Alice Paul Research Paper

Alice Paul There are many notable women in the world. The one that is most notable is Alice Paul. She was a woman who fought for women’s rights her entire life. She was a simple woman educated in sociology and law. Today her foundation continues the fight for girls and women around the globe. Alice Paul was born in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. She was born to Hicksite Quaker parents on January 11, 1885. She lived on her family farm, Paulsdale. She was the oldest of four children. “Alice’s father was a successful businessman and, as the president of the Burlington County Trust Company in Moorestown, NJ, earned a comfortable living” (Carol, Myers, Lindman, n.d., Early Life section, par. 1). Hicksite Quakers “stressed separation from the burgeoning

Alice wanted a national amendment whereas the NAWSA wanted to focus on state campaigns. The NAWSA supported President Wilson but Alice blamed him for the continued disenfranchisement of women. So in 1914 she formed the National Woman’s Party (NWP) and cut all ties with the NAWSA. “The NWP organized “Silent Sentinels” to stand outside the White House holding banners inscribed with incendiary phrases directed toward President Wilson” (Carol, Myers, Lindman, n.d., National Woman 's Party, Picketing and Prison, para 1). They continued their picketing through World War 1 and many thought of them as unpatriotic. The women were often arrested on made up charges and were jailed when they refused to pay fines. They were sent to Occoquan Workhouse, a prison in Virginia (Carol, Myers, Lindman, n.d., National Woman 's Party, Picketing and Prison section, para 2). The women staged hunger strikes and “were forcibly fed in a tortuous method” (Carol, Myers, Lindman, n.d., National Woman 's Party, Picketing and Prison section, para 2). The women were beaten and thrown into “cold, unsanitary, and rat-infested cells” (Carol, Myers, Lindman, n.d., National Woman 's Party, Picketing and Prison section, para 2). Eventually prison officials moved Alice to a sanitarium to get her declared insane but the news of her treatment, along with the other women, became public. This caused sympathy for the prisoners and the public demanded their

In 1923, the ERA written by Alice, was introduced into Congress. The Amendment declared “equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of sex” (“Woman Suffrage”, 2014, para 1). The Amendment was introduced into every Congress through 1972, where it finally passed but failed ratification in 1982. Only 35 states ratified the Amendment by the 1982 deadline. After the failure, the Amendment was again presented to Congress every year, but still fails to get passed. The Amendment would make improvements in legal, economic and social restrictions for women (“Women 's Rights”, 2014, para