The 19th Amendment

Passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 then ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment made it illegal to deny any citizen of the United States the right to vote based upon their gender.

Content of the Amendment

 * "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."


 * -Amendment XIX (19)

Background Information
The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York is looked upon as the begining of the Women's Right Movement. However, it wasn't until the Reconstruction Era that the Women's Sufferage Movement began to take hold. During this period, most state legislatures were introduced to suffrage bills, however they were generally disregarded.

During the Reconstruction Era, womens rights leaders urged for universal voting as a civil right durring the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain and the amendments did nothing to give women their right to vote. (Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment specifically discriminated between male and females by giving penalties to states who refused adult male citizens the right to vote, but not if they denied adult female citizens the right.)

The continued settlement of the western parts of the United States, along with the creation of territorial constitutions, gave the issue the ability to raise continually at the state level. Through the hard work of suffrage organizations and independent political parties, womens suffrage was established in the newly created constitutions of the Wyoming Territory, the Washington Territory, and Utah. Other state legislatures began to consider suffrage, but they failed to get too far into puting them into action.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton attempted to challenge the court with an argument that the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Three decisions made by the Supreme court from 1873 to 1875 rejected this argument, and as a result people began advocating for a new constitutional amendment.

Proposal and Ratification
The actual text of the 19th amendment was drafted by a Susan B Anthony with help of her friend Elizabeth Stanton. This amendment draft was finally considered by the full Senate however it was rejected in a 16 to 32 vote in 1887. A thirty-year long period known "the doldrums" followed. During this time the amendment was not considered by the Congress and the women's suffrage movement received few victories. A large amount of activity began in 1910 1911 surprisingly gaining success in Washington California. Over the next for years a lot of the Western states passed legislation were voter referenda allowing full or partial suffrage for women. These successes were linked to the election of 1912 which all to the rise of progressive and Socialist parties as well as election of a Democratic Pres. Woodrow Wilson. It was not until 1914 date of the Constitution amendment was once again considered by the Senate, unfortunately it was once again rejected.

On January 12, 1915 the position of was brought before the House of Representatives it proposed to amend the Constitution to provide for woman suffrage however it was needed by the vote of 204 to 174. Once again the proposition was brought before the House of Representatives on January 10, 1918. On the previous evening Pres. Wilson had made a strong and widely published appeal to the house to pass the amendment it was barley passed by the requirement two thirds of the house (just one vote extra). The vote was then brought to the Senate Wilson again made the appeal however on September 30, 1918 the proposal was two votes short of passage. Once more it was voted upon in February 10, 1919 and this time it only failed by one vote.

Many politicians of both parties found a large desire to have the proper perusal made a part of the Constitution before the general elections of 1920 cell president called for a special session of the Congress so that the opposition would be brought before the house once again. Finally on May 21, 1919 it passed on the house ready to go to more necessary were gained. On June 4, 1919 it was given to the Senate and after a long discussion was finally passed with a tally of 56 for yes and 25 no's, within a few days Illinois was constant and Michigan ratified the amendment the legislation being in session other states followed suit at a normal pace until the amendment had been ratified by 13 of the necessary 36 eight legislators on August 18, 1920 Tennessee approved the 19th amendment just barely however with only 55 the 99 members voting yes. This proved to be the final ratification necessary in order to enact the amendment

After-Effects
Following the 19th amendment, many legislators feared the rising of a powerful womens' association within the American politics. This led to the passage of many laws which benifited women during the 1920s. However, it was not until the 1950s that womens associations began to emerge.