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Abigail Adams writes to her husband John who is in Philadelphia for the Continental Congress. She asks him to "Remember the ladies," when working on the Declaration of Independence.
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Sarah Grimke begins her short-lived career as an abolitionist and a women's rights advocate. She is quickly silenced by her fellow male abolitionists who consider her to be a liability.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the American Equal Rights Association, an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to the goal of universal suffrage.
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The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified, which extends to all citizens the protections of the Constitution against unjust state laws. This Amendment was the first to define "citizens" and "voters" as "male."
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Susan B. Anthony is arrested and brought to trial in Rochester, New York, for attempting to vote polling booth in Battle Creek, Michigan, demanding a ballot; she is turned away.
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A Woman Suffrage Amendment is introduced in the United States Congress. The wording is unchanged in 1919, when the amendment finally passes both houses.
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The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS) is organized. Led by Mrs. Arthur Dodge, its members included wealthy, influential women and some Catholic clergymen--including Cardinal Gibbons who, in 1916, sent an address to NAOWS's convention in Washington, D.C. In addition to the distillers and brewers, who worked largely behind the scenes, the "antis" also drew support from urban political machines, Southern congressmen, and corporate capitalists--like railroad magnates and meatpac
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Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first American woman elected to represent her state in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Frances Perkins, the first woman in a Presidential cabinet, serves as Secretary of Labor during the entire Roosevelt presidency.
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A massive government and industry media campaign persuades women to take jobs during the war. Almost 7 million women respond, 2 million as industrial "Rosie the Riveters" and 400,000 join the military.
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The number of women and men voting is approximately equal for the first time.
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Shirley Chisholm is first Black woman elected to the US Congress.
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The first battered women's shelters open in the US, in Tucson, Arizona and St. Paul, Minnesota.
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In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court establishes a woman's right to abortion, effectively canceling the anti-abortion laws of 46 states.
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Employment Discrimination against pregnant women is banned.
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Sandra Day O'Connor becomes first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the only First Lady ever elected to the United States Senate.
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In the past few years, Tea Party Extremeists have waged a "War on Women." Their goals include defunding family planning clinics, blocking appropriate abortion care and even restricting birth control availability. The presidential election of 2012 is crucial to women's rights. Now more than ever, it is important that as women, we stand up and take what is ours.
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Where will we be 10 years from today? Will we still be fighting for equal pay, equal opportunities, and the rights to our own bodies. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and others claimed on behalf of American women "all the rights an privileges which belong to them as citizens." Those who participated in the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 had great ideas and dreams of progress. Since then, we have come so far. However, there is still more to be done. What will you do?
