The Empowering 19th Amendment by Chris Shively

The 19th Amendment was not only an amendment that allowed women the right to vote, but was also a major milestone in the history of the United States itself. Leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized many of the parades, protests, and demonstrations across the nation to bring attention to the issue. The suffragists, advocates of the voting rights for women, made several sacrifices and the eventual passage of the 19th Amendment resulted in progress to America, one of which is educating new American citizens on the importance of this amendment.

The suffragist movement has a long history and included many sacrifices. Beginning in New York, with the Seneca Falls convention in 1848, women rallied for the right to vote. Twenty-one years later, few state constitutions allowed women the right to vote. However, women wanted it written in the U.S. Constitution. So in 1869, Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. Two years later, in 1871, a petition signed by Anthony, Stanton, along with four other suffragists, was sent to Congress asking that voting rights be given to women. The petition also asked that women be given the right to speak in Congress. The petition noted that, “Men are represented on the floor of Congress and so may be said to be heard there. Women are allowed no vote and therefore no representation cannot truly be heard except as Congress shall open its doors to us in person.” Unfortunately, the request had little effect. Years later in 1878, the amendment that granted women the right to vote was first proposed to Congress, however, 22 years passed until it was finally ratified in August 18, 1920. Through the many years the suffragists were criticized, called all sorts of names, attacked by onlookers when they marched in parades. Yet they persisted,