Nineteenth Amendment
The 1920 amendment extending the vote to American women
Overview
After a seventy two year campaign from Seneca Falls onward, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in August 1920 when Tennessee became the decisive thirty sixth state by a single young legislator instructed by his mother. It prohibited denial of the vote on account of sex, roughly doubling the eligible electorate. Its drafting tracks the Fifteenth Amendment, and it now anchors protections against sex discrimination in voting. The struggle that produced it shaped a century of organizing law and protest. Its text tracks the Fifteenth Amendment, declaring the vote shall not be denied on account of sex.
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