Eleanor Finch
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, was a pivotal moment in the women's suffrage movement, guaranteeing women the right to vote. This amendment was the culmination of a prolonged and arduous struggle spanning decades, with women lecturing, writing, marching, lobbying, and practising civil disobedience to achieve this milestone. The journey towards women's suffrage began in the mid-19th century, with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 being a pivotal moment that galvanised the movement. The amendment's passage faced resistance, and even after its ratification, opposition persisted. Women's rights activists continued their fight for equality, advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment to enshrine legal protections against sex-based discrimination. The complex history of women's suffrage in the U.S. showcases the dedication and perseverance of activists who worked tirelessly to secure voting rights for women.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of Amendment | 1920 |
| Date of Approval by Congress | June 4, 1919 |
| Date of Ratification | August 18, 1920 |
| Number of States Required for Ratification | 36 |
| Date of Certification of Ratification | August 26, 1920 |
| States that Granted Women the Right to Vote Before the 19th Amendment | Wyoming, Utah, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, New Jersey |
| Year of First Women's Suffrage Amendment Introduced in Congress | 1878 |
| Year the House of Representatives Passed the Amendment | May 21, 1919 |
| Year the Senate Passed the Amendment | June 4, 1919 |
| Year of Formation of the National Women's Party (NWP) | 1916 |
| Year of Formation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) | 1890 |
| Year of the Seneca Falls Convention | 1848 |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
The 19th Amendment
The road to achieving women's suffrage was challenging and spanned several generations. The movement began in the mid-19th century, with pioneers like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who lectured, wrote, marched, and practised civil disobedience to challenge the prevailing norms. The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York is considered the catalyst for the organised women's rights movement, leading to the formation of groups dedicated to securing voting rights for women. Despite these efforts, it wasn't until 1869 that the Wyoming territory granted women the right to vote, primarily to attract more women to the territory.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), formed in 1890, played a pivotal role in the campaign. By the early 20th century, momentum was building, with 22 states granting women voting rights before 1920. The National Women's Party (NWP), established in 1916, further propelled the movement. Public pressure led President Wilson to support the constitutional amendment in his 1918 State of the Union address. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment, followed by the Senate on June 4, 1919.
Following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women's rights activists continued their fight for equality, with some focusing on the Equal Rights Amendment to enshrine legal protections against sex-based discrimination, while others advocated for specific laws addressing equal pay, education, housing, and financial independence. The 19th Amendment was a pivotal step towards gender equality in the United States, empowering women with the fundamental right to participate in the democratic process.
Local Power: The US Constitution's Decentralized Vision
You may want to see also
Women's suffrage movements
The women's suffrage movement in the United States was a long and arduous campaign that spanned several generations. While women had the right to vote in several of the pre-revolutionary colonies, after 1776, all states except New Jersey adopted constitutions that denied women the vote. New Jersey itself rescinded women's voting rights in 1807.
The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York is traditionally held as the start of the American women's rights movement. Attendees drafted and signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for civil, social, political, and religious rights for women. Many of the signers of the Declaration, including Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, went on to become leaders of the suffrage movement.
In the decades that followed, several state, regional, and local suffrage groups were formed to increase support at the local and state levels. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), formed in 1890, advocated for a range of reforms to make women equal members of society and sought a Constitutional amendment for women's suffrage. The NAWSA also included Black women who cited Black male suffrage as an important component of their goals.
In 1869, Wyoming territory granted women the right to vote, and in the following years, the territories of Utah, Washington, and Montana followed suit. In 1912, the National Women's Equal Suffrage Association of Hawaii, the first women's suffrage club in the US territory, was formed. In 1916, the National Women's Party (NWP) was formed by the merging of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage and the Women's Party.
By 1916, almost all of the major suffrage organizations were united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment. In 1917, New York adopted women's suffrage, and in 1918, President Wilson announced his support for an amendment. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment, and two weeks later, the Senate followed. The amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification, and on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify, securing its adoption.
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens on the basis of sex, effectively recognizing the right of women to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage and was part of a worldwide movement towards women's rights.
Understanding the Constitution: Electing House Representatives
You may want to see also
State-by-state campaigns
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, was the culmination of decades of state-by-state campaigns for women's suffrage. The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), led by Lucy Stone, focused on a long-term strategy of achieving women's suffrage on a state-by-state basis. This strategy proved successful, with several states granting women the right to vote in the decades leading up to the 19th Amendment's passage.
In 1869, Wyoming territory granted women the right to vote, partly to attract more women to the territory, which had a disproportionately high male population. Other Western territories, including Utah, Washington, and Montana, followed suit during the 1870s and 1880s. In the six years following the formation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho adopted amendments to their state constitutions granting women the right to vote.
At the local level, suffragists made several attempts to vote, and when they were turned away, they filed lawsuits in an attempt to bring the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. Susan B. Anthony successfully voted in 1872 but was later arrested and found guilty in a highly publicized trial that helped fuel the movement. In 1875, the Supreme Court upheld states' rights to deny women the right to vote in Minor v. Happersett, recognizing the plaintiff as a citizen but stating that the constitutionally protected privileges of citizenship did not include the right to vote.
The formation of state, regional, and local suffrage groups was key to increasing support for women's suffrage at the local and state levels. Many of these organizations were founded by Black women who were not fully welcomed or recognized in national organizations. Despite the eventual success of the 19th Amendment, it is important to note that even after its ratification, many women, particularly African Americans and other minority women, continued to face barriers to voting.
Understanding Shots on Goal in Hockey
You may want to see also
Explore related products
The Equal Rights Amendment
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1920, was a significant milestone in the women's suffrage movement, legally guaranteeing American women the right to vote. This amendment was the culmination of decades of agitation, protest, and civil disobedience led by several generations of women's suffrage supporters.
However, the fight for gender equality and equal legal rights continued with the proposal of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA, first drafted in 1923 by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, leaders of the women's suffrage movement, aimed to explicitly prohibit sex discrimination and guarantee equal rights for men and women under the law. Despite being reintroduced in Congress multiple times and gaining momentum in the 1960s, the ERA has not become a part of the Constitution.
The ERA was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1971 and by the U.S. Senate in 1972, initiating the process of state ratification. A seven-year deadline was initially set, which was later extended to 1982. Despite these efforts, the ERA fell short of the required 38 states for ratification, with only 35 states approving it by the deadline.
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the ERA, with Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia becoming the latest states to ratify it in 2017, 2018, and 2020, respectively. The renewed push for the ERA has garnered bipartisan support and increased attention to issues of gender equality.
The purpose of the ERA is to guarantee that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex. Proponents of the ERA argue that it will help overcome legal distinctions between men and women in matters such as divorce, property, and employment, advancing the cause of equality in the twenty-first century.
While the ERA has faced opposition and missed ratification deadlines, there are ongoing efforts to ratify it, and it continues to be a topic of debate and discussion in the quest for gender equality in the United States.
Church Constitutions: Are They Necessary?
You may want to see also
Women's rights activists
Women's suffrage in the United States was a long and difficult struggle that took decades of agitation and protest. The campaign for women's right to vote was led by several generations of women's rights activists who lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution.
The earliest recorded vote legally cast by a woman in America occurred in 1756 in colonial Massachusetts. Though only free men who owned property had voting rights, the town permitted Lydia Chapin Taft, a wealthy widow, to vote in three Uxbridge town meetings. Between 1776 and 1807, unmarried women who owned property in New Jersey could and did cast ballots. In 1790 and 1797, the New Jersey Legislature revised the state's election statute to include the words "he or she." This change, which applied only to single women with property, was first adopted in 7 of 13 counties, and then later across the state. However, in 1807, the New Jersey Legislature reversed its progressive stance on voting rights due to growing fears over the political influence of women and Black voters.
In July 1848, powerful calls for women's suffrage were made from a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This convention, known as the Seneca Falls Convention, was the first large gathering dedicated to women's rights in the U.S. Attendees drafted and signed a document called the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for civil, social, political, and religious rights for women. Many of the signers of the Declaration, including Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, went on to become leaders of the women's suffrage movement.
In 1869, the territory of Wyoming granted women the right to vote, followed by Utah, Washington, and Montana during the 1870s and 1880s. In 1872, Susan B. Anthony successfully voted but was later arrested and found guilty in a highly publicized trial that helped fuel the movement. In 1890, the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In the six years following its formation, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho adopted amendments to their state constitutions granting women the right to vote.
In 1916, almost all of the major suffrage organizations were united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment. The National Women's Party (NWP) was formed in 1916, and in 1918, President Wilson changed his position to support an amendment. The House of Representatives passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate followed two weeks later. The amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification, requiring the approval of 36 states (three-fourths of the states) to be adopted as a Constitutional Amendment. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, and Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26, 1920, changing the face of the American electorate forever.
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote, was a significant milestone in the women's suffrage movement. However, it is important to note that the realization of this right took longer for women of color due to the racially discriminatory tactics of the Jim Crow era. Additionally, the amendment did not ensure full enfranchisement, and it took decades of continued struggle to include African Americans and other minority women in the promise of voting rights.
DNA Databases: Constitutional Concerns and Benefits
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, granted women the right to vote. The amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote and prohibits the U.S. and its states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.
The women's suffrage movement in the U.S. was a long and difficult struggle that spanned several generations. Activists lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve this radical change. Formal groups were established to lead the movement, such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Women's Party (NWP). The campaign also gained support at the local and state levels, with the formation of state, regional, and local suffrage groups.
The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 is traditionally held as the start of the American women's rights movement. In 1869, Wyoming territory granted women the right to vote, and in the following decades, several other Western territories and states followed suit. In 1916, almost all major suffrage organizations united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment. The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the amendment in 1919, and it was ratified in 1920 after obtaining the agreement of three-fourths of the states.
