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Seneca Falls Convention
A movement for women's rights was launched on a national level. They held a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This convention was organized with the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucreitta Mott. The ladies addressed that they wanted the right to vote. There were approximately 300 people that attended this convention that were mostly women, but some men attended. Source 2. -
American Civil War
The American Civil war was going on during this time and it took some momentum away from the suffrage movement. The Civil War went on from 1861-1865. After the war was over, many women had to decide another issue. The other issue they had to decide to vote on was if black men got voting rights. Stanton and some others sent the Amendment to Congress, but did not mention anything about extending the same thing to women of any color. Source 2. -
National Women Suffrage Association
In 1869, The National Women Suffrage Association was formed by Stanton and Anthony. They wanted to focus on getting the amendment to pass to give women the right to vote. That same year the American Women Suffrage Association was created by Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell. Each Association believed different things, but in 1869 there was a victory for women being able to vote. Source 2. -
Virginia Minor
The Virginia Minor case is a significant case that appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Virginia tried to register to vote at the ward registrar in St. Louis, but she was refused. Reese Happersett was the man that refused to let her register to vote because she was a female. This was part of a nation wide pattern of disobedience, as many females tried to register to vote that year. Source 5. -
Amendment Drafted
The first draft of the 19th Amendment was in 1878. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted this Amendment 30 years after the Seneca Falls Convention. The idea that they had in mind was that the women's suffrage would gain prominence in the United States. By 1919, the Amendment was sent to the states for ratification. Source 3. -
National American Woman Suffrage Association
The National Women's Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Women's Suffrage Association (AWSA) decided to join and make the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This all happened in 1890. The new strategy was to get women's voting rights by going from state-to-state. Three states, within six years, added the amendments to their state constitutions. Those three states were Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. Source 2. -
Events to Ratification
In 1916, most of the organizations were united and had a goal of a constitutional amendment. President Wilson changed his mind in 1918 and supported the Amendment the women had been working at. When President Wilson changed his mind, the political side of things began to shift. The House of Representatives passed the amendment on May 21, 1919 and then the Senate followed later. After Tennessee ratified the amendment, it then had to pass the final agreement of 3/4 of the states. Source 1. -
Ratification of Amendment
On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified and women were granted the right to vote. At the time of the ratification, women did not have the same rights as men and one of those rights was that women did not have the right to vote. Many women had worked at getting this Amendment ratified for a long time and they also formed many organizations and held conventions. Source 2. -
After the Ratification
After the 19th Amendment was ratified, many women joined the electorate. There were almost 10 million women who joined the electorate. This was then considered the "biggest democratizing event in American history." Many women were very happy that they finally had the right to vote and wanted to celebrate. Source 4. -
States Ratification
The Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, but not all of the states had ratified it. After the Amendment was ratified, women all over were happy to vote in the political election, but some states still had not ratified the Amendment. It took over 60 years to get the rest of the states to the Amendment. Mississippi was the last state to ratify the Amendment and they did that on March 22, 1984. Source 2.
