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Essay / Women's fight to combat gender inequality in the United States
Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These are the women who lived at the turn of the century and fought fiercely for a cause they all believed in. They knew they were being discriminated against because of their gender and they refused to put up with this discrimination any longer. These true believers in feminism paved the way for further reforms and changed the very fabric of society known today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Even though these women fought for this noble cause, many disagreed with their radical views due to the double standards that existed at the time. Many conflicts arise when conservative thinkers, mostly men, fail to understand why a woman should deserve the right to vote or even want to do so. Many women were also uneasy and unsympathetic about the right to vote. The Seneca Falls Convections, also known as the Woman's Right Convection, took place in Seneca Falls, New York and this convection lasted for two days, July 19 and 20, 1848. This is where finds the "Declaration of Sentiments", signed by 68 women and 32 men, written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton who based it on a form from the United States Declaration of Independence. When the document was adopted and the resolution was passed, it was the great movement to achieve the civil, social, political and religious rights of women. It states in the document: “that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the constant of government,” (Stanton). However, women are denied the right to vote, and it can be said that the government denying women the right to vote is a violation of human rights, because the right to vote is a natural right that comes with citizenship . To deny a certain group on the sole basis of their race, their age or even their gender is to deprive them of their fundamental rights and this is how the fight for women's right to vote and the fight for the right to be treated equally with men (Imbornoni). It was not until after the Civil War of 1868 that the Fourteenth Amendment was passed and all citizens gained the right to vote, but this was not the case for women. The fight for women's suffrage was a quest for them to be treated as equal contributors to society. Since women did not have the right to vote, they were not represented at the national level and many decisions were made without taking their needs into account. By having the right to vote, women could change their social and domestic conditions and improve their lives (Imbornoni). In 1869, two organizations promoting women's suffrage were founded with different opinions on how to achieve the same goal. In May 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton decided to found the NYSA, which became known as the National Woman Suffrage Association. This group had one goal in mind: to obtain the right to vote for women because they wanted a Congressional amendment to the Constitution. All of these women were willing to fight for what they believed, knowing it would be an uphill battle. In December 1866, Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell formed the AWSA, known as the American.