality was discussed in a public place. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was one of the most important events in women’s rights history.

The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women’s rights convention in the United States. It was organized by multiple women that were active abolitionists at the time, including others being members of temperance movement. It was a convention that was planned to discuss about the social, civil, religious rights of women. It lasted two days long from July 19, 1848 to July 20, 1848. The Seneca Falls Convention brought focus to the unfair treatment of women and ignited the Women’s suffrage movement. Three hundred people attended the convention including forty men. Women have struggle to get women’s right and men were villain yet black man have help to get women the right to vote.

In today’s society, people believe women have the same rights as men, especially after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, which outlawed “discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin” and was amended in 1975 to include the word “sex”.(“Teaching With Documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission”). The word “sex” was added at the last moment. America does not promise an equal outcome for everybody, but America was founded on the idea that everybody should have an equal opportunity to achieve their dreams. America is the home of freedom, the home of many opportunities, and the home of equality, but we are not where we should be? Many citizens of America are unaware of the unequal

Before the 19th century women had no rights, no status and no voice. They were the property and identity of their husbands, and in a way women were barely seen as human beings, they were merely there to serve and bare children. Much started to change at the start of the 19th century in social and economic areas. These transformations changed the game and provided an opportunity for women to seize and finally raise their voices. Women started to take action in small ways by making choices, not to marry young or not to have children immediately after marrying; they had bigger and better things in mind.

Abolitionists rejected the idea of women’s suffrage and bind with Republicans to pursue the campaign of African-American men suffrage. By the ratification of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment, women were denied the vote in federal elections. In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony extracted from the Equal Rights Association and unified a secret meeting of their followers to form the National Women Suffrage Association (NWSA).

Retired women are twice as likely as retired men to live in poverty. Although many people believe that the United States doesn’t fit into the category of unequal rights for women because of the rights women in the United States have compared to the rest of the world, that thinking couldn’t be farther from the truth, since the United States culture and the world culture around women is not favored towards women.

In america the rights women have gained are good, on the other hand people still think there are still some things to overcome. In most places women have had the right to vote. Some say that women remain at a disadvantage in education as well and women continue to make up more than most of students who drop out before completing the fourth grade, as well as making up for half of the world is one billion adults. Each year the number of females entering into higher educational programs and universities increases greatly. Another great thing for women is that of own body rights. In many nations abortions are legal and women have a wide variety of different things , such as birth control. This right in many nations remains as a central continuing debate issue.

The desire for equality is one everpresent in American society. We see this intention presented throughout our history, branching all the way back to our country’s founders. The intent for equality is clear, however, we continue to come short of this goal after years and years as a country. The battles toward ultimate equality are never ceasing despite our obvious objective, as we have created gender specific stereotypes that prevent us from achieving this aim. The ideals shared by Americans for equality are not able to surpass the constant struggles of our society. After 241 years as a country, we have only just had the first female presidential candidate win the popular vote in an election. One may argue that this is evidence of progression in American politics as women are being better represented, however, this is a slow improvement and one held back by the gender stereotypes which Americans hold.

In the United States, women are unfairly treated in comparison to men. For centuries, women have been looked down upon in society due to social structures; on the contrary, throughout time, women have proved themselves worthy of being acknowledged as an equal towards men. In society, women have been mistreated and have fought against the inequality of the genders: gender wage gap, stereotypes, countless forms of sexual harassment, and women participation in numerous forms of protests against the injustices of society are just an insufficient amount of forms with mistreatment towards women and how women have manifested themselves over time.