America's View Of Women And Women's Rights example essay topic

America's Struggle For Equalit America's Struggle For Equalit Essay, Research Paper America's struggle for equality The United States became independent 224 years ago. It would take years for its citizens to construct the framework of the government upon which the nation would be established. The United States was to be a nation based upon the fundamental rights freedom and equality, in which a person would be judged not by their make-up, but by their actions. However this vision of a utopian society was to be short-lived, as injustice began to emerge from every part of society.

Sex, race, and color all affected the rights and privileges of the American citizen. And the only way to right these wrongs was through years of struggle and perseverance. In this essay I will be able to show briefly how some of America's laws became what they are today. Perhaps the group that experienced the greatest amount of resistance in their fight for equality was the American women. For years, women were viewed as frail, petite creatures whose job it was to carry out the housework, and care for the children of the family. Only in the mid-eighteen hundreds did women first begin to speak out against their role in society, and request the right to vote.

By obtaining the right to vote women believed that they would become a more influential member of society. They were no longer content with their passive household role, and as a result began to fight for their right in to vote. Two of the major advocates for women's rights during the late eighteen hundreds were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Stanton and Anthony, determined to change America's view of women and women's rights, traveled the country preaching women's rights, and aided in the publication of several newspapers advocating women's rights. Through their efforts, Stanton and Anthony probably played the two most influential roles in the eventual institution of the Equal Rights Amendment. The first major step Stanton and Anthony took in advocating women's rights was to embark on a two month journey, spanning throughout the American countryside, spreading their message of women's rights.

This journey proved beneficial for several reasons. First and foremost, the trip benefited their cause as it took the issue of women's rights out of isolated meetings and brought it directly to the American people. People living in rural areas of Kansas, for example, were previously isolated from the issues such as women's rights discussed in the larger cities. By speaking at small farms, halls and churches Cady Stanton and Anthony brought their campaign directly to the people, and in doing so opened the people's eyes.

While traveling the country Stanton and Anthony were also able to meet countless new people, and in doing so establish several new allies. One of these allies was George Francis Train, an eccentric millionaire, who helped the two women by funding a newspaper called The Revolution. Previously unable to receive ample backing Stanton and Anthony were now able to openly express their views through the written word, and deliver their message advocating women's rights to cities across the country. Through their articles the two were able to express proposed action, and influenced several women's rights groups which were cropping up across the nation during that time. Although Stanton proved effective inciting action through her work as a journalist, her greatest influence towards women's rights came through her work in forming and participating women's rights groups.

Stanton was president of the National Woman Suffrage Association, during which time the group fought for the writing, and adoption of, the Sixteenth Amendment for women's suffrage. She also formed the Working-Woman's Association, fighting for improvements in women's labor conditions, and the Women's Temperance Society, in which she fought for women's right to divorce from an alcoholic husband. Through making speeches, writing articles, and participating in women's groups Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony made significant progress for the rights of women in America. They helped improve women's rights in marriage, working conditions for women in factories, and women's rights to property. However it wasn't until much after their deaths that their final dream was to come true – the passing of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1972. The Amendment, in full, stated that ' Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

' Besides women, another group that has seen great struggle throughout American history is the African Americans. African Americans not only had to fight for their political rights, such as voting, but also for their civil rights. In the early eighteen hundreds the majority of blacks in America had few if any civil rights at all. For during that time period, slaves were not considered citizens, but rather as property of the plantation owner on which they worked.

These ' owners' were allowed to overwork, maltreat, and even beat their slaves without worry of legal repercussions. Frederick Douglass, for example, as a boy watched a fellow slave be drowned in a lake by his owner for attempting to escape the plantation. Frederick Douglass himself was maltreated as a child; repeatedly beat and whipped by his master for disobedience. However unlike many slaves Douglass, in 1836, successfully escaped from hi plantation and fled to the town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. There he took on a new name, a new identity, and a new role as an influential abolitionist speaker. In 1941 Douglass gave an impromptu address at an antislavery convention in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and distinguished himself as a great orator, and an influential advocator of black rights.

One of the reasons why Douglass was so effective as a speaker was because he was so well educated. During that time period the general public view towards blacks was one of superiority in intelligence. When Douglass then arose and gave powerful, eloquent speeches at conventions many whites were taken back. Education of slaves during the early eighteen hundreds was considered illegal as it was perceived to make them more likely to attempt an escape or rebel against their master. Those black children then that wished to learn to read and write then were forced to do so in secrecy. Douglass, for example, as a child became very intent on learning to read.

And when he asked a group of white children to read him part of the alphabet from a book he was beaten. Even after this opposition however, Douglass continued to read, and later began to study an orator's guidebook. Through this self-education Douglass prepared himself unknowingly to become one of the most influential figures in the advancement of African American rights in America. Douglass spoke at a multitude of antislavery conventions, both in the United States, and later in The British Isles, (while evading the new Fugitive Slave Law).

He helped fight for the adaptation of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These amendments abolished the existence of slavery, secured the citizenship of African Americans, and under the Fifteenth Amendment, made clear that "The rights 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. ' Thomas Jefferson once said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ' When we think of America today, and what makes it great, some of the first things that come to mind are the freedom and equality of all its citizens. However what we often quickly forget is the fact that these rights were only established through the struggle, hardships, and persevering efforts of countless Americans throughout history. Each amendment to the Constitution, securing equality, is the result of years of toil and struggle of the minority group of which it represents.