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Essay / History of Women's Rights - 892
Women have had to fight all their lives to have equal rights. As a woman, I find it very interesting to see how women have fought to be equal. We went from being completely less right, to having some rights, to finally getting all the rights. It shows that with hard work and dedication, you can achieve anything. Women had few or no rights in the 19th century. A woman was frowned upon when she chose to divorce. She was not granted custody of her children after the divorce because it was believed she was not able to care for them. A woman did not have the right to control her own salary if she was married, nor to choose what property she owned. Abigail Adams was one of the first influential women to fight for equality. She told her husband, John Addams, then president, to remember the ladies when he prepared for a discussion with Congress. He took it as a joke and didn't even broach the subject with them. We later found out that many women agreed with Abigail and even some men. They thought women were educated and literate, so why not trust them. Women had to obey the laws that men enforced and believed they should have the right to vote. Sarah and Angelina Grimke were all for equal rights. Sarah and her husband wrote a book called "American Slavery as It Is." It was abolitionists who wrote the book to convert the greatest number of readers. They believed that all men and women were created equal and should be treated the same. Ministers mocked the couple for daring to speak in front of a mixed audience of men and women. They thought such work was only for men. Theodore, Sarah's husband, declared that "men and women were created equal, if it was moral and just for a man of... middle of paper..... 19th Amendment." Susan did not live to see the Nineteenth Amendment ratified, but many people are grateful for her hard work to achieve equal rights for women. Many states were tired of passing this law and even when they did, women were not equal. But once a phase was over, women now had to worry about their power in local and political office. Women were routinely harassed, didn't get as many jobs, and were even paid less. Many women tried to stop this, but were told they had to accept it because they lived in a "man's world." Until today, in the 20th century, many women are not treated equally, but now we can fight against this. Women did everything they could to achieve equal rights. We now have all rights instead of few or no rights. I thank all the women who had the courage and made sacrifices to make us equal.