Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have guaranteed equal rights under law for Americans regardless of gender.

History in Congress

Although the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment had guaranteed American women's right to vote, Alice Paul, a suffragist leader, argued that this right alone would not end remaining vestiges of legal discrimination based upon gender. In 1923, Paul drafted the Equal Rights Amendment and presented it as the "Lucretia Mott Amendment" at the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1848 Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments.

Related Topics:
1920 - Ratification - 19th Amendment - Right to vote - Alice Paul - Suffragist - Discrimination - Gender - 1923 - Lucretia Mott - Anniversary - 1848 - Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments

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The National Women's Party took the ERA to Congress in the 1920s, where Senator Charles Curtis and Representative Daniel R. Anthony, Jr.—both Republicans and both from Kansas—introduced it for the first time as Senate Joint Resolution No. 21 on December 10, 1923, and as House Joint Resolution No. 75 on December 13, 1923, respectively. Though the ERA was introduced in every session of Congress between 1923 and 1970, it never reached the floor of either the Senate or the House of Representatives for a vote—instead, it was usually "bottled up" in committee.

Related Topics:
National Women's Party - 1920s - Senator Charles Curtis - Representative Daniel R. Anthony, Jr. - Republican - Kansas - December 10 - 1923 - December 13 - 1970 - Senate - House of Representatives - Committee

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Representative Martha W. Griffiths of Michigan, however, achieved success on Capitol Hill with her House Joint Resolution No. 208, which was adopted by the House of Representatives on October 12, 1971, with a vote of 354 yeas, 24 nays and 51 not voting (117 Congressional Record 35815). Griffiths' joint resolution was then adopted by the Senate on March 22, 1972, with a vote of 84 yeas, 8 nays and 7 not voting (118 Congressional Record 9598). And with that, the ERA was finally presented by the 92nd Congress to the state legislatures for ratification, as Article V of the Constitution prescribes.

Related Topics:
Representative Martha W. Griffiths - Michigan - October 12 - 1971 - March 22 - 1972

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