The Equal Rights Amendment
"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
In 1923, this statement was admitted to Congress under the Equal Rights
Amendment (ERA). The ERA was a proposed amendment to the United States
Constitution granting equality between men and women under the law. If the Era
was passed, it would have made unconstitutional any laws that grant one sex
different rights than the other. However, in the 1970s, the Era was not passed,
and therefore did not become law.
The idea for an equal rights amendment first became acknowledged in the
early part of the twentieth century. In 1916, Alice Paul founded the National
Women's party (NWP), a political party dedicated to establishing equal rights
for women. Traditionally, women were viewed as weaker and inferior to men. The
purpose of the ERA was to prohibit any person from acting on this belief. Alice
Paul viewed that equality under the law was the foundation essential to full
equality for women.
In November of 1922, the NWP voted to work for a federal amendment that
could guarantee women's equal rights regardless of legislatures' indecisions.
The NWP had 400 women lobbying for equality.
Despite strong opposition by some women and men, the NWP introduced and
Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1923. In order to
become law, the amendment needed a two-thirds vote in both houses of the
congress of the United States, or a supporting petition of two-thirds of the
state legislatures. Then the amendment would have required ratification by
three-fourths of the states. However, it failed to get the two-thirds majority
required to move onto the states for approval. The proposed amendment also
failed in following sessions until 1972, when it won a majority vote in Congress.
The main objectives of the women's movement included equal pay for equal
work, federal support for day-care centers, recognition of lesbian rights,
continued legalization of abortion, and the focus of serious attention on the
problems of rape, wife and child beating, and discrimination against older and
minority women. The ERA would have addressed all of these issues if it were
passed.
Had it been adopted, the ERA would have resolved the paradox of an
oppressed majorit...
... middle of paper ...
...t giving the Supreme Court and federal agencies
authority to spell out the meaning of equal rights would be risky. Decisions
made on such a level would be too far removed from the ideas and desires of the
people. Opponents felt that equal rights should be dealt with on a local or
state level where legislators can be voted out of position if the people do not
like some of the decisions made.
Although the ERA did not pass, all of the actions made by NOW, NWP, and
any of the other women's movements, have greatly aided women in their battle
against sex discrimination in the work place, in educational institutions, and
in their roles as wives and mothers, and finally laid to rest the controversy
over protective legislation and equal rights. Like the Fourteenth
Amendment, we are inclined to forget that the ERA was designed not to change
values but to modify behavior of mainstream citizens by changing the
constitutional status of a particular group. The ERA's purpose was and is to
provide equality of opportunity through the Constitution and legal system for
those women who want to realize full personal and professional expectations
within mainstream America.
...s undeniable to many who had simply been living in compliance with the established codes, never questioning or investigating them. It was one factor in the many following movements for freedom of speech, contributing to the separation of church and state of today.
issue in the days of the bible and continues to be an issue in the middle 1800's.
Pros and Cons of the Equal Rights Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment began its earliest discussions in 1920. These discussions took place immediately after two-thirds of the states approved women's suffrage. The nineteenth century was intertwined with several feminist movements such as abortion, temperance, birth control and equality.
Within the period of 1900-1920, many national reforms were rising to the top as Progressive Era reformers and the federal government heard the voices of the people. The effectiveness of Progressivism is a controversial subject for some, but the future was changed through the events of any actions a president made, the rights of people, and unfair treatment and conditions. This era brings changes to our society that also changes the future of it. These two decades brought forth successful times in bettering America.
National Conference of State Legislatures. Wendy Underhill , 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
The single-member district election system is the most common and best-known electoral system currently in use in America. It is used to elect the U.S. House Representatives, as well as many state and local legislatures. Under single member district systems, an area is divided into a number of geographically defined voting districts, each represented by a single elected official. Voters can only vote for their district’s representative, with the individual receiving the most votes winning election. This method of electing representatives is better than any alternative solution in various ways. Four compelling reasons to support the single-member district election system include the fact that single-member districts give each voter a single, easily identifiable district member; the way single-member district voting helps protect against overreaching party influence; that single-member districts ensure geographic representation; and finally, that single-member districts are the best way to maximize representatives’ accountability.
The extents of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been long discussed since its adoption in mid-late 1800s. Deciding cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade has been possible due to mentioned amendment. These past cases not only show the progression of American society, but also highlights the degree of versatility that is contained within the amendment. Now, in 2015, the concerns are not of racial segregation or abortion, the extent of the amendment was brought to a new field: same-sex marriage. In Obergefell v Hodges, we can see the epitome of the Equal Protection Clause.
people were not allowed to act on their beliefs, instead their thoughts and actions were controlled
The New Deal was considered in such a way an expansion of the Progressive Era, however, it was not a continuation. The Progressive Era and FDR’s New Deal worked to reform the economic system. Nonetheless, the new deal worked more with programs to stimulate the economy, while progressive was more of a philosophy. Another historical event that can relate to the Reforms of the 1800s.
In the second part of the twentieth century, women’s rights once again gained a lot of momentum. The women’s liberation movement was born out of women civil right activists who were tired of waiting for legislative change for women’s rights. Even though women are being recognized more in society, they still face difficult issues. Sexism –especially in the workforce –is becoming a major issue, birth control pills are still not popular, and abortions are frowned upon in society. The case Roe v. Wade is about a woman with the fake name of Jane Roe who wanted an abortion but the state of Texas would not let her unless her life was in danger. She sued the district attorney of Dallas County saying that it violated the right to privacy under the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. Usually, some arguments for being against abortions are because it is like killing a life, religious reasons, and less chance of future pregnancies. Some arguments that approve abortion are the rights of privacy and the mother to make her own decision. I decided to pick the landmark case Roe v. Wade because there are many ways to argue for and against abortions, so I wanted to give it an overarching view before I personally pick a side. Roe v. Wade is a significant case because it shows how rights in the Constitution do not have to be explicitly mentioned for it to implement and the change in abortion laws that affect women.
Vance, D.A. (1994). State-imposed congressional term limits: what would the Founders of the Constitution say?. Brigham Young University Law Review, 1994, 429.
from voting, but are used by creating new laws that would prevent one’s ballot to be
Give a brief summary of about 100 words on each woman, explaining her main accomplishments and what set her apart as a woman worthy of a chapter in a book.
Roe vs. Wade is generally considered the “gateway decision” for women’s rights, because it showed the country that it was possible for women to win in the supreme court, in a country that had typically been very patriarchal. Beginning with events like the Salem witch hunt and the Anne Hutchinson being driven out of Massachusetts for being a woman preacher, women started out being considered inferior to men in America and, although that idea has become less and less prevalent, still exists in some areas to this day. The institutionalized sexism that permeated the United States is observable in cases such as Muller v. Oregon began to lessen heading into the 1920s, but with relatively minor achievements, such as equal
Equality is a concept mankind never is able to grasp correctly. Of course humans will always search for different solutions to create fairness, but factors such as human greed, ignorance of mass populations, and even biological aspects stagnates the process of equality. The oldest and most relevant discussion on equality lies with the difference of sex; man versus woman. Initially, men, because of their physical superiority, were given the prospects many women never even dreamt to have. Conversely, as time has progressed, women have fought this unfair treatment with demands of suffrage and similar rights to those of their male equivalents. Greatly enough, this generation has done an exceptional job in the challenge of overcoming sexism and inequality. However, will this search for equality ever end? When can we say we have created an equal race of men and women? The fact of the matter is that it is truly impossible to have equality between the sexes because of predisposed circumstances that are not easily controllable in the slightest bit.