The 19th Amendment

This event is an example of the liberation category. Liberation specifically means freedom from limits on thoughts or behavior. The whole point of this amendment is to break people from what they know. To change the way people see women and to change how seriously people take women's freedoms. The reason they made this law was so that women could be liberated or free from these restricting laws.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (A piece of the original declaration of Sentiments; a document a group of delegates produced to counter the declaration of independence and help women’s cause)

The 19th Amendment was the passing of the law giving women the right to vote in America.

• August 18th 1920 (the day the law became constitutional)
• 70-year battle ended after convention in Seneca Falls, New York
• Women did not enjoy the same rights as men (Married women couldn’t own land; no right to vote; women should focus on housework not politics)
• In the 1820’s-1830’s women became important members of groups created to better America (anti-slavery groups for example) these women were showing that they were able to do more than be a mother or a housewife
• in 1848 the women’s suffrage movement became more organized nationally
• they had their first convention in Seneca Falls, New York, where many women and even some men attended to honor the belief that women should be receiving equal rights to men (better opportunity in employment & education)
• In the first even they drew up the “Declaration of Sentiments” basically modeling the “Declaration of Independence” except it involved women and their possible rights
• during the civil war the women's suffrage lost momentum
• after the civil war it faced another setback when america debated african americans right to vote, so women were pushed under the table (black men got the right to vote but women weren’t extended that privilege)
• 1878 the proposal of women’s rights made it to congress; they debated; 1886 the proposal was shot down
• 1890 two major organizations joined together to form NAWSA which decided to rally for women’s rights on a state-by-state basis; over 6 years → 3 states adopted amendments for women’s rights
• 20th century brought new hope to women; within eight year [1910-1918] 18 states all extended voting rights to women
• over the next bit of time another organization [Equality League of Self-Supporting Women] began rallying, protesting , and marching, gaining the attention of the capital  
• President Woodrow Wilson [an original objector of the movement] changed his view and became a supporter of the campaign; mentioning women’s strong involvement in WWI
• Woodrow Wilson proposed the law once again in 1918 but he was shot down because  he was alone in his opinion
• Congress brought up the amendment once again in 1919; it took a year before all the states put the amendment into action
• by August 26th 1920 the law was ratified everywhere
• That year all women in America voted for the first time

Citations-

History.com Staff. “The 19th Amendment”. History.com. A+E Network. 2010. Web. 5 October 2015.

"Nineteenth Amendment." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Research in Context. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.