Today in History: The Nineteenth Amendment takes effect, giving some women in the United States the right to vote, 1920




In 1848 women and men met in Seneca Falls, New York to advance the cause for women’s rights. The convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Mary Ann M'Clintock, and Jane Hunt marked the beginning of a formal women’s suffrage movement. The men and women of the movement made speeches and petitioned Congress, pressuring government officials to recognize the woman’s right to vote. Stanton, Mott, and suffrage advocate Susan B. Anthony did not live to see women get the right to vote. Instead, they paved the way for future suffragists like Alice PaulIda B. Wells, and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee.

The women leading the women’s suffrage movement were not always unified. Some suffragists thought only white women should exercise their right to vote. Others like Charlotte Forten GrimkeMary Ann Shadd Cary, and Mary Church Terrell knew women of color also had a right to participate in electing government officials.

The first constitutional amendment to secure votes for women was introduced to congress in 1878. It failed. By 1919, suffragists get another amendment introduced to congress that would secure women's right to vote. The 19th Amendment passed both the House and Senate. The states ratified the 19th Amendment in 1920, officially recognizing women’s right to vote.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/2020-crash-course.htm

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