90 Years Ago

Frankly, I cannot conceive of a time when half of all human beings, women, weren't wanted as an equal part of every activity in this country, but shockingly, such was the case (and is still the case in some regards) until relatively recently.


Over ninety years ago, on January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support of giving women in the United States the right to vote. The House of Representatives narrowly passed the needed constitutional amendment the next day, but the Senate refused to debate it until October. When the Senate voted on the amendment in October, it failed by three votes.

In response, the National Woman's Party urged citizens to vote against anti-suffrage (suffrage means "the right to vote) Senators up for reelection in the 1918 midterm elections and it worked. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment and the Senate followed suit on June 4.

It then took only a little over a year for the necessary three-quarters of the States to ratify the amendment.

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly, by a one-vote margin became the thirty-sixth state legislature to ratify the proposed amendment, making it the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The remaining twelve states of the Union took over sixty years to add their ratifications of the 19th amendment. Mississippi was the last state of the 48 states to ratify the amendment when it did so on March 22, 1984.

The 19th Amendment is brief and to the point -

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

1928: Women in the United Kingdom and Ireland received the right to vote.
1944: Women in France received the right to vote.
1950: Women in India received the right to vote.

1952: The United Nations enacted the Covenant on Political Rights of Women. It was the first instrument of international law to state that in all nations women should be entitled to the vote and to hold political office.

1964: On January 23, the 24th Amendment to the Constitution outlawing poll taxes was ratified. Poll taxes, or tax fees for voting, have been used to discourage poor people from voting.

1965: The Voting Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon Johnson. The act enforces the 15th Amendment by explicitly stating that obstacles, such as literacy tests or complicated ballot instructions, are against federal law.

In most countries, women can now vote. I believe Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brunei and the Vatican State are the only ones they cannot.

Women have come a long way - unfortunately, there is yet a long way yet to go. The Equal Rights Amendment remains unratified and in other countries, things are much worse... For instance, in any of the ten worst countries for women to live in.