Evolution of Women's Equal Rights Movements
July 1848- Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott pioneered the first women’s rights convention. This convention was located in Seneca Falls, New York. Three hundred men and women gathered to protest for rights for women. This was when 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. This convention lead to many other movements that benefited women’s rights.
October 1850- The first National Women's Rights conventions was held in Worcester, Massachusetts. The convention attracted approximately 1,000 people both men and women. This meeting was the first of many that were held yearly until 1860. May 15, 1869- Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. This group believed that the right to vote for women would be achieved by a federal constitutional amendment. Though at first they had a rival, the American Woman Suffrage Association, they later merged and became one group called the National American Woman Suffrage Association. 1872- Susan B. Anthony and many other women were arrested for voting. The other women were held at 500 dollars bail and Anthony was held at 1,000 dollars bail. She was denied a trial by jury and was charged another 100 dollars. These were the first of many brutal arrests. Women were treated very poorly by their jailers. March 3, 1873- Anthony Comstock presented an anti-obscenity law which made contraceptives illegal. August 18, 1920- The Nineteenth Amendment was passed saying that no one can be denied the right to vote due to their gender. This amendment allowed states to decide the restrictions for voting. This amendment was passed 72 years, one month, and one week after Seneca Falls. |
1960- The Women’s Liberation Movement is also called second wave feminism. The Women’s Liberation Movement didn’t focus on women’s suffrage but it focused on the workplace, reproductive rights, and the Equal Rights Amendment.
1963-Betty Friedan wrote a book called The Feminine Mystique. This book explained the hardships that women had to go through after World War II. In the book it described how women were unsatisfied with their life, this book lead to the making of the organization NOW. June 30, 1966- Betty Friedan was the first president of NOW (National Organization for Women). This organization’s goal was and still is to get rid of discrimination against women and equal rights. The group has 500,000 members today and they still working towards equal rights for women. June 30, 1982- The Equal Rights Amendment (written by Alice Paul in 1923) was passed by congress. Then it was up to the states to decide. The amendment fell short by five states to reach the required 75 percent minimum. The Equal Rights Amendment was not ratified. 1994- The Violence Against Women Act was passed which protected women from domestic abuse and sexual assault. Policemen were trained in dealing with these types of abuse and women were able to seek help. November 5, 2003- The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was to make it illegal to abort a fetus after five months. Any doctor who performed this was either fined or had to serve time in prison for up to two years. |