In Elsie Hill and and Florence Kelley Debate the Equal Rights Amendments, depicted how the National Woman’s Party, formed during World War I to help secure the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted american women the right to vote. The Woman’s Party would form again to address the issue of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal rights for women. The Amendment would pose many arguments among women due to the fact that women would also be losing some essential rights such as their wages, alimony, and child support in the case of divorce. Elsie Hill and Florence Kelley are two important women who debate over the Equal Rights Amendment concept of women’s freedom and their role within society. Whereas, in other documents …show more content…
Elise Hill, represented the National Woman’s Party, strongly believed securing the freedom of women and feared that if the new amendment were adopted then everything that woman had gain “...would remove them at one stroke” (VOICE OF FREEDOM 156). Florence Kelley, the head of the National Consumers’ League, suggested that women need special protection by the government. She proposed that “women will always need many different from those needed by men” (VOICE OF FREEDOM 156). Both of these position demonstrates how the full equality of women would overturn the economic security and legal protection of mothers and wives. However, there were some women who believed that gaining political equality was enough therefore, women no longer needed special legal protection. According to the textbook Give me Liberty, women such as Alice Paul, who support the new Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) believed the ERA “followed logically from winning the right to vote(GIVE ME LIBERTY 777).” Paul believed that women need to focus more on attaining equal access to employment, education, and all the other opportunities of
Work is required to earn the money to provide the necessities of life, but this duty should never be given to children. In her speech, Florence Kelley uses logos, pathos, and a shift to voting rights to build her argument of why child labor laws need to be enforced nationwide. The first way the author builds her argument is through logos, a logical appeal. Kelley utilizes an assailment of facts and statistics to lead her assertion. This is effective because of the shockingly large number of children working absurd and miserable hours.
Knauer, Christine. “Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).” Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics. By Lynne E. Ford. 2015 ed.
It is for the Woman’s Party to decide whether there is any way in which it can serve in the struggle which lies ahead to remove the remaining forms of woman’s subordination” (Alice Paul, The Suffragist, 1921) Thereafter began a new battle, the Equal Rights
Many say that the movement failed because of the fear that gender roles and family values would be infringed upon by the passage of this amendment. Other’s felt that there was no need for it due to the recent Supreme Court cases, i.e. Roe v. Wade, which made way for a broadened spectrum of women’s rights. It is on this topic of why exactly the ERA failed that Mary Frances Berry focuses her attention, by examining why the movement failed and how future reformers can learn from the mistakes of the ERA. Berry analyzes the failure of the ERA in both legal and historical terms. She claims that due to the difficulty of amending the Constitution, in order for any amendment to be ratified there needs to be a sweeping consensus and a sense of urgency among Americans that this is an issue
The fight for women’s rights was not without good cause. Many saw the hypocrisies of allowing all men – even complete buffoons – the right to vote while educated ladies had no say on the ballot. Divorce laws prevent women from splitting from their spouse unless he agreed to do so. In addition, women could not own property or keep their own paychecks if they worked (see Document 1). These problems of hipocrasy were additionally highlighted when people began to see women doing the same exact work as men on farms and in other job areas (see Document 5).
Thousands of women have screamed at the top of their lungs, clawed at the patriarchy, and tirelessly fought for their rights as citizens of the United States of America. From the beginning of mankind, women have been labeled as inferior to men not only physically, but mentally and intellectually as well. Only in 1920 did women gain the right to voice their opinions in government elections while wealthy white men received the expected right since the creation of the United States. A pioneer in women’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony publicly spoke out against this hypocrisy in a time when women were only seen as child bearers and household keepers. Using the United State’s very own Constitution and Declaration as ammunition, Anthony wrote countless
According to ‘New Life in the ERA’, a 2016 poll shows that, “94 percent of Americans support an amendment that specifically guarantees equal rights to men and women. In fact, 80 percent of Americans mistakenly believe the Constitution already does so,” (Smith 7). Even though there is so much support for an amendment like the ERA, the ERA itself has not passed. There are only two amendments in the Constitution that address women and equal rights. The first amendment is the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote.
The American Revolution was without a doubt one of the most crucial events to have ever existed in humankind that would later go on to help shape and form today’s society. Beginning 1775, the 13 English colonies rebelled against British rule because they regarded it as unfair and oppressive. Alongside the help of Spain and France, the 13 colonies were able to defeat the British and then gain independence through the Treaty of Paris in 1783. After considering the definition of a revolution - an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed - and the American society before and after the American Revolution, it is obvious that those who don’t consider the American
After the deaths of many of the women’s rights activists from the older generation, younger leaders began to take charge, and they often aligned themselves with the Progressives. During this time, women’s roles were viewed as homemakers, so many of the Progressive women defended their reform actions as an extension of the traditional role of women. Among, the many values held for many decades by these reformers was the right to vote for women. In her piece, “Why Women Should Vote”, Jane Adams argued how women needed this right “in order to preserve the home,” (Doc C). These views developed into the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote.
Many lower class citizens such as women, African American, and immigrants demanded their god-given rights of suffrage and freedom, and being accepted in society as an equal citizen. The Women’s Rights Movement assembled due to the unfair distribution of rights in men and women. According to Document I, women demanded their right to “be free as man is free, to be represented in the gov’t… [and]…we now demand our right to vote according to the declaration of the gov’t under which we live.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton protests of being inferior to men, being governed without their consent, yet still being taxed by the “democratic” gov’t to which they mean nothing.
ERA or Equal Rights Amendment was proposed by Alice Paul to help further women's right in the United States. “The amendment proposed to eliminate all legal distinctions 'on account of sex'”.(Foner, 766) The amendment sought to eliminate the difference in how women were able to work and be educated. This caused problems as the different women's organizations had different opinions on women's freedom meant. There was fear that the amendment would cause women to lose some rights.
“Women couldn’t attend college to most states. The wages they earned working outside the home went to their husbands or fathers, not to them. And they were helpless to change the laws because they weren’t allowed to vote” (Blumenthal 10). Women were helpless and it was simply the men’s show.
In 1923, the ERA written by Alice, was introduced into Congress. The Amendment declared “equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of sex” (“Woman Suffrage”, 2014, para 1). The Amendment was introduced into every Congress through 1972, where it finally passed but failed ratification in 1982. Only 35 states ratified the Amendment by the 1982 deadline. After the failure, the Amendment was again presented to Congress every year, but still fails to get passed.
After the Civil War, women were willing to gain the same rights and opportunities as men. The war gave women the chance to be independent, to live for themselves. Women’s anger, passion, and voice to protest about what they were feeling was the reason of making the ratification of the 19th amendment, which consisted of giving women the right to vote. One of the largest advancement of that era was the women’s movement for the suffrage, which gave them the reason to start earning
In today’s world, it seems to be that women have the same rights as men, but it wasn't always this way. The speech “Women’s Rights to Suffrage” by Susan B Anthony is the most compelling of all. Susan B Anthony persuades the audience that all women should have the same rights as men. It’s shown through the speech that the federal constitution says “we the people”, the government has no right to take away rights from just one gender, and that women are considered people as well. The fact that the constitution says “we the people” is a primary point in this speech.