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The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution gave women the right to vote and Congress the power to enforce it. Before its passage, women faced discrimination in many areas. The suffragist movement, which began in the mid-19th century, worked to secure women’s rights. In 1918, a successful campaign was launched to influence voters to support the amendment. The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, allowing women to directly engage in the political process and become a force in American politics.
The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution reads:
Section One: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or curtailed by the United States or any state on the basis of sex. Section Two: Congress shall have the power to enforce this section through appropriate legislation.
This simple amendment gave women the right to vote and also gave Congress the necessary power to ensure that this right would not be violated. It is often seen as a landmark in American history and an important step for the feminist movement.
Before the passage of the 19th amendment, women in the United States did not have the right to vote and many opportunities were closed to them. Women couldn’t be lawyers, for example, and many states had sexist books laws that prohibited women from working in a variety of industries. Many women naturally resented this, considering it extremely unfair, and lobbied for an amendment to be passed that would guarantee their right to vote.
The roots of the suffragist movement can be traced back to the mid-19th century, when women began meeting to organize marches and loba efforts on behalf of women’s rights. Women also began publishing pamphlets and books outlining the basic topics of the women’s rights movement and worked in communities across the United States, providing social services for women and advocating for movements that contributed to the overall cause.
In 1918, the suffragist movement came up with a brilliant idea: while women couldn’t vote, they could influence the votes of others. A mass campaign was mounted with the express purpose of asking voters to vote against anti-suffragist candidates, and it proved successful, seeding Congress with people who supported the movement. When President Woodrow Wilson put his support behind the idea, the stage was set, and in June 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, referring it to the Senate. By 1920, the 19th Amendment had been ratified by the 36 states needed to add an article to the Constitution and women had the right to vote.
For American women, the 19th amendment was a major victory that allowed women to directly engage in the political process. With full voting rights, women were able to vote as a bloc on legislation that impacted their lives and they started to become a force in their own right in the American political arena.
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