Equal Rights Amendment Failure

Does the U.S. Constitution Need an Equal Rights Amendment? Over the course of the year we have touched on many different topics of gender studies and politics. The topic that appealed to me the most was the Equal Rights Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is an amendment that was invented to obtain equal rights for both males and females in society.

Through years of gender inequality throughout the nation, one of the most important causes for women was when they received the right to vote, as it allowed them to have a voice within the country. While looking throughout the fight for Women’s Suffrage, many would say that it ultimately ended on August 26, 1920- when the 19th Amendment was officially ratified. Although this seems accurate, many others would say that the fight ended when the Supreme Court 's ruling ultimately established the Nineteenth Amendment. This is best shown by the ratification of the 19th amendment, Leser v. Garnett, and the overall process to reach the final ruling during the case.

The Anti Federalists failed due to a lack of organization. They could never get all thirteen states to fully cooperate and create a piece of legislation that could battle the Constitution. Yet in the end, the Articles of Confederation were kept as guidelines to help individual freedoms, of both people and of the

The reasons why it failed miserably were that forced taxation was near impossible, very hard to hold a strong military appearance, and that each state over powered the nation its self in power. In the time period of the publication of the Articles, the authors were most likely suffering from remembrance of England’s taxes. Clearly showing why they wanted to cut the federal governments power to tax. This idea ended up coming back to bite the US.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. In 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time. The ERA has always been highly controversial regarding the meaning of equality for women. Middle-class women generally were supportive.

The 19th Amendment was passed on August 18th, 1920; women had been in a 70 year protest to finally gain women suffrage. Even after women gained equal voting rights as men, they struggled to get past the state laws that still held them unequal in numerous ways violating their natural rights. It wasn’t until 1974, almost 54 years after the amendment was passed, that the Supreme Court finally considered an Equal Pay Act, due to an employer paying women less than men for the same work (Corning Glass Works v. Brennan). Only a year before that, in 1973, did the supreme court revise and clarify that employers could not publish sex-segregated “Male/Female Help Wanted” ads. Although it may be protected under the constitutional right of freedom of speech and of the press, but instead was considered illegal because of sex-biased preference in hiring (Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations).

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.

America gained its independence in 1776 with the expectation that every American should have liberty and equality. However, American women did not have the right to vote until 1920, which was almost more than 140 years after the United States was established. Women could do little to protect themselves and promote their careers due to being treated unequally and inferior to men. During the 19th and the early 20th century, women were working hard and fighting for gender equality, so that more and more women could live a better life with basic civil rights in their hometowns. In reality, women’s equality was challenged by traditional conventions in the fields of biological difference in sexes, religion and gender roles, and different perspectives towards these conventions of different people made women’s civil rights controversial.

The 1970s were a rough year for African-Americans, still fighting for social and political rights in the United States. Consequently, women still did not receive equal rights. However, in 1972, “Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, which reads: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex’ (History.com Staff).” Out of the thirty-eight necessary states only twenty-two ratified it right away, it was relieving for the moment because the feminist advocates had been trying to be ratified since 1923. The First African-American woman elected into Congress was Shirley Chisholm.

Fortunately, due to the tireless work of decades of activist’s, laws have changed, amendments added to the constitution, and rights granted to those who were previously unjustly denied. One of these victories for women’s rights occurred when women were granted the right

The case that sparked my interest on equal protection was Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan. This case allowed Joe Hogan, a registered nurse enrollment in two state supported coeducational nursing programs, but denied him enrollment in the Mississippi University for Women’s School of Nursing’s baccalaureate program, on the grounds that he was a male. The significance of the case is that parties seeking to uphold a statute that classifies individual’s gender must carry the burden of showing an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for the classification. Also, single-sex admissions policy of MUW 's School of Nursing cannot be justified on the ground that it compensates for discrimination against women.

The early women’s rights organization was developed based upon the standards and experiences of different endeavors to promote social justice and to enhance the human condition. These efforts are known as change. Among these were the Abolition and Temperance movements. The personal and historical connections that united, and on occasion divided the movement for women’s rights existed before 1843, have advanced over the subsequent century and a half. The 1877 Woman’s Suffrage amendment had been initially brought into U.S. Congress.

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects any person within their jurisdiction of their due process and equal protection. The Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment requires the states to apply their laws equally to any person within their jurisdiction. The equal protection clause aims to provide equal application of the law. It is also crucial to the protection of civil rights. There should be no discrimination in its application. Also no state can deny any person of their equal protection rights. The laws of a state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions or circumstances. Due process deals with the fair use or enforcement of laws. The Due Process clause protects any person of their

They just wanted to gain their own independence and stand up for what they believed in. Because of the feminist movement sweeping the country, the Equal Rights amendment gained a lot of support.(Henry Piatek, September 2011)) Almost 100,000 demonstrators marched in Washington D.C in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. (archive.mprnews.org) “The Equal Rights Amendment was passed in 1972 by both houses of Congress and President Richard Nixon and was sent off to be ratified into law by states.”. ( Ryan Bergeron, August 17, 2015)The Equal Rights Amendment only needed five more states to ratify it by March 1979 in order to get three-fourths approval. (Ryan Bergeron, August 17, 2015)

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.