Congress passed the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, on this day in history, June 4, 1919, sending the text of the amendment to the states for ratification.
The amendment stated: “Neither the United States nor any State shall deny or abridge the right of citizens of the United States to vote on account of sex.”
The Senate voted 56-25 in favor of the amendment, the US Senate website for the centennial of women's suffrage said.
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Two weeks earlier, on May 21, the House of Representatives had voted 304-89 to approve the text of the amendment, the Library of Congress website notes.
The amendment was then signed by Thomas Marshall, President Woodrow Wilson's vice president.
The 19th Amendment, which prohibited discrimination in voting laws on the basis of sex, was passed by Congress and moved to the states for ratification on that day in history, June 4, 1919. (Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)
Many were opposed to women having the right to vote.
“Artists created political cartoons mocking suffragettes. Religious leaders spoke out against women's political activism from the pulpit. Articles attacked women participating in public life,” says the website Crusadeforthevote.org. .
In the 1860s, opponents of women's suffrage began to organize locally.
“Massachusetts was home to prominent suffrage advocates, and was also one of the first states with an organized anti-suffrage group,” that site also says.
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After Congress approved women's right to vote, the amendment had to be ratified by 36 states before it could be added to the Constitution.
At that time, there were only 48 states in the United States.
Suffragettes carry a banner announcing that “women have full suffrage in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho” at the Women of All Nations Parade in New York on May 3, 1916. (Paul Thompson/Actual Press Agency/Getty Images)
The first three states to ratify the 19th Amendment acted quickly.
On June 10, less than a week after Congress passed the 19th Amendment, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin had ratified it, according to the National Park Service website.
Technically, Illinois was the first state to vote for ratification, and Wisconsin the second, the National Park Service says, but the vote in Illinois had to be redone the following week after an administrative error was discovered.
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Later on June 10, the Michigan state legislature voted unanimously to ratify the 19th Amendment, bringing the total to three states.
Six days later, on June 16, Kansas, Ohio, and New York became the next states to ratify the 19th Amendment.
A voter fills out his or her ballot in early voting. Congress voted in favor of the text of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, on this historic day in June 1919. (GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images)
In late July 1919, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas voted to ratify the amendment, bringing the total of states to 12.
At that time, only one state, Georgia, had rejected ratification.
Georgia would eventually vote to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1970 as a formality, the National Park Service website says.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 18, 1920, THE 19TH AMENDMENT GIVING WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE IS RATIFYED
When the calendar turned to 1920, 22 of the 36 states needed to ratify the amendment had voted to do so.
By the end of January, five more states had joined their ranks, although South Carolina had “voted overwhelmingly” to reject the amendment.
On March 22, 1920, Washington became the 35th state to ratify the amendment, the NPS says.
Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Delaware, and Louisiana voted against ratification during this time.
Congress passed the 19th Amendment on this day in history, June 4, 1919, beginning the effort to get 36 states to ratify it. The amendment gave women the right to vote. (iStock)
Finally, on August 18, 1920, Tennessee ratified the amendment, bringing the total to 36.
About a week later, on August 26, 1920, the ratification was certified by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby and the 19th Amendment was added to the United States Constitution, the National Archives website says.
Despite the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women still faced challenges in their attempts to vote.
Eventually, every US state would ratify the 19th Amendment.
In four states (Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina) women were largely prevented from voting in the 1920 elections because ratification occurred after the deadline for voter registration, the Bar Association notes. from the United States.
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Eventually, every US state would ratify the 19th Amendment.
The last to do so was Mississippi, which ratified the amendment in 1984.
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“I don't think women are better than men,” noted suffragette Jane Addams said, according to Crusadeforthevote.org.
“We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted the legislature, nor done many ungodly things that men have done; but we must remember that we have not had the chance.”
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