Why Is Alice Paul Considered The Original Suffragettes

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Kimberly Gutierrez February 08, 2017 AMH2020 Alice Paul left her mark in society during her advocacy for women’s rights in the 20th century. She began her homage for women’s suffrage to vote in her studies abroad in Birmingham, England. Paul worked alongside Emmeline Pankhurst who headed the Women’s Rights Movement in England and was known to use unconventional tactics to make the cause known to those in power. Paul joined the cause and enlisted in the Women’s Social and Political Union who would be acknowledged as the “original suffragettes”. She fought alongside the women of England eventually bringing the fight to America when she returned in 1910. After her return Paul joined the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) …show more content…

Alice Paul also wanted to bring to light President Wilson’s crime of depriving women the right to vote and blame him for the continued oppression. In 1914 Paul left NAWSA and later would be the co-founder of the Congressional Union who made it their top priority to create a federal constitutional amendment for women’s right to vote. In 1916 Paul formed the National Women’s Party (NWP) who would call themselves the “Silent Sentinels” when they stood outside the White House with pickets and banners on the 10th of January 1917. American’s saw such actions to be outrageous and unpatriotic and acted against Alice and her …show more content…

In 1919 the 19th amendment which will grant women’s suffrage was passed and later in August of 1920 it would be ratified by the Secretary of State. Finally the strenuous, never ending fight for women’s suffrage has come to an end and the women of America are victorious. Paul however, knew that the fight was nowhere near its end. She said “There is danger that because of a great victory women will believe their whole struggle for independence ended. They have still far to go. It is for the Woman’s Party to decide whether there is any way in which it can serve in the struggle which lies ahead to remove the remaining forms of woman’s subordination” (Alice Paul, The Suffragist, 1921) Thereafter began a new battle, the Equal Rights