This very short video highlights the alternative that Dolley Madison offered to the rowdy, rambunctious, and violent world of politics in her time. Professor Catherine Allgor suggests that Dolley’s preference for civility and empathy; for cooperation over coercion; and for building bridges and not bunkers is a useful model for our times.
Women as Citizens Under the Constitution
This short video traces the evolution of constitutional theory about women’s citizenship. The original Constitution is gender-neutral and women shared many rights enjoyed by men: right to petition, freedom of religion, trial by jury, etc. However, as Dr. Rosemarie Zagarri points out, women’s rights evolved slowly over time in a checkerboard fashion, culminating in the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919.
Women Participate in the Ratification Debate
This short video assesses the role of “female politicians”: women who were interested in discussing the ratification politics and processes. The most visible of these was Mercy Otis Warren who, writing as “a Columbian Patriot,” opposed many aspects of the Constitution as undermining liberty. Professor Rosemarie Zagarri notes that many women throughout the country were thinking, talking, and reading about the ratification debates.
Women Vote in New Jersey (1776-1807)
This short video focuses on late 18th century New Jersey—the only state which (temporarily) enfranchised (some) women. The 1776 New Jersey constitution granted voting rights to all property-owning inhabitants while the constitutions of 1790 and 1796 referred to voters as “he and she.” Professor Rosemarie Zagarri concludes that the political ideology of the American Revolution did have lasting implications for women, even though New Jersey rescinded their voting rights in 1807.
Women Before the American Revolution
This short video explores the limited rights of women prior to the American Revolution. According to the idea of femme covert, women were legally and politically subservient to their husbands. Married women could not own property and all women were considered irrelevant to the political sphere. Professor Rosemarie Zagarri notes that 80% of the freemen in the colonies could vote (as compared to 20% in Great Britain), but suffrage was still limited to men.
Voting and Elections in Early America
Google Cultural Institute exhibit by Constitutional Rights Foundation & Barat Education Foundation’s Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Program. Long before the pilgrims landed, voting and elections were taking place in America. For example, the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, a powerful alliance of Native American tribes who inhabited territory west of the Colonies, had established a system of representative government sometime around 1500 that lasted until the Revolutionary War. Women played a prominent role in choosing its political leaders.
Civic Action and Change (Lesson Plan and Powerpoint)
Students explore examples of civic action and change by looking at the efforts in four movements in the 20th century; women’s rights, disability awareness, Native American rights, and migrant worker rights. Through these examples, student will describe the process of civic action through the I AM chart (Inform, Act, Maintain).
A Call to Act: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
This documentary tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, whose fight for equal pay for equal work eventually involved all three branches of government and resulted in a law with her name on it — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. A PDF lesson plan accompanies this video.
A Conversation on the 14th Amendment with Justice Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg discusses with high school students the importance of the 14th Amendment’s three tenets: due process, equal protection, and privileges and immunities. A PDF lesson guide is provided.
Modern Women Persuading Modern Men: The Nineteenth Amendment and the Movement for Woman Suffrage, 1916–1920
In “Modern Women Persuading Modern Men: The Nineteenth Amendment Completes the Movement for Woman Suffrage,” Jonathan Soffer explains how Carrie Chapman Catt’s “Winning Plan” achieved what over half a century of struggle had failed to achieve: women’s full political citizenship. Free registration for students and teachers required to access resource.