TIME politics

See the Original Document That Got American Women the Right to Vote

The 19th Amendment was ratified 95 years ago, on Aug. 18, 1920

U.S. National Archives

The struggle for women’s right to vote in the United States was a long one: It began pretty much as soon as the country came into existence, continued as suffrage was expanded within the male population, neared completion as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in June of 1919 and was finally victorious 95 years ago today, on Aug. 18, 1920.

It was then that Tennessee ratified the Amendment—thus putting it over the three-quarters mark it needed to become a Constitutional Amendment. It was certified by the Secretary of State within days. This document, which is held in the U.S. National Archives (and which you can zoom in on by rolling over it with your mouse, or tapping on mobile), is the Congressional resolution that originally proposed “an amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to women.”

13 Great American Suffragettes

Evangelist and Reformer Sojourner Truth Lucy Stone circa 1860s Portrait of American feminist Victoria Claflin Woodhull, circa 1872. Writer Julia Ward Howe circa 1890s. Suffragist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), seated at her desk, December 1898. Portrait of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1910. Carrie Chapman Catt (1849-1947), Suffragette taking part in New York parade. Suffragette Kate M. Gordon of Tennessee, 1914. Alice Paul, American feminist, 1920. Portrait of Ida B. Wells, 1920. Alva Ertskin Belmont American pacifist leader and former congresswoman Jeannette Rankin (1880 - 1973) addresses a rally at Union Square, New York, New York, September 1924. Minnie Fisher Cunningham who has announced her candidacy for the US Senate from Texas. She is a Democrat, and is now in Washington instructing members of the Women's National Democratic Club in politics, August 5, 1927.
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