Women’s rights are filled with explorers fighting for equal rights in the U.S. According to 'Spartacus-Educational'(1997-2017), women did not see fit to start supporting the quality of women passing in the state of politics until the 16th century. It began with a nun named Elizabeth Barton in 1526, she started making public speeches. Due to 'Spartacus-Educational'(1997-2017), Edward Thwaites claimed that about 3,000 people witnessed one of her speeches where she told her visions. By the 1st of October in 1528 Warham wrote to Thomas Wolsey the Cardinal endorsing Elizabeth as “a very well-disposed and virtuous woman”. Barton was then executed for the predictions king Henry had interpreted. Elizabeth lived on to fight for these rights of women until April 20th of the year 1534.
Women were not allowed to participate in the profession of becoming doctors, lawyers, and teachers during the 16th century (Lambert, 2019), permitting them to join other workers in organizations where skilled tradespeople worked. In the year 1562, a law was proposed, The Statute of Artificers, announcing that it was illegal to hire a male or female for trade jobs unless they were able to perform the duties of an apprenticeship. Sometimes there will be people who regulated the trade (guilds) and often let men employees hire their daughters or wives in their workshops according to The Lambert (2019) website. Also in the 16th century, women did labor as spinning cloth, embroiderers, milliners, and dryers. Some also worked as washerwomen, brewers, bakers, or even confectioners. They were also selling foodstuffs in the streets due to The Lambert (2019) website.
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Being a domestic servant was a common job for women in the 16th century. Though, the majority of the women were housewives being kept busy, while others were midwives. Rich housewives would have servants assisting their needs if they had one. A bulk of men were not able to run their farms or business without having the help of their wives help(Lambert, 2019). Countryside housewives did pretty much the majority of work to help their farmer husbands, to be kept busy. In the 16th century, girls did not go to grammar school. Although, if your family was moderately rich, you will be taught at home.
Upper-class girls were taught by tutors, middle-class girls were educated in reading, writing, arithmetic, and expertise like sewing by their mothers. A wholesaler's daughter is usually taught by their father to run their business and women were taught by their husband or parish priest to read(Lambert, 2019). “However, towards the end of the 16th-century girls spent less time on academic subjects and more time on skills like music and embroidery”(Lambert, 2019).
Marriage in the 16th century was usually set out, and divorce was unspecified. Although marriages were sometimes declared invalid. Girls were legally allowed to be married when they were 12 years old. But, ordinarily, it was mainly the girls from families with great fortunes who became married when they were young. Today you have to be 18 years of age to be married and females that are aged 16-17 years can marry with the consent of at least one parent or guardian. Leading to suffrage, there were two main suffragists named Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. According to “History”(2019) the suffragists were fighting for women’s right to vote, to upping feminism.
Hilary Clinton then became the first female nominee for president by a major political party. Throughout national history, women have fought for equal footing for a long time. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a leading figure and abolitionist of the early women's movement and organization('Biography', 2019). According to 'Biography'(2019), “her Declaration of Sentiments was a revolutionary call for women’s rights across a variety of spectrums.” Susan B. Anthony was a women’s rights activist, she was American and was very loyal to racial gender, and educational equality. She played a bulk role in the women’s suffrage movement('Interexchange', 2019). According to 'Interexchange'(2019), Amendment 19th gave women the right to vote, which was named in her honor. These women activists decided to actually do something about what women she be allowed to do and gain equality.
On the 31st of March in 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter to Founding Father John Adams, her husband. According to 'History'(2019), She made an appeal to the Continental Congress and her husband to “remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention are not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation('History', 2019).” The first woman's rights convention, the Seneca Falls Convention was organized by women on July 19-20, 1848. 300 people attended, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott. It was held in New York. 32 men (including Fredrick Douglass) and 68 women signed the Declaration of Sentiments('History', 2019). This ignited years and years of activism, which lead to the 19th Amendment. This meant that this was a start for women and that they were getting somewhere to be granted equality.
The 23rd of January in 1849 was a significant day because Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school. She was also the first woman to become a doctor in the U.S. In 1851 on May 29th, a prior slave named Sojourner Truth turned abolitionist and women’s rights activist. According to 'History'(2019), She gave her speech “Ain't I a Woman?” at the Women’s Rights Convention. The purpose of this speech was that Sojourner was trying to persuade others that women of any race should be treated equally to men. She believed women should have rights just like men. By December 10th, 1869, the legislature of the territory of Wyoming passes America's first suffrage law, due to the 'History' (2019) website. This law allowed women the right to hold office and vote.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony established the National Woman Suffrage Association on May 15, 1869. This Association correlated with the national suffrage movement. The National American Woman Suffrage Association was formed by the group team that was with the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890. Margaret Sanger was the first to open a birth control clinic on October 16, 1916. According to 'History'(2019), her clinic was located in Brooklyn, but the clinic was considered illegal under the “Comstock Laws”. That law prohibited birth control, leading to her clinic being raided on the 26th of October in 1916. Meaning she only had her clinic open for ten days before getting raided. She then shut down the clinic and then established the American Birth Control League in 1921. This is the trailblazer to today's Parenthood that is planned.
A longtime activist named Jeannette Rankin, was with the National Woman Suffrage Association, she was honored as the first woman elected to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives('History', 2019). August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was completed and was nicknamed “The Susan B. Anthony Amendment” in honor of her achievements in women’s suffrage. According to 'History'(2019), Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic as a pilot without stopping, and Charles Lindbergh was the first. Jumping into 1955 December 1st, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on the Montgomery bus. This sparked the launch of the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement was coordinated for black Americans to gain equal rights and end racial discrimination under the law history (2019).
On May 9, 1960 women were allowed to control when and if they have children under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On the 10th of June in 1963 President JFK signed a law, the Equal Pay Act. This act forbids sex-based discrimination between women and men having the same job at the same workplace. By July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Which prohibits people to be biased or discriminate based on national origin, religion, sex, or race. Two years and twenty- eight days later, Betty Friedan helped establish the NOW (National Organization for Women) according to the 'History' (2019) website.
This organization promoted feminist ideals, eliminated discrimination, lead to societal change, and achieved and protected the equal rights of all girls and women in. This was in all aspects of political, social, and economic life. Around the 1970s this is where they had the battle of the sexes. Meaning this is where the Presidents and U.S. Supreme Court started getting involved and declaring things.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed into a law that states “No person in the United States shall, based on 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('History', 2019).' On the 22nd of January in 1973, in Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court of the United States proclaims that the Constitution protects a woman's legal right to abort('History', 2019). Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court for twenty- four years in 1981 on July 7th. She was sworn in by President Ronald according to the 'History' (2019) website.
In the 1990s women be the first female to be the attorney general of the United States (Janet Reno) and the first female secretary of state (Madeleine Albright). By September 13, 1994, Hilary Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act. It was part of the Law Enforcement Act and Violent Crime Control. These funds are for programs that assist victims of rape, domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and other related violence according to the 'History' (2019) website.
In conclusion, women’s rights have become better, and was a long and very difficult battle. There are still some issues that are a problem today. Women can be very powerful people for, prosperity, security, and peace. Women can build alliances across any race and speak up for minority groups. Their leadership is phenomenal and they have smart development. Women can play significant roles in commencing and sparking the process of national reconciliation, human rights, and justice. Today women are in high positions in business, education, and politics.
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