In the United States , women have had that right for only 106 years of the 249 years we have been a country . And getting the right to vote took decades of protesting and writing to lawmakers — who were all men at the time . |
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Meeting for Women ’ s Rights In 1848 , a group of people met in Seneca Falls , N . Y . to talk about the problems women faced because they didn ’ t have the same rights as men . At that time , women could not own property , they could not vote and very few could go to school .
This meeting was the first women ’ s rights convention in the United States . At that meeting men and women signed a document called the “ Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions .” By signing , these people agreed to the goals of what was becoming the woman ’ s movement .
For more than 70 years , women and men marched , wrote letters and articles , protested and picketed to get an Amendment to the Constitution which would give women the right to vote . These people were known as suffragists .
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Victory ! On May 21 , 1919 , the U . S . House of Representatives finally approved the 19th Amendment , also known as the Susan B . Anthony Amendment , guaranteeing women the right to vote . That was just the first step . The U . S . Senate and at least three quarters of the states had to approve it before it would become the law of the land .
The United States Senate approved the amendment a week after the House .
On August 18 , 1920 , Tennessee became the last state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment .
One week later , on August 26 , the 19th Amendment officially became part of the U . S . Constitution , forever protecting American women ’ s right to vote .
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Today , more than 68 million women vote in elections because of the courageous suffragists who never gave up the fight for equality . |
On Election Day , Nov . 5 , 1872 , Susan B . Anthony walked into her polling place and voted .
Two weeks later , a U . S . marshal knocked on her door .
“ I have a warrant for your arrest ,” he told Susan . “ You are charged with voting without the lawful right to vote .”
In 1872 , by U . S . law , a person had to be 21 years or older to vote . Susan was born in 1820 . Was she old enough to vote ?
Susan met two other requirements for the right to vote . She was a U . S . citizen and she had never been convicted of a felony crime .
Why was she arrested for voting ? Would she have been arrested in November of 1920 ?
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