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The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle — victory took decades of agitation and protest.
“On Aug. 26, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote,” said Col. Michael Poss, Fort McCoy garrison commander. “The passage of the 19th Amendment is a testament to the courage and tenacity of the women — and men—who challenged the nation to live up to its founding principles.”
Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of women’s suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920.
Beginning in the 1800s, women organized, petitioned, and picketed to win the right to vote, but it took decades to accomplish their purpose. Between 1878, when the amendment was first introduced in Congress, and Aug. 18, 1920, when it was ratified, champions of voting rights for women worked tirelessly, but strategies for achieving their goal varied.
Some pursued a strategy of passing suffrage acts in each state — nine western states adopted women’s suffrage legislation by 1912. Others challenged male-only voting laws in the courts. Some suffragists used more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. Often supporters met fierce resistance. Opponents heckled, jailed, and sometimes physically abused them.
By 1916, almost all of the major suffrage organizations were united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment. When New York adopted women’s suffrage in 1917 and President Woodrow Wilson changed his position to support an amendment in 1918, the political balance began to shift.
On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment, and two weeks later, the Senate followed. When Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment Aug. 18, 1920, the amendment passed its final hurdle of obtaining the agreement of three-fourths of the states. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification Aug. 26, 1920, changing the face of the U.S. electorate forever.
“As the Army shapes the future force, we will ensure that every individual has the opportunity to maximize his or her potential,” Poss said. “The legacy of brave women who served — and continue to serve — further inspire us to strive for liberty and equality for all Americans.”
The campaign for women’s suffrage was long, difficult, and sometimes dramatic, yet ratification did not ensure full enfranchisement. Decades of struggle to include African-Americans and other minority women in the promise of voting rights remained. Many women remained unable to vote long into the 20th century because of discriminatory state voting laws.
For more information, visit www.archives.gov/education/lessons/woman-suffrage.
(Article prepared by National Archives and Records Administration and Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2020 15:35 |
| Story ID: | 376856 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 175 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 2020 marks 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, by Aimee Malone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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