National Equal Rights Party

National Equal Rights Party
ChairpersonNettie Sanford Chapin
Founded1872[1]
Dissolved1888
IdeologyWomen's rights
First-wave feminism
In 1872, Victoria Woodhull and Frederick Douglass were nominated for president and vice president[2] respectively for the Equal Rights Party.

The National Equal Rights Party (NERP) was a United States minor party during the late 19th century that supported women's rights.[3] The party was notable for nominating two female presidential candidates: Victoria Woodhull in 1872 and Belva Lockwood in 1884 and 1888.[3] Woodhull and Lockwood are generally considered the first women who ran for president in the U.S. Although women could not vote in federal elections at the time, there were no laws prohibiting women from running for president.[4] Their platform focused on equal rights for men and women.[5]

  1. ^ "Equal Rights Party". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Trotman, C. James (2011). Frederick Douglass: A Biography. Penguin Books. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-313-35036-8.
  3. ^ a b Bystrom, Dianne G.; Burrell, Barbara C., eds. (2019). Women in the American political system. Volume 2: N-Z. Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado: ABC-CLIO, LLC. ISBN 978-1-4408-4613-7.
  4. ^ Freeman, Jo (2008). We will be heard: women's struggles for political power in the United States. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-5608-9.
  5. ^ Herringshaw, Thomas William (1888). The Biographical Review of Prominent Men & Women of the Day: With Biographical Sketches & Reminiscences. Live & Services of All the Presidential Candidates for 1888: with Platform & History of Each Party. W. H. Ives & Company.