Uploaded June 2015 | Updated September 2026, 27 minutes ago
Women as Citizens Under the U.S. Constitution, by Professor Rosemarie Zagarri. 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 20th Amendment in 1919.
Professor Rosemarie Zagarri is a University Professor and professor of history at George Mason University. Dr. Zagarri is the author of Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic (2007), The Politics of Size: Representation in the United States, 1776-1850 (1987), and A Woman's Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution (1995), and the editor of David Humphrey's "Life of General Washington" with George Washington's "Remarks" (1991).
Professor Zagarri has been a past professor at the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, "Summer Institute on the Constitution" held annually on the campus of Georgetown University.
American History Videos are sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. These videos are offered to help teachers, students and the general public learn more about America's founding and the Constitution of the United States. www.jamesmadison.gov.
Women as Citizens Under the U.S. Constitution, by Professor Rosemarie Zagarri. 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 20th Amendment in 1919.
Professor Rosemarie Zagarri is a University Professor and professor of history at George Mason University. Dr. Zagarri is the author of Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic (2007), The Politics of Size: Representation in the United States, 1776-1850 (1987), and A Woman's Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution (1995), and the editor of David Humphrey's "Life of General Washington" with George Washington's "Remarks" (1991).
Professor Zagarri has been a past professor at the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, "Summer Institute on the Constitution" held annually on the campus of Georgetown University.
American History Videos are sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. These videos are offered to help teachers, students and the general public learn more about America's founding and the Constitution of the United States. www.jamesmadison.gov.
