The Equal Rights Amendment:
A Constitutional Question

Who speaks for American women? Two conferences held in Houston, Texas in 1977 offered strikingly different answers to this question.

Excerpt from “ Sisters of ’77 ,” a film by Cynthia Salzman Mondell and Allen Mondell. (Running time 11:23) Used with permission. The complete film and discussion guide are available from Media Projects Inc.

Introduction

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution was first introduced in Congress in 1923 and had some support in the following decades. In the 1960s, passage of the ERA became a major cause of women’s rights activists. In 1971, the ERA passed both houses of Congress and was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. By 1977, 35 of the necessary 38 states had ratified the amendment. In 1978, despite growing opposition to the amendment, Congress extended the 1979 deadline for ratification to 1982. There were no more state ratifications during the extension period and the ERA continues to be an unfinished issue for women’s rights activists. Nevada ratified the amendment in March 2017 and Illinois did so in May 2018.

This lesson introduces students to the Equal Rights Amendment, the ratification process of the United States Constitution, and debates over equality under the law.

Learning Objectives

Essential Questions

Materials

What confronted Michigan feminists while they were working for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment?

Excerpt from “ Passing the Torch ,” by Carol King. (Running time 4:50) Used with permission. The complete film is available from King Rose Archives. For more information, visit Veteran Feminists of America.

Warm Up Activity: Mind Map, Discussion, and Film Viewing

  1. Divide the class into pairs and hand out a Mind Map to each student.
    1. Have the students write the term “gender equality” in the middle of their Mind Map.
    2. Tell them to brainstorm examples of “gender equality.”
    1. Move into the main activity by explaining that the class will now watch a film clip that provides national and state examples of how women discussed and debated the ERA and other political issues. Each film clip has short interviews with notable political women who might be recognizable to students.
    1. If there is time, show the clip from the film Passing the Torch (4:50 min.), also located above.

    Main Activity:

    1. Place the pairs into groups. Hand out the Note Taking Guide (PDF) to each student.
      1. Alternatively, use the Document Analysis Worksheet (PDF).
      1. Give the students adequate time to read the sources.
      2. Help them with their note taking as needed.

      Extension Activity: Debate

      1. Have students debate the two ratification strategies for the ERA.
      2. Background: The ERA passed both Houses of Congress in 1972. The ratification deadline was set for 1979 and extended to 1982. In 2017 and 2018, Nevada and Illinois became the 36 th and 37 th states to ratify the amendment after the 1972 deadline.
      3. The “traditional ratification” strategy requires that the ERA pass the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives by a 2/3 majority and be ratified by legislatures in ¾ (38) states. This is based on Article V of the Constitution.
      4. The “three-state strategy” requires that the ERA needs to be ratified by three more states. This is based on questions that were raised about the ratification process, especially time limits, with the passage of the 27 th Amendment in 1992 (about pay for members of Congress).

      Common Core Anchor Standards

      Reading

      Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
      CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7
      Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

      Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
      CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.10
      Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

      How to Navigate our Interactive Timeline

      You will find unique content in each chapter’s timeline.

      Place the cursor over the timeline to scroll up and down within the timeline itself. If you place the cursor anywhere else on the page, you can scroll up and down in the whole page – but the timeline won’t scroll.

      To see what’s in the timeline beyond the top or bottom of the window, use the white “dragger” located on the right edge of the timeline. (It looks like a small white disk with an up-arrow and a down-arrow attached to it.) If you click on the dragger, you can move the whole timeline up or down, so you can see more of it. If the dragger won’t move any further, then you’ve reached one end of the timeline.

      Click on one of the timeline entries and it will display a short description of the subject. It may also include an image, a video, or a link to more information within our website or on another website.

      Our timelines are also available in our Resource Library in non-interactive format.

      Timeline Legend

      Yellow bars mark entries that appear in every chapter

      This icon indicates a book

      This icon indicates a film

      1971 The Click! Moment

      The idea of the “Click! moment” was coined by Jane O’Reilly. “The women in the group looked at her, looked at each other, and . click! A moment of truth. The shock of recognition. Instant sisterhood. Those clicks are coming faster and faster. They were nearly audible last summer, which was a very angry summer for American women. Not redneck-angry from screaming because we are so frustrated and unfulfilled-angry, but clicking-things-into-place-angry, because we have suddenly and shockingly perceived the basic disorder in what has been believed to be the natural order of things.” Article, “The Housewife's Moment of Truth,” published in the first issue of Ms. Magazine and in New York Magazine. Republished in The Girl I Left Behind, by Jane O'Reilly (Macmillan, 1980). Jane O'Reilly papers, Schlesinger Library.