The 19th Amendment was ratified.
On August 18, 1920 – 100 years ago, today – Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th, following in Wisconsin’s footsteps as the 1st state to ratify. With this, the United States became the 27th country to give women the right to vote.
“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.”
Then 26 million American women had won a hard-fought battle for the right to vote in the 1920 presidential election. Yet, it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that women of all races were enfranchised to vote.
Today 159.92 million American women have the right to vote in the 2020 presidential election. No election could be more important. For in the words of Michelle Obama, “If we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history.” We must vote “like our lives depend on it.”