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The 19th Amendment, Explained

It took more than a century of fighting by generations of activists to achieve suffrage for all American women.

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, “The right 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.” The amendment granting women the right to vote was enacted at the start of the Roaring Twenties, decades after a prolonged and meandering fight for enfranchisement. 

The 19th Amendment codified women’s suffrage nationwide, but long before its ratification, unmarried women who owned property in New Jersey could and did cast ballots between 1776 and 1807. Beginning in 1869, women in Western territories won the right to vote. And in the decade leading up to the 19th Amendment’s passage, 23 states granted women full or partial voting rights through a series of successful campaigns.

With a Powerhouse All-Women Cast, ‘Suffs’ Explores Activists Who Made Women’s Voting Rights Happen

Unlike the limited lessons of women’s suffrage many learn—Seneca Falls and Susan B. Anthony—Suffs digs deep into the gamesmanship wielded by the movement’s early 20th century leaders. Suffs opens April 6 at the venerable Public Theater in New York City. Lin-Manuel Miranda himself tweeted this week that >Suffs is “gobsmackingly incredible” and its writer and star, Shaina Taub as Alice Paul, is “the FUTURE.” I couldn’t agree more.

Alice Paul Aspired for Gender Equality by 2023: “Women Will Have the Opportunity to Revolutionize the World”

Alice Paul. (Wikimedia Commons)

Ninety-nine years ago, ERA author Alice Paul opined in the local Washington newspaper that women’s equality would easily be won by 2023. It’s painful that her prediction is so wrong—but last month’s vote in the House of Representatives to remove the deadline for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment means American women are closer to constitutional equality than ever before.