FREEDOM SHRINE

1920

• The nineteenth amendment of the Constitution was added to grant women’s suffrage and ban states from denying women from voting on the basis of their sex. The women’s suffrage movement gained steam in the early 19th century, with milestone events such as the Seneca Falls Convention occurring. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, individual states granted women the right to vote, with Wyoming being the first. However, many suffragists wanted a constitutional amendment to be added in order to ensure national women’s suffrage. Organizations such as the National Woman Suffrage Association and American Woman Suffrage Association were leaders in the movement. By 1918, many states outside of the south supported the suffragists, and the amendment was passed in 1920. It is important to note that the nineteenth amendment was a victory mainly for white American women. Many suffrage organizations held racist and discriminatory practices, and most black women and women of color could not exercise their right to vote until the 1960s, especially in the south.