Jill Dearman - Feminism: The March Toward Equal Rights for Women

1839

Mississippi grants women the right to hold property in their own name, with their husbands permission. It is the first state to give women this right.

1848

At Seneca Falls, New York, 300 women and men sign the Declaration of Sentiments, a plea for the end of discrimination against women in all spheres of society.

1869

The first woman suffrage law in the United States is passed, in the territory of Wyoming.

1890

Wyoming grants women the right to vote in all elections. It is the first state to give women this right.

1900

By now, every state has passed legislation modeled after New Yorks Married Womens Property Act (1848), granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

1916

Margaret Sanger tests the validity of New Yorks anti-contraception law by establishing a clinic in Brooklyn. The most well-known of birth control advocates, she is one of hundreds arrested during a 40-year period for working to establish womens right to control their own bodies.

1920

The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified. It declares: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

1963

The Equal Pay Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, promising equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin, or sex of the worker.

1964

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passes. It includes a prohibition against employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

1973

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179: The U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a womans right to terminate an early pregnancy, thus making abortion legal in the United States.

1978

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women.

1981

Kirchberg v. Feenstra, 450 U.S. 455, 459-60: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state laws designating a husband head and master with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife.

1981

Sandra Day OConnor is appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as the first woman on the Supreme Court.

2005

Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the first former First Lady to be elected to public office, as a U.S. senator from New York. Condoleezza Rice becomes the first black, female U.S. secretary of state.

2007

Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

2009

Sonia Sotomayor is nominated as the 111th U.S. Supreme Court justice. She becomes the first Hispanic American and the third woman to serve.

2010

The Affordable Health Care Act is signed into law. Under this law, private health insurance companies must provide birth control without co-pays or deductibles. The law requires private insurance companies to cover preventive services.

2013

The ban against women in military combat positions is removed; this overturned a 1994 Pentagon decision restricting women from combat roles.

2013

United States v. Windsor 570: The U.S. Supreme Court decides that the law that restricts federal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

2016

Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party when she receives the Democratic Partys presidential nomination.