Tuesday, August 18th was the 100 Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment when women in the United States were guaranteed their Constitutional right to vote. While we celebrate and honor this day, there is much that happened to make this successful. Here are a few of the highlights:
- The Seneca Falls Meeting in 1848, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott was the beginning of an organized movement. The two leaders were abolitionists but were excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London because they were women.
- The Declaration of Sentiments which came out of the 1848 meeting, was modeled on the Declaration of Independence and began “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal,” the document stated. The Declaration of Sentiments asserted women’s equality in politics, family, education, jobs, religion and morals.
- Women were not allowed to own property, denied an education, required to be obedient to their husbands, could not even own any wages they earned nor the clothing on their back.
- The first state to vote in favor of the 19th Amendment was Wyoming but the one that sent it over the top was Tennessee. By August 18, 1920, 35 states had ratified and Tennessee was set to vote.
- Harry Burn a 24 year old legislature was opposed to the 19th amendment when he received a letter from his mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn who said: “Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt. I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet.” She ended the missive with a rousing endorsement of the great suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, imploring her son to “be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the ‘rat’ in ratification.” Harry explained his yes vote by saying “I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.”
