The Amendment Alice Paul had written, had actually stayed in congress for years. It was not until 1972 when Congress passed it. At this time it was up to the states to ratify this amendment. In order for the amendment to pass, three fourths of the states needed to ratify. At the time, there were only 22 out of 35 ratifications. As the years continued, not many states would ratify.

As time went on, more women were attending law school, and medical school. Even though these women gradutated, they still had a hard time getting jobs with high wages, and men still were paided more then women (1).

In 1978, N.O.W. (The National Organization for Women), had a march of over one hundred thousand people in Washington D.C. According to the NOW homepage, it was the "largest in feminist history" (7).

They had until 1982 to get more states to ratify, and through the many marches that were done, the many feminist missionaries that were sent out, as well as the many conventions that were held, they ended up with 35 states out of the 38 needed to get the Amendment passed (7).