Constitutional text · 1920

Nineteenth Amendment

First introduced in Congress in 1878 by Senator Aaron A. Sargent, a California Republican, the amendment barred the United States and the states from denying or abridging the right to vote on account of sex. The Republican-controlled Congress passed it on June 4, 1919, and ratification was completed on August 18, 1920, when Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

“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.”

August 18, 1920

Why it matters

Capping decades of organizing, lobbying and protest by suffragists, it enfranchised millions of women nationwide, though many women of color continued to face barriers to voting for decades afterward.

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Primary Source

The original record, reproduced or linked from the institution that holds it. Primary sources show what people said and did in their own words.

Subjects

voting rights suffrage women constitution

From the library

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