19th Amendment
Paper Due Date
Thesis
This paper is on the topic of the 19th Amendment. The first section of this paper will discuss the historical background and the need for the 19th Amendment. The second section of this paper will discuss the timeline of passage of the 19th Amendment. The final section of this paper will discuss the after effects of the 19th Amendment on the history of The United States.
19th Amendment
Introduction
The 19th Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony amendment was passed by the Congress on 4th June, 1919 in the Senate. It was ratified by 36 states, Tennessee being the last state to vote on 18th August 1920; and was proclaimed as part of the United States Constitution on 26th August 1920. Bainbridge Colby, the Secretary of State, signed the proclamation that stated, “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”. The 19th amendment assured that all American women got their right to vote. To achieve this milestone a long and difficult struggle was required; decades of agitation and protest assured victory. In the mid-19th century, generations of woman suffrage supporters lobbied, lectured, marched, wrote, and practiced civil disobedience so that they can achieve what Americans considered a fundamental change in the Constitution. Final victory in 1920 was witnessed by a few early supporters.
Historical Background
In year 1796, Abigail Adams wrote to John, her husband, who was the then member of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and advised him to “remember the ladies”. This was perhaps the single largest reform movement in the progressive era, it was the fight against woman’s suffrage—this movement attracted support from both men and women. With the formal adoption of this Amendment in the constitution of the United States, it became the culmination of almost seventy-five years of struggle for women to obtain their basic political rights. Achieving this milestone was a difficult and lengthy struggle; this victory took several decades of protest and agitation.
Need for 19th Amendment
In 1848, at the Seneca Falls convention the women’s rights movement was launched formally. The majority of the early pioneers of this movement used to be public reformers who supported the moral reforms such as abolitionism and temperance. The anti-slavery movement, in comparison to other reform movement in the past turned the middle-class women reformers to become the advocates for the women’s rights. These fundamental female reformers managed to reach to the conclusion that first they are human beings and then they are women; therefore, they argued, that women and men were made equal.
In 1890s, the suffragists organized the NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association), led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Their efforts invigorated the thrust for women’s rights and yielded positive results as many western states started to adopt the woman suffrage during 1890s and in early 1900s. Slowly, the suffrage movement started to overcome opposition and started winning the substantial victories by the end of the 19th century.
In 1901, Anthony started working on coordinating the myriads of the grassroots campaigns across the nation. The NAWSA started growing steadily from the membership of 13,000 in 1893 to more than 2,000,000 by 1917. In 1918, the Democrats their majority in the Congress and two weeks later, the amendment was passed by the Senate and thereby submitted the amendment to individual states for its ratification on 4th June 1919.
After Effects
The 19th Amendment aided millions of women to start moving closer to equality in every aspect of American life. Women started advocating for fairer wages, education, job opportunities, birth control and sex education. After enfranchisement of women, candidates started catering to women for getting them elected, and women started taking advantage. They advocated for laws that allowed them to achieve individual economic security in case of divorce laws and inheritance. Women started voting and eventually even ran for office for improving not only the government, but also better their individual lives. Since then every wave of feminism has continually shaped political discourse, ushering in new policies and engaging policymakers that incrementally codify autonomous and self-determinate laws.
Especially, the African American women have been devoted to the suffrage movement historically. For the African American women, suffrage was the way of empowering them and lifting the status of the African American community. The African American women in the Southern America, getting the right to vote became pivotal, as they saw the African American men getting enfranchised through the federal legislation but they were denied access across the state loopholes. Since suffrage movement’s first wave, African American women advocated for voting rights of African American women and the civil rights of the African American community continually.
Conclusion
The 19th Amendment granted women their right to vote and it is considered as the most important democratic achievement from the entire Progressive Era. Earlier, women were denied equality and only some educated women were permitted to work as librarians, teachers and nurse. This amendment helped millions of women to move near to equality in terms of voting rights in the American way of life. This amendment has helped women to exercise their rights and achieve many great things since the passage in the constitution.
Bibliography
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY. "Modern History Sourcebook: Passage of the 19th Amendment 1919-20." FORDHAM.EDU. Accessed May 26, 2014. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1920womensvote.html.
National Archives and Records Administration. "19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women\'s Right to Vote." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed May 26, 2014. http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=13&title.raw=19th+Amendment+to+the+U.S.+Constitution:+Women%27s+Right+to+Vote.
Teach American History. Home Page|Teach American History. Accessed May 26, 2014. http://www.teachamericanhistory.org/File/The_19th_Amendment_Struggle_for_Woman_Suffrage.pdf.
History.com. "Congress passes the 19th Amendment." History.com. Accessed May 27, 2014. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-passes-the-19th-amendment.
Center for American Progress. "Women’s Equality Day: Celebrating the 19th Amendment’s Impact on Reproductive Health and Rights." name. Accessed May 27, 2014. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2013/08/26/72988/womens-equality-day-celebrating-the-19th-amendments-impact-on-reproductive-health-and-rights/.
