Documents That Shaped The Constitution Amendments

The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees women's right to vote, was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. The road to achieving this milestone was long and challenging, marked by decades of agitation, protests, lobbying, and civil disobedience. The fight for women's suffrage was led by prominent activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who advocated for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women's voting rights. The journey towards the 19th Amendment inspired various artistic works, including songs, documentaries, and films that reflect on this pivotal moment in history.

Explore related products

The Constitution of the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights

$9.99

The Bill of Rights: Bill of Rights 10 Amendments

$4.99

The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence

$1.99

Vintage Poster The U.S. Constitution The Bill of Rights US History Government Classroom School Poste Painting Canvas Wall Posters Art Picture Print Modern Family Decor Posters 12x18inch(30x45cm)

$14.99

Decorably 18 US Government Posters for Classroom, 11x17in Matte-Laminated Educational Bill of Rights Poster for Classroom, School Hallways, Bulletin Boards, Home Study Room

$14.99 $18.99

The Constitution of the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights

$19.99

The 19th Amendment's influence on culture, including songs, films, and TV

The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, has been a significant influence on American culture, including songs, films, and TV. The Amendment's journey to becoming law was a long and winding one, and its passage changed the face of the American electorate. This transformation has been reflected in various cultural works.

One of the earliest cultural depictions of the 19th Amendment's journey is the 1976 song "Sufferin' Till Suffrage" from Schoolhouse Rock!, performed by Essra Mohawk and written by Bob Dorough and Tom Yohe. The song directly mentions the 19th Amendment and celebrates the expansion of voting rights to women.

The 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels depicts the efforts of suffragists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, played by actors Hilary Swank and Frances O'Connor, respectively, as they fought to secure the passage of the 19th Amendment. The film showcases the dedication and struggles of these women's rights activists.

Documentaries have also played a role in shedding light on the history of the 19th Amendment. In 1995, PBS released the documentary "One Woman, One Vote," narrated by actor Susan Sarandon. The documentary chronicles the Seneca Falls Convention through the ratification of the 19th Amendment, providing context to the long fight for women's suffrage. Ken Burns also directed a documentary in 1999, titled "Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony," which used archival footage and commentary to explore the lives of these influential women's rights activists.

The passage of the 19th Amendment has also been commemorated through annual celebrations like Women's Equality Day, which began on August 26, 1973. This day often sees heightened media attention, especially during significant anniversaries, such as the centennial in 2020.

While the 19th Amendment was a milestone, it is important to acknowledge that it did not grant voting rights to all women equally. Black women, Indigenous women, and women from other racial and ethnic minorities continued to face discrimination and voter suppression for decades after its passage. It was only with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that more comprehensive protections were put in place to ensure the voting rights of all women, regardless of race or ethnicity.

The 19th Amendment's impact on the law, including the dismantling of coverture

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, was a significant milestone in the fight for women's suffrage, granting women the right to vote and hold political office. This amendment was the culmination of over a century of tireless activism and agitation by generations of women's rights advocates. However, it is important to note that the benefits of the 19th Amendment were not immediately extended to women of colour, Native Americans, or Asian women due to discriminatory state voting laws and citizenship restrictions.

The 19th Amendment had a substantial impact on the law and played a crucial role in dismantling the doctrine of coverture. Coverture, a legal doctrine rooted in English common law, held that a married woman's legal existence was merged with that of her husband, rendering her a feme covert. As a feme covert, a woman's legal rights and obligations were predominantly subsumed by those of her husband, effectively treating her as her husband's property. Coverture prevented women from owning property, entering into contracts, and managing their finances independently. It also restricted their ability to pursue certain professions and deprived married women authors of the financial benefits of their copyrights.

The passage of the 19th Amendment, along with the growing women's rights movement in the mid-19th century, played a pivotal role in challenging and dismantling coverture. The criticism of coverture intensified as more individuals recognised it as oppressive and contradictory to the principle of women's equality. The mid-to-late 19th century witnessed the enactment of Married Women's Property Acts in various jurisdictions, including New York State in 1848 and several federal laws in the 1870s. These acts granted married women the right to own and control property, make contracts, and manage their finances independently, effectively weakening the foundations of coverture.

The 20th century brought further advancements, with the National Woman's Party (NWP) lobbying for the Equal Rights Amendment, which aimed to include women on juries and solidify married women's control over their property and custody of their children. While the Equal Rights Amendment passed in 1972, it remains unratified. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged the obsolescence of coverture in 1966, and it was further diminished in the 1970s as part of a broader feminist revolution in law that challenged the notion of a husband's ownership of his wife's labour and person.

In conclusion, the 19th Amendment's guarantee of women's suffrage catalysed significant legal changes, including the dismantling of coverture. The amendment empowered women to pursue a diverse range of political interests and inspired their participation in various organisations across the ideological spectrum. While the struggle for full legal equality continues, the 19th Amendment undoubtedly accelerated the dismantling of coverture and advanced women's rights in the United States.

The history of the women's suffrage movement

The women's suffrage movement in the United States was a decades-long fight for women's right to vote. 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 in the Constitution.

In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention, attended by prominent abolitionists, adopted the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for equality between the sexes and included a resolution urging women to secure the vote. Many attendees of the convention were abolitionists, and their goals included universal suffrage—the right to vote for all adults. This goal was partially realized in 1870 when the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, granting Black men the right to vote, was ratified. However, the women's suffrage movement disagreed over supporting the 15th Amendment, resulting in a split into two new organizations: the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).

In the late 19th century, new states and territories, particularly in the West, began to grant women the right to vote. In 1878, a suffrage proposal that would eventually become the 19th Amendment was introduced to Congress but was rejected in 1887. By 1896, women had gained the right to vote in four states: Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. By 1912, nine western states had adopted women's suffrage legislation.

In the second decade of the 20th century, suffragists began staging large and dramatic parades to draw attention to their cause. During World War I, they tried to embarrass President Woodrow Wilson into supporting a federal woman suffrage amendment. However, these tactics were met with hostility, and sometimes violence and arrest. In response, Alice Paul broke with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to form the more militant National Woman's Party (NWP). The NWP organized the first White House picket in U.S. history on January 10, 1917, standing vigil in silence for nearly three years.

Finally, in 1919, Congress passed a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to women. The proposal was quickly passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate and was submitted to the states for ratification. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, clinching its passage. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was certified on August 26, 1920, legally guaranteeing American women the right to vote.

Explore related products

Three Documents of Freedom Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights

$15.19 $15.98

The U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights with Amendments: Pocket Size (Annotated)

$7.49

The Constitution of the United States of America, with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation

$4.5

The Know Your Bill of Rights Book: Don't Lose Your Constitutional Rights--Learn Them!

$14.99

The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide

$12.99 $19.99

Bill Of Rights | Custom Framed Historic Document On Archival Paper, Fade Resistant Ultra Chrome Ink | 25L X 21W Inches

$89

The role of influential women, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an American writer, reformer, suffragist, feminist, and activist who was one of the first leaders of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late 19th century. Stanton played a crucial role in the development of the women's rights movement, working closely with Susan B. Anthony for over 50 years to secure the women's right to vote. Stanton was reportedly the "brains behind Anthony's brawn".

Stanton was born in Johnstown, New York, in 1815, and came from a privileged background. Her father, Daniel Cady, was a prominent attorney, congressman, and judge who exposed his daughter to the study of law and other "male domains" early in life. Stanton sought higher education, but colleges were closed to women at the time. She decided early in life to fight for equal rights for women. In 1848, she was the main force behind the Seneca Falls Convention, the first convention to be called for the sole purpose of discussing women's rights, and was the primary author of its Declaration of Sentiments. Her demand for women's right to vote generated controversy at the convention but quickly became a central tenet of the women's movement.

In 1851, Stanton met Susan B. Anthony and formed a decades-long partnership that was crucial to the women's rights movement. During the American Civil War, they established the Women's Loyal National League to campaign for the abolition of slavery, leading the largest petition drive in the U.S. at the time. Stanton and Anthony also co-founded the Women's New York State Temperance Society and petitioned Congress for universal suffrage. In 1865, they submitted the first women's suffrage petition to Congress during the drafting of the Fourteenth Amendment. Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which argued for universal suffrage and opposed the proposed 15th Amendment, which would grant Black men the right to vote before white women.

Stanton's activism was not without controversy, and she was kept on the fringe of the women's suffrage movement later in life. However, her efforts helped bring about the eventual passage of the 19th Amendment, which was ratified in 1920, guaranteeing women the right to vote. Stanton did not live to see the passage of the amendment, as she died in 1902, but her legacy was carried forward by a legion of feminist crusaders. Stanton's role in the women's suffrage movement was recognised in the 1921 sculpture Portrait Monument by Adelaide Johnson in the United States Capitol.

The ratification process and the political support required

The process of amending the US Constitution is a challenging and lengthy endeavour. The authority to make amendments is derived from Article V of the Constitution, which outlines the two methods for proposing amendments. Firstly, Congress can propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Alternatively, a constitutional convention can be called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. However, this second method has never been used for any of the 27 amendments made to the Constitution.

Once an amendment is proposed, it is forwarded to the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes and publishes the amendment in slip law format, along with an information package for the states. The amendment is then submitted to the state legislatures, or a convention is called, as specified by Congress.

For an amendment to become part of the Constitution, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50). When a state ratifies an amendment, it sends an original or certified copy of the state action to the Archivist of the United States, who administers the ratification process. The Director of the Federal Register examines the ratification documents for authenticity and legal sufficiency. If the documents are in order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody until the amendment is adopted or fails.

Once the required number of authenticated ratification documents is received by the OFR, a formal proclamation is drafted for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and serves as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process is complete. The signing of this certification has become a ceremonial event attended by dignitaries, including sometimes the President.

Frequently asked questions