Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on this day in 1919. The amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was then sent to the states for ratification and then added to the Constitution. The passage was the culmination of decades of effort on the part of the suffragette movement, which emerged among veterans of the abolitionist and temperance movements. The amendment became law Aug. 26, 1920, after the states ratified it.
The National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony (an off-script alumna) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In 1890, it merged with another advocacy organization to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. That same year, Wyoming became the first state to allow women to vote. By 1916, allowing suffrage for women was supported by Democrats and Republicans.
The amendment keeps it short and sweet. It reads:
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.
It's worth noting that not all women got the right to vote when the amendment was added to the Constitution. Non-white women were still unable to vote due to their race; that would change with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting.
You can read more about the 19th Amendment at the National Archives website.
