ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by ratification,

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the gradual infestation of our little furry friends.

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You know, those rats? Those guys.

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Not a symbol for communism. Come on, people.

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All right, first up, the excerpt.

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[ mumbles ]

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And now the question:

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The defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment highlighted... what?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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All right, Miss Chisholm's speech to Congress was just

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one small step toward the giant leap

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for womankind heralded by the Equal Rights Amendment.

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Let's see which answer best describes

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what could've tripped up this movement for gender equality.

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Did the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment highlight B -

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the President's unwillingness to cooperate with Congress?

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Well, just like other social legislative achievements,

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the ERA made it through Congress and was

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quickly signed by President Nixon,

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so the failure was no fault of B or C.

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Did the Equal Rights Amendment stumble and fall because of D -

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the nation's extreme focus on combating communism?

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Remember the "rats" joke up front?

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Well, the Cold War was mostly a foreign policy concern.

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We're talking about domestic issues here, so it's not D, either.

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Which means that the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment highlighted A -

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the strength of the traditionally focused conservative movement.

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Even though Nixon signaled his support for the ERA,

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the strength of the growing conservative movement

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derailed the amendment's ratification by the states.

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So the answer is A.

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With the amendment's failure,

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the country reaffirmed the Constitution's stance that

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all men were, in fact, created equal.

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Good going, guys.

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[ rimshot ]

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