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The Convention at Seneca Falls
This was the first women's rights convention which was hosted in Seneca Falls, New York. Here, they adopted the Declaration of Sentiments which was written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This called for equality for women and that women should have the right to vote. More than 300 people attended this event, and 68 women and 32 men signed this document. -
Civil War 1861-1865
When the Civil War started in 1861, this was a major time-consumer for these women's rights activists. Efforts for this movement had to come to a halt, so they could spend more of their energy helping to win the war. During this time, women had to take over male duties and were constantly at work. -
National Woman Suffrage Association
The 15th amendment was proposed which would give African American men the right to vote, but women still wouldn't get this opportunity. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony found the National Woman Suffrage Association. This was created to help focus on adding an amendment to the constitution for women's suffrage. -
American Woman Suffrage Association
Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell founded the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. They create this group to focus on gaining voting rights for women in individual states. They didn't care as much for a national amendment, but they wanted laws added at the state level. -
Election of 1872
Susan B. Anthony and several other women registered and voted for Ulysses S. Grant in the presidential election. They were caught, arrested, tried, and convicted in the year 1873. Anthony was charged with a fine, but she never ended up paying this fine. -
Draft of the 19th Amendment
From California, Senator Aaron Sargent introduces the women's suffrage amendment to the U.S. Senate. As stated in an article from History.com, the draft is, "The rights 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." It isn't passed, but this is the exact wording of the amendment when passed several decades later. -
National American Woman Suffrage Association
The NWSA and the AWSA join together to create the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This group is led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The American Bar Association tells us that, "As the movement's mainstream organization, NAWSA wages state-by-state campaigns to obtain voting rights for women" (American Bar Association). Now, this group is focusing on getting each state constitution to allow women suffrage. -
The National Association of Colored Women
The National Women's History Museum says that, "Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Frances E.W. Harper among others found the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs." This organization is created to help give equality to women of color. Black suffragists formed this group because many of them were discriminated against by white suffragists. -
The Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage
The Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage or the National Woman's Party was created by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. These women wanted federal action to be taken place, instead of going state-by-state. This organization organizes a protest march in Washington D.C. -
"Night of Terror"
Women are arrested for picketing at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. 33 women are beaten and terrorized on this day. This event is known as "Night of Terror". -
President Wilson Supports Suffrage
President Wilson declares that he is for women's suffrage and that he had switched his stand on the issue. He brought up about women's involvement during World War I and how they deserved this right. -
The Amendment Process
The 19th Amendment is passed by the House and then the Senate. Next, it goes to the states to be ratified. Here, it needs 3/4 of the states in the union at the time to ratify the amendment. By the end of 1919, they still need fourteen more states to ratify the amendment. -
The 19th Amendment is Ratified
In August 1920, Tennessee is the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. All American women are given the right to vote for the first time in history. During the 1920 Presidential Election, over eight million American women vote for the election. -
Mississippi is the last U.S. state to ratify the 19th Amendment
As stated in an article on Time, "On a more symbolic level, some states did not ratify the amendment until recently as the 1970s and 1980s." This quote is true for Mississippi, who was the last state to ratify this amendment on March 22, 1984.
