This paper explains that the history of the fight for women's rights started with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the first Convention
on Women's Rights, in 1848; Stanton used the principles of the Declaration of Independence as a framework for her "Declaration of Sentiments" thus giving the idea of women's right legitimacy by associating these rights with this powerful symbol of freedom and liberty. The author points out that the early women's
movement finally achieved the right to vote in 1920; however, it was not until the 1960's, that there was a strong movement for
equality in economic and work-related spheres. The paper concludes that, in the late twentieth century, with equality in the workplace largely established, women activist's moved onto other more controversial topics such as women's reproductive rights, the right of women to enroll in military academies and serve in active combat and becoming women priests.