What is the Nineteenth Amendment?

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1920, officially granted women the right to vote. This amendment prohibits the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on sex. The movement for women's suffrage gained significant momentum in the mid-19th century, with key events like the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. After decades of activism and numerous attempts, a federal amendment was finally passed by Congress in 1919 and ratified by the states in 1920, marking a pivotal moment in American democracy and equality.

When was the Nineteenth Amendment added to the U.S. Constitution?

The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which officially granted women the right to vote, was proclaimed part of the Constitution on August 26, 1920. This amendment was the culmination of a long struggle for women's suffrage that began in the early 19th century. After passing both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1919, it was ratified by the 36th state, Tennessee, on August 18, 1920, securing its adoption. The amendment states that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

What right did the Nineteenth Amendment guarantee?

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1920, officially guaranteed women the right to vote. This amendment prohibits the denial or restriction of voting rights based on sex. The struggle for women's suffrage was long and multifaceted, with significant advocacy from figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The amendment's passage marked a pivotal moment in the fight for gender equality in the United States.

Who were some leaders in the movement to pass the Nineteenth Amendment?

Key leaders in the movement to pass the Nineteenth Amendment include Susan B. Anthony , who was a pioneer crusader for women's suffrage and president of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a co-founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association and a key figure in drafting the Declaration of Sentiments. Carrie Chapman Catt led the National American Woman Suffrage Association and developed the \"Winning Plan\" that was instrumental in achieving the amendment. Alice Paul , a leader of the National Woman's Party, employed militant tactics that brought attention to the cause. Lucretia Mott was also an early activist and a key organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention.

How did the Nineteenth Amendment change voting rights in the United States?

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, officially granted women the right to vote in the United States. This amendment prohibits the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on sex. Before its passage, women were largely excluded from the political sphere, with voting rights being a central goal of the women's rights movement that gained momentum in the mid-19th century. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, had enfranchised African American men but explicitly denied women the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment corrected this by ensuring that citizenship rights, including suffrage, could not be denied on account of sex.

What challenges did women face even after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified?

Even after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote, women continued to face significant challenges. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, had enfranchised African American men but explicitly denied women the right to vote, regardless of race. While the Nineteenth Amendment extended suffrage to all women, in practice, poor women and women of color in several states were still denied this right well into the 20th century. Furthermore, the broader women's rights movement, particularly the second wave in the 1960s and 70s, addressed systemic inequalities in employment, politics, family life, education, and sexuality, indicating that legal suffrage was only one step towards full equality.

Nineteenth Amendment

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Woman suffrage: In the United States, 1776–1959

The journey to women's voting rights and the Nineteenth Amendment

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Nineteenth Amendment

United States Constitution

Written by

Brian P. SmentkowskiAll

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Oct. 27, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is the Nineteenth Amendment?
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1920, officially granted women the right to vote. This amendment prohibits the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on sex. The movement for women's suffrage gained significant momentum in the mid-19th century, with key events like the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. After decades of activism and numerous attempts, a federal amendment was finally passed by Congress in 1919 and ratified by the states in 1920, marking a pivotal moment in American democracy and equality.
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When was the Nineteenth Amendment added to the U.S. Constitution?
The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which officially granted women the right to vote, was proclaimed part of the Constitution on August 26, 1920. This amendment was the culmination of a long struggle for women's suffrage that began in the early 19th century. After passing both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1919, it was ratified by the 36th state, Tennessee, on August 18, 1920, securing its adoption. The amendment states that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What right did the Nineteenth Amendment guarantee?
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1920, officially guaranteed women the right to vote. This amendment prohibits the denial or restriction of voting rights based on sex. The struggle for women's suffrage was long and multifaceted, with significant advocacy from figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The amendment's passage marked a pivotal moment in the fight for gender equality in the United States.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Who were some leaders in the movement to pass the Nineteenth Amendment?
Key leaders in the movement to pass the Nineteenth Amendment include Susan B. Anthony, who was a pioneer crusader for women's suffrage and president of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a co-founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association and a key figure in drafting the Declaration of Sentiments. Carrie Chapman Catt led the National American Woman Suffrage Association and developed the \"Winning Plan\" that was instrumental in achieving the amendment. Alice Paul, a leader of the National Woman's Party, employed militant tactics that brought attention to the cause. Lucretia Mott was also an early activist and a key organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention.
6 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How did the Nineteenth Amendment change voting rights in the United States?
The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, officially granted women the right to vote in the United States. This amendment prohibits the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on sex. Before its passage, women were largely excluded from the political sphere, with voting rights being a central goal of the women's rights movement that gained momentum in the mid-19th century. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, had enfranchised African American men but explicitly denied women the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment corrected this by ensuring that citizenship rights, including suffrage, could not be denied on account of sex.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What challenges did women face even after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified?
Even after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote, women continued to face significant challenges. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, had enfranchised African American men but explicitly denied women the right to vote, regardless of race. While the Nineteenth Amendment extended suffrage to all women, in practice, poor women and women of color in several states were still denied this right well into the 20th century. Furthermore, the broader women's rights movement, particularly the second wave in the 1960s and 70s, addressed systemic inequalities in employment, politics, family life, education, and sexuality, indicating that legal suffrage was only one step towards full equality.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Nineteenth Amendment, amendment (1920) to the Constitution of the United States that officially extended the right to vote to women.

Opposition to woman suffrage in the United States predated the Constitutional Convention (1787), which drafted and adopted the Constitution. The prevailing view within society was that women should be precluded from holding office and voting—indeed, it was generally accepted (among men) that women should be protected from the evils of politics. Still, there was opposition to such patriarchal views from the beginning, as when Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, asked her husband in 1776, as he went to the Continental Congress to adopt the Declaration of Independence, to “remember the ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.” In the scattered places where women could vote in some types of local elections, they began to lose this right in the late 18th century.

From the founding of the United States, women were almost universally excluded from voting and their voices largely suppressed from the political sphere. Beginning in the early 19th century, as women chafed at these restrictions, the movement for woman suffrage began and was tied in large part to agitation against slavery. In July 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, then the hometown of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the Seneca Falls Convention launched the women’s rights movement and also called for woman suffrage. The American Civil War (1861–65) resulted in the end of the institution of slavery, and in its aftermath many women abolitionists put on hold their desire for universal suffrage in favor of ensuring suffrage for newly freed male slaves.

Amendments 1-10 to the Constitution of the United States constitute what is known as the Bill of Rights.

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Amendments to the U.S. Constitution

Gradually throughout the second half of the 19th century, certain states and territories extended often limited voting rights to women. Wyoming Territory granted women the right to vote in all elections in 1869. But it soon became apparent that an amendment to the federal Constitution would be a preferable plan for suffragists. Two organizations were formed in 1869: the National Woman Suffrage Association, which sought to achieve a federal constitutional amendment that would secure the ballot for women; and the American Woman Suffrage Association, which focused on obtaining amendments to that effect in the constitutions of the various states. The two organizations worked together closely and would merge in 1890.

In 1878 a constitutional amendment was introduced in Congress that would enshrine woman suffrage for all elections. It would be reintroduced in every Congress thereafter. In 1890 Wyoming became a state and thus also became the first state whose constitution guaranteed women the right to vote. Over the next decade several other states—all in the western part of the country—joined Wyoming. In 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt ran (unsuccessfully) as a third-party candidate for president, his party became the first national party to adopt a plank supporting a constitutional amendment.

In January 1918, with momentum clearly behind the suffragists—15 states had extended equal voting rights to women, and the amendment was formally supported by both parties and by the president, Woodrow Wilson—the amendment passed with the bare minimum two-thirds support in the House of Representatives, but it failed narrowly in the U.S. Senate. This galvanized the National Woman’s Party, which led a campaign seeking to oust senators who had voted against it.

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A subsequent attempt to pass the amendment came in 1919, and this time it passed both chambers with the requisite two-thirds majority—304–89 in the House of Representatives on May 21, and 56–25 in the Senate on June 4. Although the amendment’s fate seemed in doubt, because of opposition throughout much of the South, on August 18, 1920, Tennessee—by one vote—became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, thereby ensuring its adoption. On August 26 the Nineteenth Amendment was proclaimed by the secretary of state as being part of the Constitution of the United States.

The full text of the amendment is:

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.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Brian P. Smentkowski Michael Levy