History of North America

What does the Nineteenth Amendment do?

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. It was adopted on August 18, 1920.

The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long struggle for women's suffrage in the United States. The first women's suffrage convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. In the years that followed, suffragists worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the issue and to build support for women's right to vote.

In 1919, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a women's suffrage amendment. The amendment then went to the Senate, where it faced opposition from a small but vocal group of senators. Finally, on June 4, 1919, the Senate voted to pass the amendment.

The amendment was ratified by the required 36 states on August 18, 1920. The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment was a major milestone in the history of women's rights in the United States. It opened up new opportunities for women in all areas of public life, and it helped to pave the way for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.