August 18: 19^th Amendment

“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” and “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote—a right known as woman suffrage.

At the time the U.S. was founded, its female citizens did not share all of the same rights as men, including the right to vote.

It was not until 1848 that the movement for women’s rights launched on a national level with a convention in Seneca Falls, New York, organized by abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

Following the convention, the demand for the vote became a centerpiece of the women’s rights movement. Stanton and Mott, along with Susan B. Anthony and other activists, formed organizations that raised public awareness and lobbied the government to grant voting rights to women.

After a 70-year battle, these groups finally emerged victorious with the passage of the 19th Amendment.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/woman-suffrage-amendment-ratified