The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement inspired Women’s Equality activists to demonstrate, and put their bodies on the line, to achieve equal and fair treatment for women. This fight for gender equality had been a long one. From the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, to the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, women and men continue to push for a more fair and just society. This week’s question asks students to explore one failed aspect of this fight: The Equal Rights Amendment. Explain what the ERA is and what the arguments for and against the amendment have been over the twentieth century. This means that students should examine not only the disposition of the fight over the legislation in the seventies, but also why Alice Paul crafted the amendment and why people fought against the bill in the 1920’s. Finally, students will explain why the amendment failed to be ratified and added to the constitution.
To read the arguments in support of the ERA please go to the following link :
http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/social-reform/equal-rights-amendment
To see arguments against the ERA complete the following steps:
Go to Week Eight’s link
Click on the link entitled “Chapter 26: The age of fracture”
Click on the “Video Exercises” link
Click on the “Essays” link
Scroll to the bottom of the page
Click on the “Illinois Statehouse Debate Over the ERA”
Watch the video
