Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul became the vanguard of the women’s movement in the twentieth century. How did their approaches differ from one another?

Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul represented two different strategies to bring about the enfranchisement of women. Catt used a more moderate and gradual approach, seeking incremental change through reforms and lobbying. She advocated for the passage of protective labor legislation, organized state and local suffrage conventions, and aggressively used the tactic of concurrent lobbying in state capitals and the nation’s capitol. Alice Paul adopted a more militant, direct-action approach to achieve her goals, advocating for a federal amendment that would give women the right to vote. She organized parades, mass rallies and created organizations such as the National Woman’s Party to support her cause along with hunger strikes and other tactics to bring attention to her cause. In addition, she viewed the struggle for women’s suffrage beyond the ballot box, insisting that women be given equal footing with men in all aspects of life, such as legal, economic, political, and educational realms. Update (2023-11-09): Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul both sought to improve the rights of women in the early twentieth century, but their approaches to reform differed. Catt focused on achieving political representation through a piecemeal strategy. She sought incremental changes in voting laws that would lead to women's full suffrage, first lobbying at the state level and then developing a strategy for a constitutional amendment aimed at the federal government. She also sought alliances with both Republican and Democrat political parties. Her approach was gradual and aimed for broad social reform. Alice Paul, on the other hand, used a more confrontational approach focused on dramatic changes rather than legislative reforms. She was the leader of the National Woman's Party and created the movement to ratify the 19th Amendment. This approach was more direct and intense. She organized pickets, hunger strikes, and other protests to gain attention from the government and media. Her approach was focused on achieving the right to vote rapidly, no matter the cost.