When the United States first became independent, there were no restrictions banning women from holding office. However, this was not because of some idealistic vision of liberty and justice and equality and everything else wonderful for all…it was because it was simply unthinkable that a woman would ever be in a position of political power. In other words, not restricting a woman’s right to hold office is like not restricting a dinosaur’s right to cross the street in today’s world. There’s no need for a law like that, so why have it? Of course, there were laws restricting women from voting, because that was a foreseeable evil that absolutely could not be permitted. No way, no how.
My bitterness about the brutal history of the suffrage movement aside, this does raise an interesting point about the interpretation of documents that were written hundreds of years ago. It was impossible for lawmakers to know how the future would render their words meaningless–or, as the case may be, even more meaningful–and likewise, it is difficult for people living in the present to know how people in the past meant for their words to be interpreted.
Take the Second Amendment, for example. The writers of the Constitution granted citizens the right to bear arms, but they had no way of knowing how advanced weaponry would become in the future. Today, some argue that the Second Amendment should be repealed because the advances that have been made since the law’s ratification require stricter gun control; others argue that rights granted to Americans by the Founding Fathers should not be taken away. There is no clause in the Second Amendment that says “Oh by the way, if society advances to such and such a point, this amendment is null and void.”
We cannot responsibly assume that just because there were no laws prohibiting women from holding political power when the United States was first recognized as an independent nation means that a woman holding office would have been just fine and dandy with everyone. It’s like the Pope. Technically, women are allowed to become Pope, but traditionally, only cardinals have been selected. And there are no female cardinals. So there’s this whole hierarchical ladder in place that prevents women from ever being the Pope, even though it’s not technically forbidden.
Conclusion: no dinosaurs should ever be allowed to cross the street. EVER.
For What It's Worth... 