Women's Movement

By MelissaAshton

  • Angelina Grimké Becomes Leading Abolitionist

    Angelina Grimké writes a letter to abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison endorsing his efforts and calling antislavery a "cause worth dying for" (Shmoop).

  • Snub of Woman Delegates to World Antislavery Convention

    The World's Antislavery Convention is held in London. The British and Foreign Antislavery Society sponsoring the convention refuses to seat women delegates from American antislavery societies.

  • Seneca Falls Convention

    About 300 people, including 40 men, meet at America's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. There they adopt a Declaration of Sentiments, modeled closely after the Declaration of Independence, asserting the "self-evident" truth that "all men and women were created equal."

  • American Equal Rights Association Founded

    The American Equal Rights Association holds its first meeting. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony are among the founding members. The AERA unites abolitionists, African-American activists, and feminists in pursuit of racial and gender equality.

  • Stanton & Anthony Found NWSA

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony found the National Woman Suffrage Association to campaign for women's right to vote.

  • 15th Amendment

    The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, stating that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and other feminists will develop a complex constitutional argument, which results in a constitutional protection for women's right to vote.

  • Susan B. Anthony Arrested for Voting

    To test the argument advanced by many feminists that the 14th and 15th Amendments guarantee women the right to vote, Susan B. Anthony attempts to vote in the 1872 presidential election. She is arrested and found guilty of casting an illegal ballot.

  • Minor v. Happersett Rejects Right to Vote

    In Minor v. Happersett, the United States Supreme Court rules that the right to vote "was not necessarily one of the privileges or immunities of citizenship" and therefore "neither the Constitution nor the 14th Amendment made all citizens voters."

  • Women's Suffrage Amendment Introduced in Senate

    Senator A. A. Sargent of California introduces into the Senate a women's suffrage amendment drafted by Susan B. Anthony. The text of the amendment will remain unchanged through its ratification as the 19th Amendment in 1920.

  • 19th Amendment Passes Congress

    The United States Senate passes the 19th Amendment. Having already passed in the House of Representatives (May 21st, 1919), the amendment is sent to the states for ratification.

  • Equal Rights Amendment Introduced in Senate

    The Equal Rights Amendment, drafted by Alice Paul, is introduced in the Senate. It reads, "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction." Although the amendment will be introduced in every session of Congress, it will not reach the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote until 1971.

  • GOP Endorses ERA

    The Republican Party endorses the Equal Rights Amendment.

  • Democrats Endorse ERA

    The Democratic Party endorses the Equal Rights Amendment.

  • ERA Passes Congress, Moves to States for Ratification

    The Equal Rights Amendment, with language revised by Alice Paul in 1943, is approved by the Senate. Having already passed in the House of Representatives (October 12th, 1971), it is sent to the states for ratification. The revised language of the essential phrase 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."

  • Title IX

    The United States Congress enacts a series of Educational Amendments including Title IX, which states that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

  • Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Sex-Segregated Job Ads

    The United States Supreme Court rules in Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations that ordinances prohibiting sex-segregated employment advertisements do not violate the First Amendment. The ruling successfully concludes a five-year campaign waged by the National Organization for Women against sex-segregated job ads.

  • Deadline for ERA Ratification Extended

    The United States Senate joins the House of Representatives in extending the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, originally set for March 22nd, 1979, to June 30th, 1982.

  • ERA Fails to Gain Ratification

    The deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment passes with only 35 of the needed 38 states approving the amendment. Opposition to the amendment is strongest in the South and Southwest.