Equal Rights Amendment

Topic 

Equal Rights Amendment

Instructions 

Write a paper on  Equal Rights Amendment

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The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) remains one of the most influential unratified constitutional amendments in American history. Written by suffragist Alice Paul, the ERA’s significant claim simply states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”[1]  The implications of this straightforward declaration were heavily debated throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1972, after forty-nine attempts, the amendment was passed by the U.S. Congress, and by 1977, thirty-five states had ratified the ERA, leaving it just three states away from passage. Despite a ratification extension, it could not secure ratification from any more states, and in 1982, opponents of the ERA celebrated when the deadline expired. Although the Equal Rights Amendment failed to obtain ratification, it continued to influence women’s issues, profoundly affecting feminist theory, women’s rights, and the entire course of the women’s movement in the 1980s.

[1] U.S. Government Publishing Office, Proposed Amendments Not Ratified by the State, Y 1.1/3 (GPO, Washington D.C., 1992), 49.

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