The 19th Amendment

This is a copy of the 19th amendment that grants women the right to vote. It was signed by Congress in May 1919.

On June 4, 1919, Congress began to debate about whether the Constitution already legally permitted women the right to vote. After a long debate, the bill to create an amendment ensuring women could vote passed 56 to 22. Within a few days, individual states including Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan began to ratify the amendment until 35 out of 36 necessary votes had come in. On August 18th, 1920, the last state barely passed the ratification with 50 out of 99 members voting yes to the amendment. 

The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the bases of sex. This was the result of the women's suffrage movement where many women clashed on state and national levels for equal rights with men. It was originally drafted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1878 and was generally called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. The amendment had become the main goal for suffragists everywhere, and its passing was a great success.