“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.”
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was ratified on August 18, 1920 and took effect ninety years ago today (August 26), enfranchised more than 26 million women. The campaign for female suffrage officially began in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention but it took more than 70 years for Congress to pass the amendment in 1919. Ratification by the states would require just over one year, despite strong Southern resistance. Ultimately, Tennessee provided the necessary 36th vote (three-quarters of the then 48 states). It was not until 1970 that the last of the then 48 states ratified the amendment.
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