Dbq Women's Rights

1848, in the small town of Seneca Falls, New York, a history changing event occurred. Seneca Falls hosted the first ever women’s rights convention, which kick started a nationwide fight for equal rights. A Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was formed during this convention. It pointed out how they were forbidden to get an education and the lack of rights they possessed. There was enormous backlash of the idea to give women more rights. However, this all changed with World War 1. With less men to occupy American jobs, women filled the vacancies. President Wilson was very impressed by this and became an advocate for women’s rights. Congress decided to try to pass an amendment that gave women the right to vote. After many heated arguments,

However the main problems people had with the proposal was that they did not think women needed any more rights. Some anti-suffrage groups went as far as to hand out pamphlets specifying why women should not be allowed to vote. Women who dared to picket the White House were jailed even though the first amendment granted them the freedom of speech. Concern over women’s rights focused on petticoat rule. People saw that if women had more rights, the inevitable outcome would happen in which women were in charge of the government (petticoat rule). Though many women would argue that the government would be in better hands if it were run by them. Even Mrs. Roosevelt thought that women’s right to vote was “simply unnecessary”. She argued that women were suppose to be bear children and be housewives. Many conservatives thought that women did not need to vote in order to be a good wife and mother. Men thought that it would be in both of the genders best interests to leave the “little women at home” while they supported the family (Hazard, Sharon. "Women's Anti-Suffrage Movement." The Ultimate History Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.). Many viewed women as delicate creatures who did not posses the ability to comprehend politics and therefore should not be allowed to vote. Most men simply did not want to relinquish their power over women and had to think of arguments that would stop them from

While women make up half of today’s workforce, they make seventy-nine cents to every dollar a man makes ("Pay Equity & Discrimination." — IWPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.). To put it in perspective, for every $60,000 a man makes, a women only makes $47,400. The Equal Pay Act of of 1963 prohibited companies from determining pay based on the gender of the worker. This law should have put an end to the pay gap between the genders but it did not ("The Equal Pay Act of 1963." (EPA). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.). While it is impressive that the NFL has hired its first female ref, males are the overwhelming majority in politics. Twenty percent of women are Senators and nineteen percent are in the House of Representatives. Things are looking up with the Presidential Election approaching and the chance America’s first female president, Hillary Clinton. She understands that there is still a pay gap but acknowledges the progress being made towards full equality. She even agrees that women’s rights “truly is the unfinished business of the 21st century”( From the vote to the White House, By Monica