Schenken Suzanne O’Dea. From Suffrage to the Senate: An Encyclopedia of American Women in Politics (2 Volumes)

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Setting Political Agendas

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, women seeking to change their political

and social status have gathered together and stated their objections to the status quo

and the changes they believed important. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott,

along with three other women, began the tradition when they organized the first

woman’s rights convention in 1848 and presented the Declaration of Sentiments and

Resolutions to those gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, for their consideration.

Modeled after the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments and

Resolutions was debated and voted upon with little controversy, except for the reso-

lution on woman suffrage, which passed but with significant dissent.

The Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women in the United States suf-

frage rights, became part of the Constitution in 1920, but in some parts of the world,

women still did not have voting rights in 1953. The United Nations Commission on

the Status of Women developed the Convention on the Political Rights of Women de-

claring the belief that women should be able to vote on equal terms with men and be

able to hold public office. The agreement was signed on 31 March 1953.

In the 1960s, U.S. women again focused on their legal, economic, and political

status and concluded that the discriminatory state of federal policies and the economic

and political discrimination that permeated society needed to end. Organizing in small

and large groups across the country, women identified the barriers they perceived and

launched the feminist movement. Among these groups, the National Organization for

Women (NOW) emerged as the strongest and the largest. At its first national confer-

ence, held in 1967, NOW members stated their demands, including passage of the

Equal Rights Amendment and the repeal of a law that made abortion illegal, measures

so controversial at the time that they even created conflict among the members.

Another national plan of action emerged from the National Women’s Confer-

ence held in Houston, Texas, in November, 1977. Financed with a congressional

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Appendix 1: Documents

appropriation, the conference was held in response to the United Nations Decade for

Women (1975–1985). Fifty-six state and territorial conventions elected delegates to

the national convention and recommended resolutions to it. By far the most contro-

versial item in the agenda was the call for the elimination of discrimination based on

sexual preference.

NOW’s 1998 Declaration of Sentiments, passed at the organization’s recent na-

tional convention celebrating 150 years of the women’s rights movement, and signed

by more than 700 members, opens by stating a vision of the world it hopes to help

create. The organization’s resolutions echo more than a century’s worth of documents

demanding women’s emancipation and full equality in all human endeavors.

Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, 1848

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the

family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from

that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and

of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind re-

quires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: 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 consent of

the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these

ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to in-

sist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such

principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most

likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that gov-

ernments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;

and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to

suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms

to which they were accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,

pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under ab-

solute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide

new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the

women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains

them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.

The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on

the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an

absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective

franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had

no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and

degraded men—both natives and foreigners.

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise,

thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has op-

pressed her on all sides.

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.

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He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.

He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many

crimes with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband. In

the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband,

he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master—the law giving him power

to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement.

He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes,

and in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be

given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women—the law, in all cases,

going upon a false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power

into his hands.

After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single, and the

owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes

her only when her property can be made profitable to it.

He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those

she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes

against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction which he considers most

honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known.

He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all col-

leges being closed against her.

He allows her in Church, as well as State, but a subordinate position, claim-

ing Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some ex-

ceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.

He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different

code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude

women from society, are not only tolerated, but demand of little account in man.

He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right

to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and her

God.

He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in

her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a de-

pendent and abject life.

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this

country, their social and religious degradation—in view of the unjust laws above

mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and

fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have imme-

diate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens

of the United States.

In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount

of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instru-

mentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate

tracts, petition the State and National legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pul-

pit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by a se-

ries of Conventions in every part of the country.

WHEREAS, The great precept of nature is conceded to be, that “man shall

pursue his own true and substantial happiness.” Blackstone in his Commentaries

remarks, that his law of Nature being coeval with mankind, and dictated by God

himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the

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globe, in all countries and at all times; no human laws are of any validity if con-

trary to this, and such of them as are valid, derive all their force, and all their va-

lidity, and all their authority, mediately and immediately, from this original;

therefore,

RESOLVED, That such laws as conflict, in any way, with the true and sub-

stantial happiness of women, are contrary to the great precept of nature and of

no validity, for this is “superior in obligation to any other.”

RESOLVED, That all laws which prevent woman from occupying such a sta-

tion in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which places her in a position in-

ferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of

no force or authority.

RESOLVED, That woman is man’s equal—was intended to be so by the Cre-

ator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as

such.

RESOLVED, That the women of this country ought to be enlightened in re-

gard to the laws under which they live, that they may no longer publish their

degradation by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor

their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want.

RESOLVED, That inasmuch as man, while claiming for himself intellectual

superiority, does accord to woman moral superiority, it is pre-eminently his duty

to encourage her to speak and teach, as she has an opportunity, in all religious as-

semblies.

RESOLVED, That the same amount of virtue, delicacy, and refinement of

behavior that is required of woman in the social state, should also be required of

man, and the same transgressions should be visited with equal severity on both

man and woman.

RESOLVED, That the objection of indelicacy and impropriety, which is so

often brought against woman when she addresses a public audience, comes with

a very ill-grace from those who encourage, by their attendance, her appearance

on the stage, in the concert, or in feats of the circus.

RESOLVED, That woman has too long rested satisfied in the circumscribed

limits which corrupt customs and a perverted application of the Scriptures have

marked out for her, and that it is time she should move in the enlarged sphere

which her great Creator has assigned her.

RESOLVED, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to

themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.

RESOLVED, That the equality of human rights results necessarily from the

fact of the identity of the race in capabilities and responsibilities.

RESOLVED, That the speedy success of our cause depends upon the zealous

and untiring efforts of both men and women, for the overthrow of the monop-

oly of the pulpit, and for the securing to woman an equal participation with men

in the various trades, professions, and commerce.

RESOLVED, THEREFORE, That being invested by the Creator with the

same capabilities, and the same consciousness of responsibility for their exercise,

it is demonstrably the right and duty of woman, equally with man, to promote

every righteous cause by every righteous means; and especially in regard to the

great subjects of morals and religion, it is self-evidently her right to participate

with her brother in teaching them, both in private and in public, by writing and

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by speaking, by instrumentalities proper to be used, and in any assemblies proper

to be held; and being a self-evident truth growing out of the divinely implanted

principles of human nature, any custom or authority adverse to it, whether mod-

ern or wearing the hoary sanction of antiquity, is to be regarded as a self-evident

falsehood, and at war with mankind.

Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 1953

The Contracting Parties,

Desiring to implement the principle of equality of rights for men and

women contained in the Charter of the United Nations,

Recognizing that everyone has the right to take part in the government of

his country, directly or indirectly through freely chosen representatives, and has

the right to equal access to public service in his country, and desiring to equalize

the status of men and women in the enjoyment and exercise of political rights, in

accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the Uni-

versal Declaration of Human Rights,

Having resolved to conclude a Convention for this purpose,

Hereby agree as hereinafter provided:

Article I

Women shall be entitled to vote in all elections on equal terms with men without

any discrimination.

Article II

Women shall be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies, established by

national law, on equal terms with men, without any discrimination.

Article III

Women shall be entitled to hold public office and to exercise all public functions,

established by national law, on equal terms with men, without any discrimination.

Article IV

1. This Convention shall be open for signature on behalf of any Member of the

United Nations and also on behalf of any other State to which an invitation has

been addressed by the General Assembly.

2. This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall

be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article V

1. This Convention shall be open for accession to all States referred to in para-

graph 1 of article IV.

2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession

with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article VI

1. This Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following the date

of deposit of the sixth instrument of ratification or accession.

2. For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of

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the sixth instrument of ratification or accession the Convention shall enter into

force on the ninetieth day after deposit by such State of its instrument of ratifi-

cation or accession.

Article VII

In the event that any State submits a reservation to any of the articles of this Con-

vention at the time of signature, ratification or accession, the Secretary-General

shall communicate the text of the reservation to all States which are or may be-

come parties to this Convention. Any State which objects to the reservation may,

within a period of ninety days from the date of the said communication (or upon

the date of its becoming a party to the Convention), notify the Secretary-General

that it does not accept it. In such case, the Convention shall not enter into force

as between such State and the State making the reservation.

Article VIII

1. Any State may denounce this Convention by written notification to the Secre-

tary-General of the United Nations. Denunciation shall take effect one year after

the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.

2. This Convention shall cease to be in force as from the date when the

denunciation which reduces the number of parties to less than six becomes

effective.

Article IX

Any dispute which may arise between any two or more Contracting States con-

cerning the interpretation or application of this Convention which is not settled

by negotiation, shall at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute be re-

ferred to the International Court of Justice for decision, unless they agree to an-

other mode of settlement.

Article X

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify all Members of the

United Nations and the non-member States contemplated in paragraph 1 of ar-

ticle IV of this Convention of the following:

(a) Signatures and instruments of ratifications received in accordance with

article IV;

(b) Instruments of accession received in accordance with article V;

with article VI;

(d) Communications and notifications received in accordance with article

VII;

(e) Notifications of denunciation received in accordance with paragraph 1

of article VIII;

(f) Abrogation in accordance with paragraph 2 of article VIII.

Article XI

1. This Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

texts shall be equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United

Nations.

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2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit a certified

copy to all Members of the United Nations and to the non-member States con-

templated in paragraph 1 of article IV.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by

their respective Governments, have signed the present Convention, opened for

signature at New York, on the thirty-first day of March, one thousand nine hun-

dred and fifty-three.

The National Organization for Women’s Bill of Rights for Women, 1967

WE DEMAND:

I. That the U.S. Congress immediately pass the Equal Rights Amendment to

the Constitution . . . and that such then be immediately ratified by the several States.

II. That equal employment opportunity be guaranteed to all women, as well

as men . . .

III. That women be protected by law to ensure their rights to return to their

jobs within a reasonable time after childbirth without loss of seniority or other

accrued benefits, and be paid maternity leave as a form of social security and/or

employee benefit.

IV. Immediate revision of tax laws to permit the deduction of home and

child-care expenses for working parents.

V. That child-care facilities be established by law on the same basis as parks,

libraries, and public schools, adequate to the needs of children from the pre-

school years through adolescence, as a community resource to be used by all cit-

izens from all income levels.

Vl. That the right of women to be educated to their full potential equally

with men be secured by Federal and State legislation.

VII. The right of women in poverty to secure job training, housing, and fam-

ily allowances on equal terms with men, but without prejudice to a parent’s right

to remain at home to care for his or her children; revision of welfare legislation

and poverty programs which deny women dignity, privacy, and self-respect.

VIII. The right of women to control their own reproductive lives by remov-

ing from the penal codes laws limiting access to contraceptive information and

devices, and by repealing penal laws governing abortion.

Reprinted by permission of the National Organization for Women.

The National Women’s Conference Plan of Action, 1977

Fifty-six state and territorial conventions forwarded recommendations summa-

rized below for ratification by 2000 delegates gathered in Houston in 1977. Apart

from gender, it was the most diverse elected body ever assembled.

1. Arts and Humanities: Equitable representation in management, gover-

nance, and decision-making structures in libraries, museums, media and higher

education; blind-judging when possible.

2. Battered Women: Elimination of violence in the home through emer-

gency shelters; training and intervention; strengthening and enforcement of laws;

legal services for victims.

3. Business: Support for women entrepreneurs through government-related

activities and contracts; inclusion of women-owned business in Small Business

Administration targeting.

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4. Child Abuse: Support for prevention and treatment of abused children

including training for public awareness, parent counseling, service and justice

agencies.

5. Child Care: Federally supported efforts and legislation at all levels to

promote quality child care programs; labor and business support; education for

parenthood.

6. Credit: Education and enforcement of the 1974 Federal Equal Credit Op-

portunity Act.

7. Disabled Women: Enforcement and expansion of legislation on educa-

tion, employment, housing, and support services recognizing the special needs of

disabled women.

8. Education: Enforcement of laws prohibiting discrimination in education;

special consideration for physical education, leadership positions, vocation train-

ing, elimination of sex and race stereotyping.

9. Elective/Appointive Office: Joint effort by federal and state governments,

political parties, and other organizations to increase women in office, policy mak-

ing positions and judgeships.

10. Employment: A federal full employment policy; enforcement and ex-

tension of anti-discrimination laws; efforts by governments, institutions, busi-

ness, industry and unions to reduce occupational segregation and promote up-

ward mobility; special attention to minority women; amendment of the Veteran’s

Preference Act; extensions of the labor standards and the right to unionize; sup-

port for flextime jobs.

11. Equal Rights Amendment: Ratification of the ERA.

12. Health: Establishment of a national health security program acknowledg-

ing the special needs of women; improve community facilities, contraceptive re-

search, reproductive services, substance abuse efforts, representation in professions

and on policy boards; increase review of drugs, custodial care, surgical procedures.

13. Homemakers: Revise marital property, social security, and pension laws;

in divorce provide for children’s needs and sharing of economic burden; support

displaced homemaker programs.

14. Insurance: Adoption of Model Regulations to Eliminate Unfair Sex Dis-

crimination amended to cover pregnancy, newborns, policy conversions.

15. International Affairs: Increased participation by women in foreign pol-

icy-making roles; enforcement of anti-discrimination laws; improvement of the

image of women in the mass media.

16. Media: Increased opportunity for women in professional and policy-

making roles; enforcement of anti-discrimination laws; improvement of the im-

age of women in the mass media.

17. Minority Women: Recognition that every Plan recommendation applies

to all minority women with recognition of additional burdens through institu-

tionalized bias and inadequate data; enforcement of anti-discrimination laws as

they affect education, housing, health, employment; recognition of special needs

of American Indian/ Alaskan Native women, Asian Pacific women, Hispanic

women, Puerto Rican women, Black women.

18. Offenders: Review of sentencing laws and practices with discriminatory

effects on women in penal facilities; address legal, counseling, health, educational

needs of women, especially mothers and juveniles.

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19. Older Women: Support by governments, public and private institutions

of services promoting dignity and security in housing, health services, trans-

portation, education, social security, recognition of the changing image of older

women and their capacity to contribute to policy making.

20. Rape: Revise criminal codes to correct inequities against rape victims;

rape crisis centers and prevention and self-protection programs; support for the

National Center for the Prevention/ Control of Rape; victim compensation.

21. Reproductive Freedom: Support for U.S. Supreme Court decision guaran-

teeing reproductive freedom; make certain all methods of family planning are avail-

able to all women under privately or publicly funded medical services; oppose in-

voluntary sterilization; full access to family planning and education on responsible

sexuality for teens, full education programs with child care for teen parents.

22. Rural Women: Rural education policy to meet isolation, poverty and un-

deremployment affecting women; improved data; full ownership rights for farm

wives, review conditions affecting plantation/ migratory workers.

23. Sexual Preference: Legislation eliminating discrimination based on sex-

ual preference in employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, public

facilities, funding, military, repeal of laws restricting private behavior between

consenting adults; evaluation of child custody suits based solely on parenting

capacity.

24. Statistics: An analysis of all data collected by the government on the ba-

sis of sex and race to assess the impact of programs on women.

25. Welfare and Poverty: Focus on welfare and poverty by federal and state

governments as major women’s issues compounding inequality of opportunity;

support for welfare reform program considering social security, child care, mini-

mum wage, education, job opportunities, health insurance, and legal services;

federal floor to ensure an adequate standard of living.

26. Continuing Committee of National Women’s Conference: Establish-

ment of a body to consider steps to achieve the Plan and convene a second

conference.

Declaration of Sentiments of the National Organization for Women, 1998

On this twelfth day of July, 1998, the delegates of the National Organization for

Women gather in convention on the one hundred and fiftieth year of the women’s

rights movement.

We bring passion, anger, hope, love and perseverance to create this vision

for the future:

We envision a world where women’s equality and women’s empowerment

to determine our own destinies is a reality;

We envision a world where women have equal representation in all deci-

sion-making structures of our societies;

We envision a world where social and economic justice exist, where all peo-

ple have the food, housing, clothing, health care and education they need;

We envision a world where there is recognition and respect for each person’s

intrinsic worth as well as the rich diversity of the various groups among us;

We envision a world where non-violence is the established order;

We envision a world where patriarchal culture and male dominance no

longer oppress us or our earth;

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We envision a world where women and girls are heard, valued and

respected.

Our movement, encompassing many issues and many strategies, directs our

love for humanity into action that spans the world and unites women.

But our future requires us to know our past.

One hundred fifty years ago the women’s rights movement grew out of the

fight to abolish slavery. Angered by their exclusion from leadership and public

speaking at abolitionist conventions and inspired by the power of the Iroquois

women, a small dedicated group of women and men built a movement. After its

inception, the movement was fractured by race. Our history is full of struggle

against common bonds of oppression and a painful reality of separation. Never-

theless, these activists created a political force that achieved revolutionary change.

They won property rights for married women; opened the doors of higher edu-

cation for women; and garnered suffrage in 1920.

In 1923, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the historic Seneca Falls con-

vention, feminists led the demand for constitutional equality for women to win

full justice under the law in order to end economic, educational, and political

inequality.

Our foremothers—the first wave of feminists—ran underground railroads,

lobbied, marched, and picketed. They were jailed and force fed, lynched and

raped. But they prevailed. They started with a handful of activists, and today, the

feminist movement involves millions of people every day.

Standing on their shoulders, we launched the National Organization for

Women in 1966, the largest and strongest organization of feminists in the world

today. A devoutly grassroots, action-oriented organization, we have sued, boy-

cotted, picketed, lobbied, demonstrated, marched, and engaged in non-violent

civil disobedience. We have won in the courts and in the legislatures; and we have

negotiated with the largest corporations in the world, winning unparalleled rights

for women.

The National Organization for Women and our modern day movement

have profoundly changed the lives of women, men and children. We have raised

public consciousness about the plight of women to such an extent that today the

majority of people support equality for women.

In the past 32 years, women have advanced farther than in any previous

generation. Yet still we do not have full equality.

We have moved more feminists than ever before into positions of power in

all of the institutions that shape our society. We have achieved some measure of

power to effect change in these institutions from within; yet still we are far from

full equality in decision-making. We demand an equal share of power in our fam-

ilies and religions, in law, science and technology, the arts and humanities, sports,

education, the trades and professions, labor and management, the media, corpo-

rations and small businesses as well as government. In no sphere of life should

women be silenced, underrepresented, or devalued.

Today, we reaffirm our demand for Constitutional equality for women and

girls. Simultaneously, we are working with sister organizations to develop and

pass a national women’s equality act for the twenty-first century. And we partic-

ipate in and advance a global movement for women and demand that the United

States join the overwhelming majority of nations of the world in ratifying the

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