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Seneca Falls Convention
In 1948, the Seneca Falls Convention was organized in Seneca Falls, New York, by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in order to launch the women's rights movement. They strived for better opportunities for education, employment, and the right to vote alongside men. The Seneca Falls Convention brought 300 people to attend, and it sparked the women's rights movement and encouraged groups to form to fight for women's suffrage. -
National Woman Suffrage Association
Susan B. Anthony ad Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869 in hopes that a federal constitution amendment would allow women the right to vote. That same year, abolitionists Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) in hopes that individual states could amend their own state constitutions. -
Amendment Draft and Proposal
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton created a draft to give women the right to vote in January of 1878. They presented this draft to the Senate and they formed groups to discuss and debate the draft. It was rejected in 1886 by a 16 to 34 vote. -
Minor v. Happersett
When Virginia Minor was refused the right to vote by Reese Happersett, the registrar, because she was a woman, she took the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that a woman does not have the right to vote because it is not clearly stated in the Constitution that they can do so. It based its decision on Missouri state law in which they refused to register women as voters because state laws only allowed men to vote. -
National American Woman Suffrage Association
In 1890, the AWSA and the NWSA formed into one organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The new organization worked from state to state to lobby for women's voting rights. By 1986, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho all amended their state constitutions allowing women the right to vote. -
State Amendments
From 1910 to 1918, states such as the Alaska Territory, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington granted women the right o vote according to their state constitutions. -
Woodrow Wilson's Inauguration
Women attended a massive suffrage parade on the evening of Woodrow Wilson's Inauguration to protest his view on women suffrage and hundreds of women were injured due to the number of protesters. In 1918, Woodrow Wilson changed his stance on the issue and encouraged Congress to allow women to vote. -
Numerous Proposals
In 1914, women's rights activists again proposed allowing women the right to vote, but it was again rejected. On Januray 12, 1915, the proposal was then brought to the House of Representatives and was rejected by a vote of 204 to 174. On January 10, 1918, it was presented to the House and was greatly encouraged by President Woodrow Wilson. It was carried to the Senate when 2/3 of the votes were in favor of it, but on September 30, 1918, it was again denied, and another proposal failed in 1919. -
Susan Anthony Amendment
On May 21, 1919, U.S. Representative James R. Mann, chairman of the Suffrage Committee, proposed the Susan Anthony Amendment to the House of Representatives asking to grant women the right to vote. The House passed the proposal with over 42 votes over the 2/3 majority requirement. On June 4, 1919, the Senate passed the 19th Amendment with two votes over the 2/3 majoirty requirement. 35 of the states then had to ratify the Amendment. By 1920, Tennessee was the 35th state to ratify the Amendment. -
Ratification of the 19th Amendment
On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendent was ratified, giving women the right to vote. It took America 70 years to realize that women deserved the right to vote just like men had that right. Women around the country celebrated their newly-earned right with parades and other activities. -
Women Finally Get The Right To Vote
By November 2, 1920, more than 8 million women across the U.S. voted in elections for the first time. It would take almost 60 years for the last states to ratify the 19th Amendment. On March 22, 1984, Mississippi was the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment.
