19th Amendment Worksheets
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Table of Contents
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Summary
- Background and Context
- Road to Ratification
- Text and Passage of the 19th Amendment
- Immediate and Long-Term Effects
- Challenges and Limitations
Key Facts And Information
Let’s know more about the 19th Amendment!
The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, passed in 1920, gave women the right to vote. This was a big win for the women’s suffrage movement, which had worked for many years to make voting fair for everyone. Leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton led the fight, using protests, petitions and speeches to demand change. After a long struggle, the amendment was finally approved.
Even though the 19th Amendment made it illegal to stop someone from voting because they were a woman, many women (especially non-white women) still had trouble voting. Some states used unfair rules to keep them from voting. Still, the amendment was an important step towards fairness and helped inspire future movements for equal rights.
The 19th Amendment in the National Archives
Background and Context of the 19th Amendment
Women's Voting Rights Before the 19th Amendment
- When the US Constitution was created in 1789, it did not clearly say who could vote. Each state made its own rules. Before the Revolutionary War, some women in certain colonies were allowed to vote. But after the US became independent in 1776, most states passed laws that only let men vote.
- New Jersey was the only state that allowed women who owned property to vote. But in 1807, it changed the law and took away their voting rights. After that, women in the US were not allowed to vote for more than 100 years.
Seneca Falls Convention and Early Advocacy (1848–1865)
- Before 1848, some small groups talked about women’s rights, but there was no big movement. That changed with the Seneca Falls Convention in New York in 1848. Around 300 people, both men and women, met to discuss women’s legal and political rights.
- The Declaration of Sentiments, written by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, argued for women’s right to vote. Although some supporters of women’s rights thought this was too much, abolitionist Frederick Douglass supported it and helped get it approved.
- During the Civil War (1861–1865), many women focused on ending slavery instead of fighting for voting rights. After the war ended in 1865, Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and others started a petition asking for a new law to allow women to vote. This was the first time the fight for women’s voting rights was taken to the national level.
Reconstruction Amendments and Women's Suffrage (1865–1877)
- After the Civil War, new constitutional amendments were passed to expand voting rights – but only for men.
- The 13th Amendment (1865) ended slavery.
- The 14th Amendment (1868) defined who was a US citizen and said states could be punished for denying voting rights, but only for male citizens. This was the first time the US Constitution clearly excluded women.
- The 15th Amendment (1870) said people could not be denied the right to vote based on their race. However, it did not mention gender, meaning women were still left out.
- Some suffragists were upset that the 15th Amendment gave Black men the right to vote but did not include women. This disagreement split the movement into two groups: (1) The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and (2) The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).
- Some suffragists tried to argue in court that women already had the right to vote because of the 14th and 15th Amendments. This approach, called the New Departure, failed when the US Supreme Court ruled in Minor v. Happersett (1875) that being a US citizen did not automatically give women the right to vote. Despite these legal failures, some western territories gave women the right to vote, like Wyoming (1869) and Utah (1870).
Post-Reconstruction and the Revival of the Suffrage Movement (1878–1910)
- In 1878, Senator Aaron A. Sargent from California proposed a law to give women the right to vote. But it was ignored for years and rejected in 1887. Meanwhile, women kept fighting for voting rights in different states. However, between 1896 and 1910, the movement slowed down. No new states allowed women to vote, so activists had to find new ways to get support.
Black Women and the Suffrage Movement
- In 1866, Margaretta Forten and Harriet Forten Purvis helped create the Philadelphia Suffrage Association. Purvis later joined the leadership of the American Equal Rights Association (AERA), which pushed for voting rights for both women and Black men.
- In 1896, Black women formed the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). Leaders included Frances E.W. Harper, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Harriet Tubman and Wells-Barnett, with Mary Church Terrell as the first president. This group worked on voting rights, education and racial justice. Unfortunately, racism caused problems in the fight for voting rights. Many white suffragists left out Black women to gain support from southern states. Still, Black women never gave up.
Road to Ratification
- By the early 1900s, instead of trying to get each state to allow women to vote, suffragists pushed for a national law. Carrie Chapman Catt, who became president of National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1900, led this effort with her plan called ‘The Winning Plan’, which had two goals:
- Women in states where they could already vote would work on passing a national law.
- Women in other states would continue trying to change their state laws while also pushing for a national amendment.
- At the same time, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns took a more aggressive approach. They started the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (later the National Woman’s Party or NWP). They held marches and protests, even when it meant getting arrested. Their biggest demonstration was a huge suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. in 1913. The parade gained national attention, but President Woodrow Wilson did not take action.
- By 1917, eight states had already granted women the right to vote, but the fight for a national law was still ongoing. When the US entered World War I, the suffrage movement gained new momentum. NAWSA chose to support the war, arguing that women were doing important work to help the country. Catt and others argued that, since women were sacrificing so much for the country, they deserved the right to vote.
- On the other hand, the NWP used the war to point out the hypocrisy of fighting for democracy abroad while denying voting rights to women at home. They started protesting outside the White House. They held up signs calling out the government’s unfair treatment of women. Many protesters were arrested and some went on hunger strikes while in prison. When people heard that these women were being treated badly, more people started supporting women’s right to vote.
Suffragists protesting outside the White House
- By 1918, the movement had gained more political backing. President Wilson, who was unsure before, finally fully supported the 19th Amendment.
- Despite this, getting the amendment through Congress was difficult. In January 1918, the House of Representatives passed it by just one vote. But in the Senate, the amendment failed. Over the next year, Congress voted on the amendment five times, with Southern Democrats strongly opposing it. Finally, on 4 June 1919, the Senate passed the amendment with a vote of 56–25. Now, at least 36 of the 48 states needed to approve it for it to become law.
Text and Passage of the 19th Amendment
- By August 1919, 14 states had agreed to the amendment. However, there was still opposition, especially in the South. By June 1920, 35 states had approved the amendment, just one state short of the required 36. The final decision was up to Tennessee.
- In July 1920, both supporters and opponents rushed to Nashville, Tennessee, to influence lawmakers. The Tennessee Senate voted 24–5 in favour of the amendment, leaving the final decision to the Tennessee House of Representatives. The vote was expected to be very close.
- On 18 August 1920, Speaker Seth M. Walker tried to stop the vote by delaying it, but his motion ended in a 48–48 tie. When the final vote came, it seemed like the amendment might fail until a young lawmaker, Harry T. Burn changed his vote at the last minute.
- Burn, who had previously opposed suffrage, switched to ‘yes’ after receiving a letter from his mother who urged him to support the amendment. His vote broke the tie and made Tennessee the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment.
- The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution is short but very important. It says:
- 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.
- This means that no one can be stopped from voting just because they are a woman. It made sure that women had the same voting rights as men in every state.
- On 26 August 1920, US Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the official paperwork, and the 19th Amendment became part of the US Constitution. After nearly 100 years of fighting, women in the United States finally had the right to vote.
Immediate and Long-Term Effects
- The 19th Amendment gave 26 million women the legal right to vote just in time for the 1920 US presidential election. Many politicians worried that women would form a powerful voting group that could change elections. Because of this fear, Congress quickly passed laws to address what they thought were important issues for women.
- One of these was the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act of 1921, which helped provide better healthcare for mothers and babies. This law was the first federal social security law and made a big difference before it ended in 1929.
- However, many women did not vote right away. In the 1920 election, only 36% of women voted, while 68% of men did. This was partly because of barriers like literacy tests, poll taxes and strict residency requirements, which made it hard for many women to vote. Some women also still believed that voting was not their role in society. Some were more focused on social issues than on political parties.
- Over time, women became more active in elections. By the 1960s, more women than men were voting in presidential elections, and this trend has continued to the present day. By 1980, women were voting at higher rates than men, and a ‘gender gap’ appeared, meaning women and men often voted differently.
Challenges and Limitations of the 19th Amendment
Political and Legal Challenges
- Even after the 19th Amendment became law, some argued it was invalid. In Leser v. Garnett (1922), Oscar Leser and others claimed Maryland never approved it, so it shouldn't apply there. The US Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the amendment was legally passed and had to be followed in all states.
- In Fairchild v. Hughes (1922), a man named Charles S. Fairchild, who lived in a state that already let women vote, tried to argue that the amendment was illegal. The Supreme Court dismissed his case, saying he had no right to challenge it since the amendment did not affect him personally.
- Women also still faced challenges in serving on juries. They had to fight for this right state by state. In California, women were allowed to serve on juries just four years after the 19th Amendment passed, but in Colorado, it took 33 years. They also struggled to get elected to government positions. Even though they could now vote, it was still difficult for them to run for office.
Barriers for Black Women
- Even though the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, many Black women, especially in the South, were still blocked from voting. Southern states used unfair rules like literacy tests, poll taxes and threats of violence to keep Black people from voting.
- Some election officials refused to register Black women as voters, no matter what. In one case in 1926, a group of Black women in Birmingham, Alabama, were beaten by officials when they tried to register to vote. Many others were scared away from voting by the risk of losing their jobs or facing violence. These problems lasted for decades. The government did not step in to fix them until the 1960s.
Challenges for Other Minority Women
- Indigenous Women: The 19th Amendment did not help Indigenous women because they were not considered US citizens at the time. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act was passed that gave Indigenous people US citizenship. But some states still refused to let them vote. It took a lawsuit in 1948 for them to gain voting rights in New Mexico and Arizona. Some states continued blocking them from voting until 1957.
- Latina Women: Many Latina women also faced voting barriers. In Puerto Rico, women were not allowed to vote until 1929, and even then, only those who could read and write were given that right. It was not until 1935 that all Puerto Rican women could vote. On the US mainland, Latina women were often kept from voting through literacy tests and language barriers. The Voting Rights Act was expanded in 1975 to require bilingual voting materials, making it easier for Spanish-speaking voters.
- Asian American Women: Asian American women could not vote for many years because they were not allowed to become US citizens. It was not until 1952, when Congress passed the McCarran-Walter Act, that Asian immigrants were allowed to become citizens and vote.
Frequently Asked Questions About The 19th Amendment
- What is the 19th Amendment?
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified on 18 August 1920, granted women the legal right to vote and prohibited any U.S. citizen from being denied the right to vote based on sex.
- Why was the 19th Amendment important?
It was a major milestone in the women's suffrage movement, ensuring that women had the same voting rights as men and marking a significant step toward gender equality in the United States.
- What does the 19th Amendment say?
It 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."