Alice Paul was a focused leader who maintained clearly articulated goals and platforms for the National Woman’s Party. When the Party was founded in June 1916, the Party was comprised exclusively of voting women (from states with woman suffrage), and the sole political platform was winning voting rights for American women through an amendment to the United States Constitution. After the suffrage amendment was won in 1920, Alice Paul re-focused the National Woman’s Party, ultimately authoring and announcing the Equal Rights Amendment by 1923. The Equal Rights Amendment centered on the goal of winning full legal equality for American women, and for the next several decades, the National Woman’s Party concentrated resources and effort on lobbying
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During the suffrage campaign, under Paul’s leadership, the National Woman’s Party began a picket campaign of the White House, which continued after the United States entered World War I despite frequent accusations of treason and unpatriotic behavior from outsiders. Also, from 1913 to 1918, the NWP’s lobbying activities focused squarely on the President of the United States and the party in power (the Democratic Party). Similarly, the National Woman’s Party under Paul continued advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment for fifty years despite many setbacks and counter-campaigns from large camps of organized opposition.
These determined and dogged approaches to lobbying for a single issue probably helped win many of the National Woman’s Party’s successes, including the passage of the suffrage amendment. At the same time, it also provoked skepticism, controversy, and opposition from other groups, including women’s groups—which sometimes hampered efforts. Paul had an enormous impact on the legacy and future work of the National Woman’s Party by giving it a strong policy focus, which led to unwavering, unflagging campaigns for women’s equality—as well as pushback from individuals and groups who disliked the NWP’s …show more content…
This combined with her drive for self-improvement and her enjoyment of intellectual and academic pursuits, made her a progressive woman for the time—and one who could not accept the striking inequality of opportunities for men versus women. Her relative economic privilege and her academic goals led her to have many formative experiences (including working as a social worker, and studying abroad) where she witnessed inequality and disadvantage and crossed paths with other women activists who grew her passion for women’s rights. Therefore, a special set of factors helped make Alice Paul the fierce activist that she
During the suffrage campaign, under Paul’s leadership, the National Woman’s Party began a picket campaign of the White House, which continued after the United States entered World War I despite frequent accusations of treason and unpatriotic behavior from outsiders. Also, from 1913 to 1918, the NWP’s lobbying activities focused squarely on the President of the United States and the party in power (the Democratic Party). Similarly, the National Woman’s Party under Paul continued advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment for fifty years despite many setbacks and counter-campaigns from large camps of organized opposition.
These determined and dogged approaches to lobbying for a single issue probably helped win many of the National Woman’s Party’s successes, including the passage of the suffrage amendment. At the same time, it also provoked skepticism, controversy, and opposition from other groups, including women’s groups—which sometimes hampered efforts. Paul had an enormous impact on the legacy and future work of the National Woman’s Party by giving it a strong policy focus, which led to unwavering, unflagging campaigns for women’s equality—as well as pushback from individuals and groups who disliked the NWP’s …show more content…
This combined with her drive for self-improvement and her enjoyment of intellectual and academic pursuits, made her a progressive woman for the time—and one who could not accept the striking inequality of opportunities for men versus women. Her relative economic privilege and her academic goals led her to have many formative experiences (including working as a social worker, and studying abroad) where she witnessed inequality and disadvantage and crossed paths with other women activists who grew her passion for women’s rights. Therefore, a special set of factors helped make Alice Paul the fierce activist that she