1920's Government and Politics | Nineteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment

By: U.S. Congress

Date: 1920
Source: Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1920. National Archives and Records Administration. Available online at http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/co... ; website home page: http://www.archives.gov (accessed May 15, 2003).

Introduction

At the time of its founding, the United States did not explicitly prohibit women from voting in public elections. It was only when women agitated for suffrage that state legislatures clarified their constitutions to deny them the vote. From 1776 to 1784, women lost the right to vote in New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Fourteen years later, New Jersey, which granted the vote to all inhabitants "worth"...