The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is Ratified

The first Territorial legislature of Wyoming granted woman suffrage in 1869, Utah doing likewise in the following year. In 1890 Wyoming came into the Union as the first woman suffrage State. In 1893 voters of Colorado made that State the second of the woman suffrage States. In 1895 Utah adopted a constitution in which woman suffrage was provided for. One after another, Western States granted the right of voting to their women citizens, the only opposition being presented by the liquor interests and the machine politicians. The procession was brought up with New York State, that old battle ground for suffrage, in 1917.

Meanwhile efforts to obtain an amendment to the Federal Constitution had not abated. Finally, on January 12, 1915, a bill to this effect was brought before the House of Congress, but was lost by a vote of 174 against 204. Again a bill was brought before the House, on January 10, 1918. On the evening before President Wilson made a strong and widely published appeal to the House to pass the bill. It was passed with one more vote than was needed to make the necessary two-thirds majority. The fight was now carried into the Senate. Again President Wilson made an appeal, and on September 30, 1918, the question was put to the vote, but two votes were lacking to make the two-thirds majority. On February 10, 1919, it was again voted upon, and then it was lost by only one vote.

There was now considerable anxiety among politicians of both parties to have the amendment passed and made effective before the general elections of 1920, so the President called a special session of Congress, and a bill introducing the amendment was brought before the House again. On May 21, 1919, it was passed, 42 votes more than necessary being obtained. On June 4, 1919, it was brought before the Senate, and after a long discussion it was passed, with 56 ayes and 25 noes. It only remained now that the necessary number of States should ratify the action of Congress. Within a few days Illinois,

Wisconsin and Michigan, their legislatures being then in session, passed the ratifications. One after another the other States followed their examples, Tennessee being the last of the needed 36 States to ratify, in the summer of 1920. The amendment was now an accomplished fact and the Presidential election of November, 1920, was therefore the first occasion on which all American women were allowed to exercise their right of suffrage.