Jonah Patel
The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, guarantees women the right to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a long and arduous campaign by women's suffrage organisations and activists, which began in the mid-19th century and lasted for several generations. While the Nineteenth Amendment was a significant victory for the women's suffrage movement, it failed to fully enfranchise women of colour, who continued to face discriminatory state voting laws and voter suppression.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of Amendment | 19th Amendment (Amendment XIX) |
| Date of Proposal | June 4, 1919 |
| Date of Ratification | August 18, 1920 |
| Date of Adoption | August 26, 1920 |
| Text | "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." |
| Number of States Required for Ratification | 36 |
| Last State to Ratify | Tennessee |
| Number of Women Enfranchised | 26 million |
| Organisations Supporting Amendment | The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), The National Woman's Party, The Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, The Women's Party, The League of Women Voters of the United States (LWV) |
| Notable Activists | Sojourner Truth, Lucretia Mott, Ida B. Wells, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul |
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What You'll Learn
The 19th Amendment
The journey towards the 19th Amendment began in the mid-19th century, with the emergence of women's rights organisations and the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, which advocated for equality between the sexes and included a resolution urging women to secure the vote. Despite these early efforts, it took decades of agitation, protests, lobbying, and civil disobedience to achieve this landmark amendment. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but it was not until May 21, 1919, that an amendment finally passed the House of Representatives, quickly followed by the Senate on June 4, 1919.
The campaign for women's suffrage faced fierce resistance and was often met with heckling, jail time, and physical abuse. However, the perseverance of suffragists and their varied tactics, including legal arguments, picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes, eventually paid off. By 1916, almost all major suffrage organisations united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment. The 19th Amendment's adoption was certified on August 26, 1920, and it officially became part of the U.S. Constitution, over a century after the earliest recorded vote legally cast by a woman in America in 1756.
While the 19th Amendment was a significant victory for the women's suffrage movement, it did not immediately ensure full enfranchisement for all women. Black women, Indigenous women, Asian American women, and women of colour continued to face discrimination and voter suppression, particularly in the Southern states. It would take further legislative efforts, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to protect the voting rights of all women, regardless of race or ethnicity.
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The right to vote
While women in several pre-revolutionary colonies of what would become the United States had the right to vote, this changed after 1776. By 1807, every state constitution had denied women even limited suffrage, with the exception of New Jersey, which had granted suffrage to property-holding residents, including women. However, New Jersey rescinded women's voting rights in 1807 due to growing fears over the political influence of women.
The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878, but it faced strong opposition and did not pass for several decades. During this period, women organized, petitioned, and picketed to win the right to vote, employing a range of strategies. Some focused on passing suffrage acts in individual states, while others challenged male-only voting laws in court. The movement also included more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes, often facing fierce resistance, abuse, and jail time.
Finally, on June 4, 1919, Congress approved the 19th Amendment, which prohibited the denial of the right to vote based on sex. This amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification and was officially adopted on August 26, 1920, when the requisite number of states (36) ratified it. The 19th Amendment guaranteed the right of American women to vote and was a significant milestone in the women's rights movement.
However, it is important to note that the fight for voting rights continued for minority women, including African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American women. Discriminatory state voting laws and racially discriminatory tactics, such as those during the Jim Crow era, prevented many women of color from exercising their right to vote. It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that women's right to vote, regardless of race or ethnicity, was fully protected.
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Women's suffrage movement
The women's suffrage movement fought for women's legal right to vote in national and local elections. The struggle was particularly intense in Great Britain and the United States, but they were not the first nations to grant women the right to vote.
In the United States, the women's suffrage movement began in the mid-19th century, with women lecturing, writing, marching, lobbying, and practising civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. The first women's rights convention in the US was organised by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in July 1848. Stanton later co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869, along with Susan B. Anthony, who had joined the movement in 1848. The NWSA opposed the 15th Amendment, which granted Black men the right to vote, because it excluded women. The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), founded by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, supported the 15th Amendment and focused on gaining access at a local level. The two groups eventually united to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
In Great Britain, the demand for women's suffrage was first advocated by Mary Wollstonecraft in her 1792 book, *A Vindication of the Rights of Woman*. The demand was later taken up by prominent liberal intellectuals in England from the 1850s, notably John Stuart Mill and his wife, Harriet. The first woman suffrage committee was formed in Manchester in 1865, and in 1867, Mill presented to Parliament a petition with about 1,550 signatures demanding the vote for women. In 1869, Parliament granted women taxpayers the right to vote in municipal elections, and in the ensuing decades, women became eligible to sit on county and city councils. However, women were still denied the right to vote in parliamentary elections. In response, a segment of the suffrage movement became more militant under the leadership of Emmeline Pankhurst, who formed the Women's Social and Political Union in 1903.
During World War I, suffragists in the US tried to pressure President Woodrow Wilson into supporting a federal woman suffrage amendment. Alice Paul, frustrated with the NAWSA's leadership, broke away and formed the National Woman's Party (NWP), which employed more militant tactics. The NWP organised the first White House picket in US history on January 10, 1917, with members standing vigil in silence six days a week for nearly three years. Many of these "Silent Sentinels" were arrested and jailed, and some went on hunger strikes. By 1916, almost all major suffrage organisations were united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment.
In the early 20th century, women had won the right to vote in national elections in New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland (1906), and Norway (1913). World War I and its aftermath accelerated the enfranchisement of women in Europe and beyond. Between 1914 and 1939, women in 28 additional countries acquired equal voting rights with men or the right to vote in national elections.
The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted women the right to vote, was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. It reads: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." However, it took decades of activism by generations of activists to achieve suffrage for all American women, and discriminatory state voting laws meant that many women, especially women of colour, remained unable to vote long into the 20th century.
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Voting rights activism
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, granting women the right to vote. This victory was the culmination of a lengthy and challenging campaign spanning decades and involving various activism strategies.
As the movement progressed, different strategies emerged to pursue the common goal of women's suffrage. Some activists focused on passing suffrage acts in individual states, with nine western states adopting such legislation by 1912. Others challenged male-only voting laws in the courts, while some employed more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes, often facing fierce resistance, including jail time and physical abuse.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) played a significant role in the campaign, although it faced internal tensions due to racial divisions. While some chapters welcomed Black women, others did not, and Black women were instructed to march at the back during the 1913 procession in Washington, DC. A younger generation of activists, frustrated by these mild-mannered tactics, embraced more militant strategies, including regular protests outside the White House during World War I.
The fight for women's suffrage was not limited to national efforts. At the state level, a 16-year-old girl named Lee led a massive women's suffrage parade in New York City in 1912, contributing to New York women gaining the right to vote in 1917. Similarly, Aasha Shaik began her activism as a teenager, working with the United Nations Association of the USA and later becoming deeply involved in increasing youth political participation through voter registration at Rutgers University.
The passage of the 19th Amendment was a significant milestone, but it did not guarantee full enfranchisement for all women. Racial fractures persisted, and discriminatory state voting laws prevented many women of color from exercising their right to vote, particularly in the South during the Jim Crow era. The struggle for voting rights continued for decades, with activists working tirelessly to include African Americans and other minority women in the promise of voting rights.
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Ratification and adoption
The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the United States and its states from denying any citizen the right to vote based on sex, was ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment was the culmination of a long and arduous campaign for women's suffrage, which included several generations of activists who lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical constitutional change.
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, with the Senate following suit on June 4, 1919. The amendment was then submitted to the states for ratification, requiring the approval of three-fourths of the states (36 out of 48 at the time). This was achieved when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920.
The road to ratification was a state-by-state race, with Kansas, Ohio, and New York calling special sessions of their legislatures to vote in favour of the amendment on June 16, 1919. Pennsylvania became the seventh state to ratify on June 24, followed by Massachusetts on June 25, and Texas on June 28. By mid-1919, a quarter of the required states had ratified the amendment.
Despite the eventual success of the ratification, it is important to note that it did not ensure full enfranchisement for all women. While it did allow Black women in the North and West to vote and hold office for the first time, millions of women of colour in the South remained excluded due to the racially discriminatory tactics of the Jim Crow era. Additionally, discriminatory state voting laws meant that many women, particularly African Americans and other minority women, were still denied the right to vote long into the 20th century.
The ratification of the 19th Amendment is commemorated annually on August 26, known as Women's Equality Day, with special attention given to momentous anniversaries such as the 75th, 100th, and centennial celebrations. On the 100th anniversary of the ratification in 2020, President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned Susan B. Anthony, a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement.
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Frequently asked questions
The Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution gave women the right to vote.
The Nineteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920.
The Nineteenth Amendment states: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
