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Dec 6, 2023
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Brie Clinton HIS 200: Applied History Southern New Hampshire University November 20th, 2023 Historical Analysis Project The Equal Rights Amendment was one of the most important amendments designed to ensure equality amongst every American citizen despite their gender. The origin of this influential amendment was from the mistreatment and unfairness women faced during the time, which then empowered these women to seek and demand a change. This proposed amendment by a modern-day feminist, Alice Paul, was to with the purpose to provide an equal lifestyle full of opportunities for anyone regardless of their gender. Women of all ages supported this movement and eventually began to draw attention and support from many political leaders. Despite the lack of ratification for The Equal Rights Amendment, a fundamental legal remedy was placed within our constitutional rights which was extremely detrimental to the growth of society and especially to our nation. The ERA was not solely proposed for the purpose of granting equal rights for women, but equal rights for everyone, which the primary motivation was based off the collective of the women’s disappointment that they were not being treated equally within all a
spects of life. During this time women were only viewed as a glorified housekeeper, chef and babysitter, whose
sole purpose was to be reliant on the men to take care of the financial aspects of life. When women did decide to enter the workforce, they were only allowed to work under a specific set of regulations including the amount of time and at what time they were allowed to work. The laws that were set in place by the government for women was because they viewed women as mothers, where they were meant to be home and taking care of these homes, not out in the work field away from their children. The National Woman’s political party was the first to propose the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, due to the demand and need of equal opportunities for employment and voting rights. Despite the first proposal of this amendment there was not an introduction to Congress until the late 1960’s, where it wasn’t approved for almost ten years later. Throughout the struggle and search of approval of equal rights there was a plethora of movements, protests, and a unified outrage for the need of change within society. After a few decades of fighting for ratification of The Equal Rights Amendment was finally passed by Congress in 1972, but still not an amendment of the United States Constitution. Despite the lack of ratification, the Equal Rights Amendment was still structured within our constitutional rights, which had an influential impact throughout the nation, which we are still enduring now. The Equal Rights Amendment has a plethora of consequences between long-term and immediate ones, which all left a huge mark within history. One initial consequence was that because the ERA was continuously prolonged, it provoked a huge portion of the nation, causing protests, movements, and a unified outrage within society including every gender, race, and age. A long-term consequence despite gaining the complete ratification, the Equal Rights
Amendment’s policies was then established within the constitutional rights. These practices were then enforced across the United States ensuring that essentially women are to be see no lesser than a man, which subjects them to the same expectations and obligations as a man, including joining the military draft, and/or financial responsibilities. The Equal Rights Amendment was proposed in order to provide a legal remedy for discrimination of gender, which was later enforced through the constitutional right that a person could not be denied of anything solely off of their gender. Considering the policies of the Equal Rights Amendment, the gender of an individual was no longer a deciding factor nor classification that anyone could enforce due to it now being a constitutional right. As a woman, and a mother I know that I would personally have been offended if during this time I was viewed like all I had to offer was bearing children, so the frustration the women of this time felt, I can empathize with them entirely. The purpose of The Equal Rights Amendment was to change the precedence of an individual’s gender and stop the simplistic ways of thinking that a woman only has one purpose. This amendment helped empower those who felt unheard and caused those around that felt too powerful to truly reconsider their beliefs and predisposition of considering these gender roles/standards, “By the 1960s, as the civil rights movement gave voice to the grievances of African Americans, women also spoke up against sexism, lower wages, and domestic confinement” (Stock, 2014)
. This statement alone revealed to me the frustration and anguish they must’ve felt by constantly being seen as “less than” and never as an equal despite all efforts. Even within today’s society the world continues to vie
w women as the oppressed solely because they check the box labeled ‘female’ and not ‘male’.
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A historian should recognize all that has happened within history and understand that the fight and want of the Equal Rights Amendment is still valid and is still desired by many within this nation, with hope that one day this amendment will be added to the United States Constitution. It should also be remembered that despite the lack of ratification for The Equal Rights Amendment, a fundamental legal remedy was placed within our constitutional rights which allowed detrimental growth of our society and especially to our nation. If one was to repropose today that the Equal Rights Amendment should be ratified, then the future direction would lead to a nation coming together to express the need of this amendment and the power it would instill those who still feel silenced.
Resources Equal Rights Amendment. (2005). In S. Phelps & J. Lehman (Eds.), West's Encyclopedia of American Law (2nd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 198-199). Gale. https://link-gale-
com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/CX3437701640/UHIC?u=nhc_main&sid=bookmark-
UHIC&xid=be105328
Congress Approves the Equal Rights Amendment: March 22, 1972. (2014). In J. Stock (Ed.), Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History (Vol. 6). Gale. https://link-gale-
com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/UWDXSQ579838739/UHIC?u=nhc_main&sid=bookmark-
UHIC&xid=0205b008
EILEEN SHANAHANSpecial to The New,York Times. (1972, Mar 23). Equal Rights Amendment Is Approved by Congress: Equal Rights Amendment Is Approved.
New York Times (1923-
)
https://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fhistorical-
newspapers%2Fequal-rights-amendment-is-approved-
congress%2Fdocview%2F119579661%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D3783
Paul, A. (1999). Equal Rights Amendment (1923). In American Journey. Women in America. Primary Source Media. https://link-gale-
com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/EJ2161000212/UHIC?u=nhc_main&sid=bookmark-
UHIC&xid=acbb836c
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