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==History==

==History==

After women won the right to vote in 1920, the next step for some feminists was the the ERA; it was introduced in Congress and rejected in every one of its sessions from 1923 until 1972.<ref>http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2003/ms003077.pdf</ref>

After women won the right to vote with the ratification of the [[Nineteenth Amendment‎]] in 1920, the next step for some feminists was the the ERA; it was introduced in Congress and rejected in every one of its sessions from 1923 until 1972.<ref>http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2003/ms003077.pdf</ref>

It was initially authored by [[Alice Paul]], head of the National Women's Party, who led the suffrage campaign.  The original version of the ERA stated that "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction."

It was initially authored by [[Alice Paul]], head of the National Women's Party, who led the suffrage campaign.  The original version of the ERA stated that "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction."

[[File:LOST-ERA.JPG|right|175px]]

[[File:LOST-ERA.JPG|right|175px]]

The ERA was opposed by women who wanted special laws to protect women workers, including [[Eleanor Roosevelt]].  It was mostly supported by middle class Republican women.

The ERA was opposed by women who wanted special laws to protect women workers, including [[Eleanor Roosevelt]].  It was mostly supported by middle class Republican women. After Congress adopted the ERA and sent it to the states, a leader in opposing ratification was [[Phyllis Schlafly]].

 

The Congressional resolution that proposed the amendment set a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979. Through 1977, the amendment received 35 of the necessary 38 state ratifications. Five states later rescinded their ratifications before the 1979 deadline, though advocates of the ERA dispute the validity of these rescissions. In 1978, a joint resolution of Congress extended the ratification deadline to June 30, 1982, but no further states ratified the amendment before the passing of the second deadline.  Some ERA advocates have argued that the deadline is non-binding and have lobbied state legislatures to either ratify for the first time or reverse their rescissions decades after 1982.

==Advocacy==

==Advocacy==