The 19th Amendment
In this video, Kerry Washington performs a speech that was originally given by Sojourner Truth, a former slave and advocate for women's suffrage.
Definitions of the 19th Amendment:
-Section 1: Suffrage Not to Be Abridged
-Section 2: Power of Congress
Applications of the 19th Amendment:
- Text Book Outline
-Section 1: Suffrage Not to Be Abridged
-Section 2: Power of Congress
- Text Book Commentary
- Text Book Definition
Applications of the 19th Amendment:
Lucy Burns
Lucy Burns was a very well educated woman who, at a young age, became an activist for women's suffrage. The more she involved herself in the women's suffrage movement, the more trouble she got into. She was arrested numerous times for "disorderly conduct." It was in jail, after one of her arrests, that she met a woman who ended up becoming her closest friend and partner in crime, Alice Paul. Together, these women started the National Women's Party (NWP). Lucy Burn's story is a sad yet triumphant story. Through the years of her life as an activist, Burns was thrown into jail multiple times, each time she was treated worse than the last. She organized hunger strikes with other suffragists including Alice Paul. These hunger strikes were a way to continue her protest from within a jail cell. On one particular occasion, Burns had organized a three day hunger strike amongst her fellow suffragists who had been arrested with her. The jail guard tried getting them to eat multiple times, he even tried tempting them with fried chicken, but they would not be swayed. This jail guard decided that if he didn't do anything about this situation then he was going to have a few dead prisoners on his hands, so he transferred Burns to a different jail where she could not influence the other women. After being transferred, Burns continued to the hunger strike which enraged the authorities at this new jail. They were so enraged that they decided to force feed her. Burns would not budge, but that did not stop the force feeders. Since she refused to open her mouth they resorted to holding her down (using five men) and feeding her with a tube through her nostril. This method was not only extremely painful, but also very dangerous. It was in August of 1920 that Burns finally saw all of her suffering produce the result that she had been fighting for.
Information gathered from these websites:
Lucy Burns was a very well educated woman who, at a young age, became an activist for women's suffrage. The more she involved herself in the women's suffrage movement, the more trouble she got into. She was arrested numerous times for "disorderly conduct." It was in jail, after one of her arrests, that she met a woman who ended up becoming her closest friend and partner in crime, Alice Paul. Together, these women started the National Women's Party (NWP). Lucy Burn's story is a sad yet triumphant story. Through the years of her life as an activist, Burns was thrown into jail multiple times, each time she was treated worse than the last. She organized hunger strikes with other suffragists including Alice Paul. These hunger strikes were a way to continue her protest from within a jail cell. On one particular occasion, Burns had organized a three day hunger strike amongst her fellow suffragists who had been arrested with her. The jail guard tried getting them to eat multiple times, he even tried tempting them with fried chicken, but they would not be swayed. This jail guard decided that if he didn't do anything about this situation then he was going to have a few dead prisoners on his hands, so he transferred Burns to a different jail where she could not influence the other women. After being transferred, Burns continued to the hunger strike which enraged the authorities at this new jail. They were so enraged that they decided to force feed her. Burns would not budge, but that did not stop the force feeders. Since she refused to open her mouth they resorted to holding her down (using five men) and feeding her with a tube through her nostril. This method was not only extremely painful, but also very dangerous. It was in August of 1920 that Burns finally saw all of her suffering produce the result that she had been fighting for.
Information gathered from these websites:
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In this video historians tell the unfortunate tale of Lucy Burn's time spent in jail, and the wrongful treatment which she received.
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The photos below are photos of Lucy Burns during her years as an activist.
Women's Roles After 19th Amendment Ratification
Ever since the ratification of the nineteenth amendment in 1920, women have played a more important role in the government and in society. Women have also come to be looked at as equal to men and have become influential and powerful citizens in the U.S. Now we see woman holding places in the Senate such as Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Our country has even seen women presidential candidates such as Hilary Clinton. Women continue to have a crucial impact on America thanks to the nineteenth amendment.
Ever since the ratification of the nineteenth amendment in 1920, women have played a more important role in the government and in society. Women have also come to be looked at as equal to men and have become influential and powerful citizens in the U.S. Now we see woman holding places in the Senate such as Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Our country has even seen women presidential candidates such as Hilary Clinton. Women continue to have a crucial impact on America thanks to the nineteenth amendment.
From left to right: Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Hilary Clinton in action.
Continuing to Pursue Equal Rights
In 1923, Alice Paul (mentioned above) proposed the equal rights amendment to Congress. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) went a step further than the nineteenth amendment. The structure of this proposed amendment were as follows:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
Essentially, the ERA made the discrimination of any person, based on gender, unconstitutional. As of today, the ERA has still not been ratified and continues to be fought for by women all over the country.
"If we keep on this way they will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the 1848 Convention without being much further advanced in equal rights than we are. . . . If we had not concentrated on the Federal Amendment we should be working today for suffrage. . . . We shall not be safe until the principle of equal rights is written into the framework of our government." -Alice Paul
Information gathered from these websites: