On This Day in History: Women Granted the Right to Vote

When we shall have our amendment … everybody will think it was always so. … They have no idea of how every single inch of ground that she stands upon today has been gained by the hard work of some little handful of women of the past.

One of the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, Susan B. Anthony, in 1894 as part of her work advocating for women’s right to vote. On this day 106 years ago, Congress responded to decades of activism by passing the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote.

The 19th Amendment: The women’s voting movement began in the 1800s, and legislation for women’s voting rights was introduced 41 years before Congress passed what became the 19th amendment. And while the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote in 1920, it wasn’t until 1965 that the government passed the Voting Rights Act, ending discriminatory practices (e.g., literacy tests or poll taxes) that prevented many from voting.

A Strategy Worth Noting: Sojourner Truth, born in 1797 and enslaved until 1826 in New York, became a magnetic speaker who promoted civil rights and women’s rights. Inspired by Fredrick Douglass, she sold portraits of herself on small, inexpensive cards to influence how people saw her and counter other circulating images promoting racist and sexist cartoons. Susan B. Anthony and other suffragists went on to adopt this influencing strategy in papers and beyond to provide visualization of strong female leaders and counteract cartoons mocking suffragists. Bottom line? Their influencing worked.

Did You Know? New Jersey allowed women to vote from 1797 until 1807, when the law limited voting to free white males. Prior to the 19th amendment, 23 states allowed women to vote.

Read More: Today in History – Congress Approves Nineteenth Amendment (Library of Congress)

Image Credit: LOC