Bill of Rights (Civil Liberties)

¶ … Bill of Rights (civil Liberties)

In 1787, when the U.S. Constitution was adopted, only white men were allowed to vote. Women were included in the large category of people with virtually no rights, such as the insane, the African - Americans or the Native Americans. A gradual increase in women's participation to public life, along with higher education for a larger category of women led to the beginning of the Woman Suffrage movement.

It was probably in 1848 that the first public appeal for woman suffrage was made. This was on account of Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who lived in Seneca Falls, NY. The small town adopted a "Declaration of Independence," stating that "men and women are created equal" and endowing the female population of the town with fundamental rights, such as the right to education and the right to vote.

The woman suffrage movement spread throughout the Untied States, but subsequently faced a tough opposition. There were several causes that led to a continuous struggle for the fundamental right to vote for almost 100 years. First of all, the perception of the 19th century society was that the woman's role was clearly traced out ever since her birth: she was to attend to the family, have children coordinate the chores around the house etc. Anything that was perceived as leaving this pattern was born to raise the eyebrows.

Second of all, the perception was that the right to vote could be further used to obtain several rights that women did not have at the time. Just as in the case of the African - American population, the right to vote was seen as an asset and, even more dangerously, as a weapon.

Third of all, the sexist view of the manly society of the 19th century was that the women were less intelligent and less prepared than men to face the vote and that they were less capable of casting a sensible vote.

In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the American Equal Rights Association, supporting "suffrage for everyone, regardless of race, color, or sex." Subsequently, two important societies were formed in support of the women's right to vote.

One of them was National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, while the other was the American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Lucy Stone. The former perceived the fight for the right to vote at federal level, with a federal approach residing in change to the 15th Amendment. The latter believed that the right to vote could be easier implemented at state level and then expanded to the entire country. In 1890, the two associations merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Elizabeth Stanton.

Their actions, especially the National Woman Suffrage Association's demands, radicalized as they demanded the right to vote. Elizabeth Stanton attempted to vote in the 1872 presidential election, but was arrested for voting illegally. However, she had made her point: the trial was a popular event that brought the women vote issue in front of the public eye. The suffragist problem was no longer something that could be ignored or simply hidden away. The women's determination had also reached impressive quotas: Stanton ended her speech at the trial with the slogan: "Resistance to Tyranny Is Obedience to God." She was fined for the illegal voting.

The turn of the century saw the apparition of a new wave of fighters and believers in the women's right to vote. Women like Chapman Catt and Maud Wood Park, not to mention Stanton's daughter, Harriot E. Bleach, used their dedication and commitment to push further the process. Some of them believed that they would have better chances to succeed if they appealed to a certain category of women. Chapman Catt, for example received support from middle-class women, while Lucy Burns or Alice Paul turned to working women and radical movements in their efforts. A subsequent radicalization of the movement followed, with demonstrations and alternative forms of protest, such as chaining oneself to the White House fence. Hunger strikes in jail often followed their arrest.

It was in 1920 that the final victory came for the entire women's right movement, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Referring strictly to women's suffrage, the amendment stipulated that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on account of sex." It was one of the 16 amendments made to the original ten amendments that formed the Bill of Rights.

The right to vote was the first and fundamental civil right that women gained in the United States. On the other hand, as many were keen to point out, "45 years later, they are still struggling to secure their right to privacy and reproductive freedom." This is quite true, if we consider the fact that, until the 60s, abortion was still illegal. Given the fact that only the discovery of the pill gave way to a whole new category of rights for women, most notably the right to "reproductive freedom," we may consider that the bill of rights may have needed subsequent adjustments after the 19th amendment.

In the present, we need to consider the fact that more and more ultra-conservative, ultra-Christian societies are appearing and are freely developing within the United States. We will not be referring to some of the most radical of them, which pledge towards the reduction of all social assistance and whose theories sometimes resemble racist and xenophobic ideas, as it is not the thesis of this essay. We may however refer to those ultra-conservative societies that argument against abortion, even in extreme cases such as rape or incest. For such Christian and ultra-religious societies, the child's right to be born, equivalent with a person's right to live, cannot be contested in any circumstance.