Women's Suffrage: A Constitutional Conundrum

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, was a hard-won victory for women's suffrage. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's voting rights, which began in the mid-19th century. Women and their supporters agitated, protested, lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution.

Explore related products

The Concise History of Woman Suffrage: Selections from History of Woman Suffrage, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association

$28

Woman Suffrage and Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement

$12.29 $24.95

History Of Woman Suffrage Vol 1

$27.99 $50.99

THE HISTORY OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE - Complete 6 Volumes (Illustrated): Chronicles of Feminism's Pioneers and Their Fight for Equality

$1.99

American Women's Suffrage: Voices from the Long Struggle for the Vote 1776-1965 (LOA #332) (The Library of America)

$40

The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote

$10.84 $20

The 19th Amendment

The journey towards achieving the 19th Amendment was a lengthy and challenging one. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of women's suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practised civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change to the Constitution. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but it was not until 1919 that a suffrage amendment finally passed the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Women's suffrage

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, granted women the right to vote. The amendment was the result of a lengthy and difficult struggle that began in the mid-19th century. Several generations of women's suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change to the Constitution. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but it was not until 1919 that an amendment passed the House of Representatives and the Senate. The amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption and going into effect on August 18, 1920. The 19th Amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote and prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens on the basis of sex.

The decades-long movement for women's suffrage

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was ratified on 18 August 1920, granted women the right to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels, and was part of the worldwide movement towards women's suffrage and part of the wider women's rights movement.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of women's suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Women organised, petitioned, and picketed to win the right to vote, but it took them decades to accomplish their purpose. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but a suffrage amendment did not pass the House of Representatives until 21 May 1919, which was quickly followed by the Senate on 4 June 1919. It was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption, and thereby went into effect on 18 August 1920.

Explore related products

Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote

$10.96 $18

The Women's Suffrage Movement

$18 $25.79

The Woman Suffrage Cook Book (Cooking in America)

$12.03 $14.95

Public Faces, Secret Lives

$17.25 $20

She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next

$14.65 $35

Suffrage Song: The Haunted History of Gender, Race and Voting Rights in the U.S.

$30.56 $34.99

The 15th Amendment

The 19th Amendment was the result of a lengthy and difficult struggle. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of women's suffrage supporters agitated for change. They lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but it was not until May 19, 1919, that a Joint Resolution of Congress proposed a constitutional amendment extending the right of suffrage to women. This passed Congress on June 4, 1919, and was ratified on August 18, 1920, when the 19th Amendment went into effect, guaranteeing all American women the right to vote.

The 19th Amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels. It was also part of a worldwide movement towards women's suffrage and the wider women's rights movement. The victory took decades of agitation and protest, and few early supporters lived to see the final victory in 1920. Beginning in the 1800s, women organised, petitioned, and picketed to win the right to vote.

The Reconstruction period following the Civil War

The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but it was not until May 21, 1919, that an amendment passed the House of Representatives, quickly followed by the Senate on June 4, 1919. The amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption and going into effect on August 18, 1920.

The struggle for women's suffrage in the United States was a lengthy and difficult one. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of women's suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change to the Constitution. The victory took decades of agitation and protest, with few early supporters living to see the final victory in 1920.

The Reconstruction period was also a time of economic and social change for the United States. The country was recovering from the devastation of the Civil War, and the government was working to rebuild the infrastructure and economy of the nation. This period also saw the rise of new industries, such as railroads and steel production, which transformed the country and helped to propel the United States into the modern era.

The Reconstruction period was a critical time in American history, shaping the country's future and setting the stage for the 20th century. It was a period of great change and transformation, both politically and economically, as the nation recovered from the Civil War and worked to rebuild and unite the country.

Frequently asked questions