The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution
Universal Voting Rights for Women Begins in Seneca Falls, NY
Oct 25, 2009
From 1776 to 1807 the New Jersey Constitution provided that all inhabitants had the right to vote and thus women could vote in New Jersey during that time. In 1807 New Jersey took away a woman’s right to vote, showing just how fragile the right was. Though over time some states allowed women to vote for some purposes, until 1920, whether a woman could vote in the United States depended entirely upon local law.
The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848
The beginning of the organized fight for women suffrage is usually traced to the "Declaration of Sentiments" produced at the first woman's rights convention in Seneca Falls, N. Y. in 1848. The “Declaration of Sentiments” was drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Ms. Stanton used the Declaration of Independence as her model. The 1848 Declaration asserted that all men and women were created equal and listed 18 injuries by man against woman, the same number as the injuries listed by Thomas Jefferson against the King of England.
Efforts Following Seneca Falls
Four years later, at the Woman's Rights Convention in Syracuse in 1852, Susan B. Anthony joined the fight, arguing that "the right women needed above every other...was the right of suffrage." A series of local and state conventions were held throughout the 1850’s and during the debates regarding the Reconstruction Amendments following the Civil War, proposals were made for the Fifteenth Amendment that included provisions for universal suffrage, so that women would be included. Such efforts failed in Congress.
Activists on behalf of women’s voting rights took to the courts following passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, asserting that the Privileges and Immunities Clause of that amendment conferred upon women the right to vote. The first case to make its way to the Supreme Court was Minor vs Happersett (1875). In Minor, a unanimous Court rejected the argument that either the privileges and immunities clause or the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment extended the vote to women.
Having been unsuccessful in the courts, suffragettes renewed their efforts lobbying the Congress and state legislatures. In 1878, a constitutional amendment was proposed that provided "The right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This same amendment would be introduced in every session of Congress for the next 41 years.
Nineteenth Amendment Goes to the States
On June 4, 1918 the United States Congress finally submitted the following proposal to the states for ratification:
“Section 1. The right of the 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.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
One Man’s Vote for His Mother in Tennessee
On August 18, 1920, the proposed amendment came before the Tennessee General Assembly for a vote. At the time 35 states had ratified the amendment and Tennessee would be the 36th making women’s suffrage part of the US Constitution. After much debating and argument, the result of the vote was 48-48. Harry T. Burn's vote broke the tie in favor of ratifying the amendment.
Mr. Burn had carried a letter from his mother with him during the debate. Part of the note from Mrs. Burn read:
“Dear Son: Hurrah and vote for suffrage! Don't keep them in doubt! I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet. Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the "rat" in ratification. Your mother.” As a result of Mrs. Burn’s note to her son women’s suffrage became universal in the United States.
The Dream of Seneca Falls Becomes a Reality
On August 31, 1920, in Hannibal, Missouri at 7 AM, Mrs. Marie Byrum became the first woman to vote as a result of the Nineteenth Amendment. When that amendment was ratified only one signer of the Seneca Falls Declaration, Charlotte Woodward, a young worker in a glove manufactory, had lived long enough to cast her ballot.
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