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Recognizing 100 Years of the 19th Amendment

August 17th, 2020 · No Comments · City Library, Main Branch, West Branch

August 26, 2020 marks the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment being signed into law. The 19th Amendment guarantees women the right to vote (suffrage) in the United States. The road to securing the right to vote was a long and hard journey for many women. 

The 1800s were full of various social and political movements, including the temperance movement, the abolitionist movement and, of course, the women’s rights movement. The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 is often cited as the official beginning of the suffrage movement in the United States. When the Civil War broke out, many suffragists dropped their fight in favor of supporting the war effort. With the adoption of the 14th Amendment (extending voting rights to all citizens – only men at the time) and the 15th Amendment (extending voting rights to Black men), many suffragists saw this as an opportunity to make a greater push for universal suffrage. 

As the movement gained steam in the latter part of the 19th century, the rival National Woman Suffrage Association and American Woman Suffrage Association came to the conclusion that they were stronger together. They merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and focused on getting voting rights on a state-by-state basis. Though the groups merged, there was still internal strife, with some believing that the movement was not radical enough. Alice Paul, who studied in England, was influenced by the more militant movement going on in the United Kingdom at the time. In 1913, Alice Paul and others split from NAWSA and focused on federal law, hosting marches in Washington, D.C. and encouraging picketing the White House. 

 On January 10, 1919, Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, the first woman to hold federal office, introduced the 19th Amendment to the House of Representatives. The Amendment passed the House, but the Senate rejected it multiple times before finally passing it in June of 1919. It is required for three-quarters of states to ratify an amendment before it becomes law. With 48 states belonging to the union in 1920, that meant 36 states were needed. New Hampshire was the 16th state to ratify on September 10, 1919. Tennessee became the 36th state on August 18, 1920, making the 19th Amendment official.


Alice Paul is shown at the National Women’s Party headquarters in Washington, D.C. with her ratification banner. The 36 stars on the banner represent each of the states that had ratified the 19th Amendment.

The ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 did not grant all women the right to vote. Laws that blocked certain male populations from voting rights now applied to would-be female voters as well. The Chinese Exclusion Act, for example, prevented Chinese people from gaining citizenship, denying them the right to vote. The Indian Citizenship Act (1924), the Magnuson Act (1943), and the Voting Rights Act (1965) made it so that Native Americans, Chinese Americans, and African Americans, respectively, that had previously been denied the right to vote now could. 



Here at the Manchester City Library, we have a selection of titles on Women’s Suffrage. Click here to see some of the titles and make a request for pickup!

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