Paulina Longoria | THE RIDER
Today we celebrate Women’s Equality Day to commemorate that, a century ago, women were granted 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,” the 19th Amendment states.
On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was signed by Bainbridge Colby, U.S. secretary of state under President Woodrow Wilson, and added to the Constitution, culminating the massive women’s suffrage movement.
Starting in the mid-19th century, the women’s suffrage movement brought supporters together to lecture, write, march and, what many Americans would then say, civil disobedience and radical change, according to the National Archives.
The Seneca Falls Convention held on July 19-20 in Seneca Falls, New York, was the first official gathering to mainly discuss the social, civil and religious condition of women and their rights. The organizers were abolitionist and suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Quaker abolitionist Lucrecia Mott, according to the History, Art and Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Initially, women reformers addressed social and institutional barriers that limited women’s rights, including family responsibilities, a lack of educational and economic opportunities, and the absence of a voice in political debates,” the website states.
Stanton and social reformer Susan B. Anthony met in 1850 and forged an allegiance as women’s rights activists. They created the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which opposed the 15th Amendment that excluded women and only granted African American men 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 race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” the 15th Amendment states.
Women’s rights advocate Lucy Stone formed the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which rejected the NWSA’s agenda as racially divisive, according to the History, Art and Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“By 1890, seeking to capitalize on their newfound ‘constituency,’ the two groups united to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA),” the website states.
A women’s suffrage amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878 and approved on June 14, 1919. It was sent to the states for ratification, according to the Library of Congress.
Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the 19th Amendment on Aug. 18, 1920, but it became official when Colby certified the approval of the state legislature on Aug. 26.
Women, now that a century has passed since we were granted the right to vote, we can participate in the 59th quadrennial presidential election on Nov. 3. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5.
