What was the revised text of the Equal Rights Amendment?
While the text of the amendment has changed over the years, the gist of it has remained the same. The version approved by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
What was the Equal Rights Amendment and why did it fail?
However, during the mid-1970s, a conservative backlash against feminism eroded support for the Equal Rights Amendment, which ultimately failed to achieve ratification by the a requisite 38, or three-fourths, of the states, by the deadline set by Congress.
What was Phyllis Schlafly’s message against the Equal Rights Amendment?
Phyllis Schlafly was perhaps the most visible opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment. Her “Stop ERA” campaign hinged on the belief that the ERA would eliminate laws designed to protect women and led to the eventual defeat of the amendment.
Why were some opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment?
The current arguments against the ERA is an extension of a battle that began decades ago. In the 1960s and 1970s, conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly claimed the amendment would remove various legal protections for women — an argument that found strong support among White women at the time.
Why did Florence Kelley oppose the Equal Rights Amendment?
It was vigorously opposed by progressive reformer Florence Kelley and her allies in the National Consumers’ League, the Women’s Trade Union League, and the League of Women Voters, because she feared it would also destroy the protective labor laws for which she had spent her life fighting.
Why did Eleanor Roosevelt oppose the Equal Rights Amendment?
Roosevelt’s reason for opposing the equal rights amendment for 40 years: because she thought it would undermine the protective laws she and other reformers had sought for women in the workplace – factory safety standards, minimum-wage laws, the 48-hour workweek, elimination of night work and exclusion from dangerous …
What is the Equal Rights Amendment in simple terms?
The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters.
Who was against the Equal Rights Amendment?
The ERA was strongly opposed by the American Federation of Labor and other labor unions, which feared the amendment would invalidate protective labor legislation for women. Eleanor Roosevelt and most New Dealers also opposed the ERA.
Has the ERA passed?
It Is the Law”: U.S. House Resolution Declares ERA 28th Amendment. In an opinion issued on Wednesday, Jan. 26, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) helped clear the way for the Equal Rights Amendment, according to leading ERA advocates.
When was the ERA defeated?
Through the efforts of Alice Paul, the Amendment is introduced into each session of Congress. Buried in committee in both Houses of Congress, the ERA awaits a hearing on the floor. In 1946, it is narrowly defeated by the full Senate, 38-35.
How did Phyllis Schlafly prevent the ERA?
Schlafly’s strategy to defeat the ERA was to convince women that equality between men and women was undesirable. “She consistently painted worst-case scenarios which, when juxtaposed with the lives of average white women at that time, led many of them to believe that inequality wasn’t so bad after all,” Faulkner says.