Alice Paul was born in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, January 11, 1885. Alice Paul has 3 siblings and here parents were Tacie Paul and William Paul. She grew up with parents that supported gender equality. From an early age Alice Paul was brought to many suffragist’s meeting by her mother. Alice Paul went to Swarthmore college and graduated with a biology degree in 1905. She got a Master of Arts degree in sociology in 1907 from t the New York School of Philanthropy. Then she studied social work in England and when she returned, she got a PhD form the University of Pennsylvania in 1910
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In 1907 Alice Paul traveled to England. During her time in England Alice Paul met the WSPU. Paul was a part of many of the events and meetings that the WSPU had organized while she was there. Some of these meeting and events had even led to Alice Paul being arrested and put in jail. Soon, American newspapers had many articles about Alice Paul engaging in these events and speeches. When Alice Paul came home many people knew who she was. Alice Paul brought back to America her knowledge about the WPSU in England.
During her time in England Alice met a suffragette named Lucy burns. Both Lucy Burns and Alice Paul learned many tactics and ways to get attention from the press and get there cause more well known when they came back to the United states Alice Paul and Lucy Burns both joined the national women’s party. In 1912 when both Lucy Burns and Alice Paul were back in the United States the joined the National American women’s suffrage association. Alice Paul lead the national D.C chapter of the NAWSA. According to www.womenshistory.org “NAWSA primarily focused on state-by-state campaigns; Paul preferred to lobby Congress for a constitutional amendment.” This led Alice Paul to creating the National woman’s party. Alice Paul organized many protests and public demonstrations
Alice Paul’s the biggest event that she organized was her first on March 3 1913 in Washington D.C. Five thousand Suffragists showed up in Washington to protest. at this demonstration some of the speakers were Helen Keller, the Reverend Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, and even Carrie Chapman Catt who had expressed her concern about public demonstration just four years prior. The people that has organized the event had wanted it to be theatrical and very eye catching. Some women showed up in costumes and sang. Although this demonstration had attracted tons of public attention, many people were upset about it. Many people were throwing things and acted so aggressively that they broke though the police line which was not difficult. In the end of this more than 100 women were hospitalized. According to womenatthecenter.nyhistory.org hecklers “felt entitled to return women to their ‘rightful’ place”.
On March 17 Alice Paul along with other suffragettes met with President Woodrow Wilson who said that it was not time yet for an amendment to the constitution for women to be able to vote.
On January 1917 Alice Paul along with over 1,000 “Silent Sentinels” was the beginning of eighteen months of standing outside of the with house with signs asking for the right of women to vote. The picketers were not attacked by spectators which only got worse as America joined WWI. Many of the people that protested were arrested for obstructing traffic. Alice Paul was one of these people and was arrested for seven months. While in jail Paul was still able to get the attention on the newspapers by organizing a hunger strike in the prison. Doctors started to say that she would have to be put in an insane asylum because she would not eat and would have to be force fed
In 1918 President Woodrow Wilson announced that he supported women’s suffrage. In 1920the Senate the house and the needed 36 states approved the 19th amendment allowing women to vote
After the 19th amendment the National woman’s party decided to help women candidates and to get an amendment to the constitution that stated that under law men and women were equal. Alice Paul helped to draft the Equal rights amendment in 1923. Many people even women activists that that Alice Paul and the NWP were making a plan that would never work .Many activists did not supporting the ERA because they believed that it was too ambitious and went against legislations that let women work less hours and ban them from working at night which helped support many women. this caused the Equal rights amendment to not get the spupport it needs to get recognized by more people. But although it did not end up working in the 1920s in the 1970’s the idea was still not liked by many people, but it was picked back up but was still was not approved enough states.
Although the suffragettes were fighting for women’s rights many were still prejudiced different groups of people. The African American suffragettes, such as Ida. B Wells were discriminated against and forced to march in the back even if they had done a lot for the women’s suffrage movement. Many suffragettes made decisions that are seen as racist today. This is what happened very often in the 1920’s but it still does not justify the way that the African American suffragettes were treated.