EQUAL SUFFRAGE
Amendment 19
Clause 1. The right of the 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.
Clause 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Origin of the Nineteenth Amendment
The adoption of this amendment is attributable in great measure to its advocacy since 1869 by certain long term supporters of women suffrage who had despaired of attaining their goal through modification of individual State laws. Agitation in behalf of women suffrage was recorded as early as the Jackson Administration, but the initial results were meager. Beginning in 1838, Kentucky did authorize women to vote in school elections, and its action was later copied by a number of other States. Kansas in 1887 even granted women unlimited rights to vote in municipal elections. Not until 1869, however, when Wyoming, as a territory, accorded women suffrage on terms of equality with men and continued to grant such privileges after its admission as a State in 1890, did these advocates register a notable victory. Progress thereafter proved discouraging, only ten additional other States having been added to the fold as of 1914; and as a consequence sponsors of equal voting rights for women concentrated on obtaining ratification of this amendment.
Validity of Adoption