During the Reconstruction era, women's rights advocates employed legislative and organizational tools in their fight for equal rights and suffrage. The successes and failures experienced by the 14th and 15th Amendments helped shape the landscape of the American suffrage movement that culminated in the 19th Amendment. Assigned readings address legislative and organizational avenues that have been actively used by advocates of women's rights and suffrage, albeit in slightly different ways. The two readings align well with each other, each bringing a unique perspective of a significant historical phrase within the women's rights movement in the United States. The first reading, “Taking the Law into Our Own Hands: Bradwell, Minor, and Suffrage Militancy in the 1870s” by Ellen Carol DuBois addresses the early history of asserting women's rights in U.S. law, particularly in Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the US Constitution. DuBois explores the legal arguments used by suffragists, the popular support and militant activism inspired by the legal arguments, and the defeat of women's rights claims under the 14th and 15th Amendments Bradwell and Minor's legal cases, DuBois illustrates how the suffrage movement's militancy evolved in response to the Supreme Court's decisions in these cases. More specifically, DuBois illustrates the importance of understanding the issues involved in the 14th and 15th amendment and its implications for the American suffrage movement. Women's rights were treated very differently, as something to be won and exercised collectively rather than individually; as an object of political struggle as much as judicial resolution... half of the document... de by both of which ultimately served as precursors to modern feminism. Both readings address significant aspects of the American suffrage movement, the major ideologies, the individual and collective actions taken, and the specific strategies and tactics envisioned for a workable outcome, which had to work within the constraints of the legal and political arenas for recognition of equal citizenship between the sexes. Both are equally valuable and contribute significantly to the current wealth of historical scholarship on the American suffrage movement. My only criticism of both readings would be the lack of attention to non-traditional women: the poor class, freed women of color, and many others. I think both readings would be significantly improved if women outside of traditional middle- and upper-class white women were included..