Alice Paul: Champion of Women's Suffrage

799 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on alice paul

Alice Paul was a great American suffragist, feminist, and women’s rights activist. She was the main leader and strategist behind the 1910s campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibited sex discrimination when voting and guaranteed women the right to vote in all elections at the local, state, and national levels. She was the diligent leader of a popular political party, the National Women’s Party, which was a group of militant suffragists who took to the streets with mass pickets, parades and hunger strikes to persuade the government to give them the right vote (Hutchinson Encyclopedia). Alice Paul attended numerous prestigious colleges including Swarthmore College, American University, University of Pennsylvania, the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Alice Paul chose this day and location specifically to pressure Woodrow Wilson to support women’s rights. Woodrow Wilson had immense leverage over Congress, making his support critical for the women’s rights cause. Alice Paul assembled eight-thousand volunteer marchers to represent the women’s rights movement. The march quickly turned violent when the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania national guards created a barrier. The incident did, however, bring the women’s rights movement more awareness and The pickets used nonviolent civil disobedience and referred to themselves as the Silent Sentinels. This picketing continued from January to April, but at the start of World War I support decreased as the picketers were seen as disloyal. Many of the picketers were arrested for traffic obstruction. Alice Paul was convicted and sent to the District of Columbia Jail. The public strongly criticized President Woodrow Wilson for arresting peaceful protesters, so out of public shame, he pardoned the women from their convictions after two days (Alice

Show More
Related

  • Alice Paul v. Carrie Chapman Catt

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice Paul was a Quaker who had strong views about women’s rights. However, she thought that the NAWSA and Carrie Chapman Catt’s plan was too conservative. She broke away from the association to form a more radical group, the National Women’s Party (NWP). The NWP pushed for a Constitutional Amendment at a federal level and focused on President Woodrow Wilson (Alice Paul 1885-1977). To raise support for the cause, Alice Paul conducted public events such as marches. These events were often talked about in the media thus raising awareness for women’s suffrage (The Women’s Rights Movement). Alice Paul wasn’t alone in her efforts. Lucy Burns, also a member of the NWP, organized political campaigns, and was the editor of the Suffragist (Lucy Burns). Paul, Burns and the Silent Sentinels picketed in front of the White House (Alice Paul 1885-1977). They were often harassed because of their progressive beliefs. That however didn’t stop the suffragists from protesting day after day. They held banners and

    Read More

  • How Did Bayard Rustin Influence The Civil Rights Movement

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Philip Randolph, Together they orchestrated the march on Washington but due to the Executive Order No. 8802 executed by FDR (President Roosevelt) it outlawed racial discrimination when dealing with military employment and hiring minority workers in defense industries. Despite his efforts in fighting against racial oppression, Rustin found himself serving jail time in 1944 for failing to register for the Draft or service time doing an alternative service, he spent 3 years in federal prison for violating the selective service act laws. The time he spent in prison was a testament to his religious and philosophical practices in dealing with non-violent restraint, facing verbal and physical abuse from guards and prisoners. Upon release from prison he reassumed his work with A. Philip Randolph and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, this time fighting the discrimination in interstate transportation and Jim Crow laws because of it he was sent to face one month of labor with a chain gang in the south facing further torture and racism from guards and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Film Iron Jaw Angels

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lucy eventually urged Alice that for them to succeed on their quest for suffrage, they need to continue the movement on their own. Alice went ahead to start the National Women Party (NWA). Now Alice’s party is gaining more momentum among women with

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience Susan B Anthony

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Civil disobedience is “the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes” (Civil Disobedience). On November 18, “a U.S. deputy marshal appeared on her doorstep with a warrant for her arrest.” The other women who illegally voted were also arrested. Anthony was the only one who had to go to court. She was delivered to trial for civil disobedience. Her trial, United States v. Susan B. Anthony, happened seven months after she was arrested. The judge of the trial was an acclaimed enemy of women’s suffrage. When the time of the trial came, the judge banned Anthony from testifying. He accounted her “incompetent.” At the end of the trial, the judge “ordered the jury to find Susan guilty.” Before the jurors answered, the judge declared that the trial was over. Anthony’s attorney demanded a new trial. “The motion was denied, and the defendant was ordered to pay a $100 fine.” Anthony never paid the $100 fine (“1st November” par.

    Read More

  • Ain T I A Woman's Struggle For Suffrage

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    For many years people fought and struggled for change to make the world a better place. People struggle for change to feel equal by actively fighting for human rights, they urge people to abide by the rule of law to accomplish these equal rights, and they fight for a change in the future to ensure that the work they have done is not destroyed by the younger generations. Thanks to the hard work of our ancestors, the freedom that we are granted benefits many people around the world today. If it were not for their struggle we would not have some of the privileges we have today, such as the right to vote. Alice Paul and Ida B. Wells are both exemplary examples of advocates for the women’s suffrage. They marched and protested for the right to vote which eventually led to the 19th amendment. It took a very strong leader to accomplish this goal, a person that believed in the rule of law and a change for the future. These women are just two examples of people who were self motivated for a change. Many other people struggled for a change in what they believed in,and if they fought hard enough their efforts

    Read More

  • The Social Value of 19th Amendment

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...

    Read More

  • The Galvanizer of the Women’s Liberation Movement: Gloria Steinem

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whether it is the Ancient Greece, Han China, the Enlightened Europe, or today, women have unceasingly been oppressed and regarded as the second sex. Provided that they have interminably been denied the power that men have had, very few prominent female figures like Cleopatra, the Egyptian Queen, or Jeanne d'Arc, the French heroine, have made it to history books. Veritably, it was not until 1792 when Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women addressed the issues of gender equality, that some started hearkening the seemingly endless mistreatment of women. New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1892. The United States did not endorse this until 1920 when the 19th Amendment was ratified, which states “The right of citizens of the United States votes shall not be denied or abridged… on account of sex.” This, however, was not the end to women’s plight. For the majority of the 20th century, America’s idea of a good woman was a good mother and a good wife. In the 1960s and 1970s, a movement that would later bring fundamental changes to the American society was spreading rapidly throughout the country: The Women’s Liberation Movement. With the increasing number of educated women, gender inequality received more attention than ever before. Hundreds of women came together to fight domestic violence, lack of political and economic development, and reproductive restrictions. One of these women was an ordinary girl from Ohio named Gloria Steinem who would later become a feminist icon in the United States. Steinem contributed to the Women’s Liberation Movement by writing about feminism and issues concerning women, co-founding Ms. magazine, giving influential speeches— leading he movement along with...

    Read More

  • Major Events That Changed Women's History

    1547 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most important women, and often most forgotten, during women’s suffrage is Alice Paul. She was the first woman to earn her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and also earned a law degree at American University. She founded the National Women’s Party (NWP) in 1916. The way she fought for women’s rights was very different than how the women in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) fought for it. Although, in the end, they congratulated Alice Paul and the work she had done to get women’s rights. She had raised $750,000 in less than 10 years in the fight for the 19th amendment, which in today’s society would be $9.9 million. She also created the idea of lobbying, which is still actively used in modern politics. Her efforts and drive are what make her one of the most important women to study in women’s history. She is often never even mentioned during history classes when students are being taught about women’s suffrage. Teachers and professors usually stick with the more ...

    Read More

  • The History of LGBT rights in California

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    While the women’s suffrage movement was none violent and mainly carried out by organized meetings, lobbying congressman, and picketing protests, the women that participated in it could do nothing to stop the violence of their oppressors from coming to them. In January 1917, the National Women’s Party, led by suffragists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, began to picket, six days a week, in front of the white house for their right to vote. At first largely ignored, they became under frequent attack with no help from the police. Then starting th...

    Read More

  • How Did Ida Ruth Influence The Women's Rights Movement

    258 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ida Rauth, born in New York City in 1877, was a major supporter of women’s suffrage. She was a socialist and a lawyer. She joined the Hull House project in Chicago and helped to establish the Women’s Trade Union League. In 1911 on the 4th of May, she married Max Eastman, whom she later divorced in 1916. She had a son on September 6th, 1912, named Daniel. She also established the Provincetown Theatre Group. She died in 1970.

    Read More

  • Ain't Scared of your Jails

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the first documented incidents of the sit-ins for the civil rights movement was on February 1, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee. Four college African-Americans sat at a lunch counter and refused to leave. During this time, blacks were not allowed to sit at certain lunch counters that were reserved for white people. These black students sat at a white lunch counter and refused to leave. This sit-in was a direct challenge to southern tradition. Trained in non-violence, the students refused to fight back and later were arrested by Nashville police. The students were drawn to activist Jim Lossen and his workshops of non-violence. The non-violent workshops were training on how to practice non-violent protests. John Lewis, Angela Butler, and Diane Nash led students to the first lunch counter sit-in. Diane Nash said, "We were scared to death because we didn't know what was going to happen." For two weeks there were no incidences with violence. This all changed on February 27, 1960, when white people started to beat the students. Nashville police did nothing to protect the black students. The students remained true to their training in non-violence and refused to fight back. When the police vans arrived, more than eighty demonstrators were arrested and summarily charged for disorderly conduct. The demonstrators knew they would be arrested. So, they planned that as soon as the first wave of demonstrators was arrested, a second wave of demonstrators would take their place. If and when the second wave of demonstrators were arrested and removed, a third would take their place. The students planned for multiple waves of demonstrators.

    Read More

  • Women's Fight for Suffrage in America

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    At this point, they were simply fighting for social acceptance. Brave women began to give public speeches about their opinions on slavery and women’s rights. These women included Ernestine Rose, Abby Kelley Foster, and Lucy Stone. Several women also attempted to vote, but were either turned down or arrested for violating the law. About a decade later, the first National Women’s Rights Convention took place, due the fact that women’s suffrage had begun to become a very well-known concept among America’s female population. As suffrage continued, several suffrage organizations were established, two of which were on the national level. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton co-lead one, while Lucy Stone lead the other. Both groups were rivals for years, even though they both wanted primarily the same thing. Eventually, the two groups became allies and merged in the 1890, under the name National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) with Anthony as the leader. By 1916, a woman named Alice Paul formed the National Women’s Party (WWP). Unfortunately, over 200 of its supporters were arrested while picketing

    Read More

  • Progressive Era and Working Conditions

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...en comparing the President Wilson to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to demand that President reverse his opposition to 19th amendment. Besides the comparison, CU also set aflame a life-size dummy of Wilson, burned copies of Wilson’s speeches, and went on hunger strikes when got sent to prison. Newspapers printed stories about the women’s treatment in jail, garnering public sympathy and support for the cause. By 1918, President Wilson publicly announced his support for suffrage. Thus, victory for women suffrage happened in 1920.

    Read More

  • women's suffrage

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women had an arduous time trying to demand the rights they deserved to have. Women suffragist made associations and paraded down the street to endeavor rights. Two associations were made up, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association. The National Women Suffrage Association is also known as NWSA was developed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This association work for suffrage at the federal level. They tried press for more extensive institutional changes, such as married women being granted right to own land. The American Women Suffrage Association is also known as AWSA was developed by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe. This association aimed to secure the ballot through state legislation. The ladies at NWSA refused to endorse the amendment because it did not give women the ballot. However the ladies at AWSA argued that once the black man was enfranchised, women would achieve their goal.(Buechler) With making associations, suffragist would march together in a parade down streets. All women who believed in the women’s suffrage movement came together, not caring what class each other are in since the demands were the same for all who marched. The intent of the parades were to dazzle and impress observers and gain recruiters, as well grab the attention of legislators who ignore the suffragist petitions and dispel unfav...

    Read More

  • Essay About Iron Jawed Angels

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    The film shows Paul and her cohorts fighting for equality in Washington, DC. When Paul first arrived in DC, she was under the watchful eye of the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). As Paul fought on, her values no longer lined up with NAWSA, which led to the suspension of her congressional union. In retaliation, Paul relentlessly continued her efforts by starting the National Women’s Party (NWP). The National Women’s Party solely fought for the passage of a constitutional amendment that would grant all United Stated citizens the right to vote. Although the opposing sides often came to a head, Alice Paul makes a great case when she says, “women don’t make the laws, but they have to abide by them”(von Garnier, 2004, part 2). With much determination and a lot of fight, the amendment was finally passed through Congress in

    Read More

More about Alice Paul: Champion of Women's Suffrage

Open Document