Omar Bennett
The original, unamended Constitution of the United States, written in 1787, has been criticized for its failure to explicitly mention women and secure their rights. While the exact number of references to women in the unamended Constitution is unclear, it is evident that the document did not initially grant women the right to vote, which was only achieved through the 19th Amendment in 1920. The absence of explicit references to women in the original Constitution has sparked debates about their inclusion or exclusion from the political community envisioned by the founding document.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Are women mentioned in the unamended constitution? | Yes, women are mentioned in the unamended constitution. |
| Number of mentions | It is unclear how many times women are mentioned. However, there is at least one explicit reference to women. |
| Context of mentions | The mentions of women are in the context of their exclusion from the political community and their rights as citizens. |
| Impact of mentions | The inclusion of women in the unamended constitution has been interpreted as granting them rights, including the right to vote, which was later explicitly guaranteed by the 19th Amendment. |
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What You'll Learn
Women's right to vote
The original, unamended Constitution of the United States, written in 1787, did not secure women's right to vote. It was only with the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920 that women were legally guaranteed the right to vote in the US. This milestone was the culmination of a lengthy and difficult struggle, with several generations of women's suffrage supporters dedicating themselves to the cause through lectures, writing, marching, lobbying, and civil disobedience. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), formed in 1890, was instrumental in achieving this victory.
The 19th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, states that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This amendment ensured that women's voting rights were protected under the Constitution, marking a significant step forward in the fight for gender equality.
Prior to the 19th Amendment, there were some notable instances of women challenging their exclusion from the voting process. In 1872, Susan B. Anthony successfully voted but was later arrested and found guilty in a highly publicized trial. Additionally, in the 1875 case of Minor v. Happersett, the Supreme Court upheld states' rights to deny women the right to vote, stating that the constitutionally protected privileges of citizenship did not include the right to vote.
Despite these setbacks, the territories of Utah, Washington, and Montana granted women's voting rights during the 1870s and 1880s, and in the years following the formation of the NAWSA, several states adopted amendments to their constitutions granting women the right to vote. The passage of the 19th Amendment solidified and extended this right nationwide, ensuring that women's voices could be heard and their political power exercised through the ballot box.
In conclusion, while the original unamended Constitution did not explicitly address women's right to vote, the subsequent adoption of the 19th Amendment rectified this omission. This amendment stands as a testament to the perseverance of women's suffrage supporters and a milestone in the ongoing journey towards gender equality in the United States.
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Women's exclusion from the Constitution
The original, unamended Constitution of the United States, written in 1787, did not explicitly mention women. This exclusion of women from the Constitution has been a subject of debate and controversy. Some scholars argue that the omission of women was intentional, indicating that women were not considered part of the political community created by the Constitution. This interpretation suggests that women were left out of the founding document's vision for the nation and were not intended to have the same rights as men.
However, others disagree, claiming that women's absence from the text does not imply their exclusion from the political community. They argue that women were implicitly included as members of the "imagined community" of the new American nation. This perspective suggests that the authors of the Constitution did not intend to discriminate against women, and their rights were assumed to be inherent.
It is important to note that the absence of explicit references to women in the unamended Constitution does not mean that gender was not a factor in the political discourse of the time. In fact, the term "sex" was mentioned during discussions, and gender was implicitly brought into the conversation. However, there is no record of any direct or extended discussions about women's rights or duties during the Constitutional Convention. The focus of the delegates was primarily on issues such as slavery and representation.
The lack of explicit inclusion of women in the unamended Constitution had significant implications for their legal status and rights. Notably, the original document did not secure the right of women to vote, and it took decades of agitation and protest by women's suffrage supporters to achieve this milestone with the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920. This amendment legally guaranteed American women the right to vote and changed the face of the American electorate forever.
In conclusion, the exclusion of women from the original, unamended Constitution has been a contentious issue. While some argue that their omission was intentional and indicative of their exclusion from the political community, others believe that women were implicitly included. The absence of explicit references to women does not diminish the fact that gender played a role in the political discourse of the time. However, the lack of direct attention to women's rights and duties during the Constitutional Convention had tangible consequences for their legal status, and it took a lengthy and difficult struggle to secure their right to vote.
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Women in politics
The original, unamended Constitution of the United States, written in 1787, did not explicitly mention women. However, the interpretation of this omission is a subject of debate. Some argue that women were implicitly included as members of the "imagined community" of the new American nation. On the other hand, others contend that their omission was intentional, excluding them from the political community created by the Constitution.
The term “sex” was mentioned during the Constitutional Convention, but there is no record of any discussion about women's rights or duties. The Committee of Style even deleted James Wilson's phrase "every age sex & condition." The inclusion of this phrase may have been to solve a problem unrelated to gender, regarding the representation of wealth or population in the House and how slaves were counted.
The Records of the Federal Convention, compiled by James Madison and other participants, provide the closest record of the debates during the Constitutional Convention. These records reveal an explicit reference to women during one of the early debates about representation in the House of Representatives. According to Madison's notes, Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed that each state's representation "should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants."
It is worth noting that the original Constitution did not secure the right of women to vote. This right was granted through the 19th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote, marking a significant milestone in the struggle for women's suffrage.
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Women's rights and duties
The 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, was a significant milestone in recognising women's rights. This amendment granted women the right to vote, a victory that came after decades of agitation, protest, and civil disobedience. However, it did not ensure full enfranchisement for women of colour or American Indian women, who continued to face discriminatory voting laws.
Another critical aspect of women's rights is protection from gender ideology extremism. The Biden Administration has taken steps to defend women's biological reality and safeguard their dignity, safety, and well-being. This includes recognising women as biologically distinct from men and enforcing laws governing sex-based rights, protections, and accommodations.
Women's rights organisations, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), have played a crucial role in advocating for constitutional equality. NOW has highlighted the need for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to be added to the Constitution to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sex and ensure equal justice under the law. They argue that without the ERA, progress towards women's equality remains vulnerable to being weakened or repealed by Congress.
In conclusion, while women's rights and duties have made significant strides since the unamended Constitution, there is still work to be done to achieve full constitutional equality. The ongoing efforts of women's rights organisations and the continued pursuit of amendments, such as the ERA, demonstrate a commitment to ensuring that women's rights are protected and their voices are heard in the democratic process.
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Women's suffrage movement
The women's suffrage movement fought for women's right to vote in national and local elections. In the 19th century, the movement made women's voting rights a significant political issue, particularly in Great Britain and the United States. However, these countries were not the first to grant women the right to vote.
The demand for women's suffrage was first advocated by Mary Wollstonecraft in her 1792 book, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman". The Chartist movement of the 1840s in Great Britain also took up this demand, and it gained increasing support from prominent liberal intellectuals in England from the 1850s onwards, including John Stuart Mill and his wife, Harriet. In 1865, the first women's suffrage committee was formed in Manchester, and in 1867, Mill presented a petition to Parliament with about 1,550 signatures demanding the vote for women. Despite this, Parliament denied women the right to vote in parliamentary elections, although in 1869, women taxpayers gained the right to vote in municipal elections.
In the United States, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women's rights convention in July 1848. Susan B. Anthony later joined the movement and helped form the National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. Their goal was to amend the 15th Amendment, which did not include women. Meanwhile, another group of women supported the 15th Amendment and formed the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), founded by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who focused on gaining voting rights at a local level. Eventually, these two groups united to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
By the early 20th century, women had won the right to vote in national elections in several countries, including New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland (1906), and Norway (1913). World War I and its aftermath accelerated the enfranchisement of women, with 28 additional countries granting equal voting rights or the right to vote in national elections during this period.
The women's suffrage movement was not always peaceful. In the early 1900s, women employed various methods to draw attention to their cause, often facing punishment for expressing their opinions. For example, in 1917, 218 women from 26 different states were arrested for picketing outside the White House in Washington, D.C. One of these protesters was Alice Paul, who led a thousand women in a silent protest and was arrested for "obstructing traffic on the sidewalks".
In conclusion, the women's suffrage movement was a global struggle that spanned across continents and involved women and men from diverse backgrounds. It faced opposition and challenges but ultimately led to significant gains in women's voting rights in many countries, although the timeline and specific achievements varied depending on the region and historical context.
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Frequently asked questions
No, women are not mentioned in the unamended US Constitution.
Women are mentioned in the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which was passed in 1920 and granted them the right to vote.
There are various interpretations as to why women were not mentioned. One interpretation is that women's omission meant they were implicitly included in the "imagined community" of the new American nation. Another interpretation is that women's omission was intentional, excluding them from the political community created by the Constitution.
There is no record of any discussions about women, their rights, or their duties during the Constitutional Convention. However, gender was briefly brought into the discussion when the term "sex" was mentioned in relation to slave property.
