Why Is The 19th Amendment Necessary In The Early Twentieth Century

The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified into the U.S. constitution in 1920 and played a key role during the Progressive Era. Starting in 1848, the women’s rights movement began launching at a national level. Several conventions, including the Seneca Falls Convention, began demanding the right for women to vote. After a hard and long-fought battle for nearly a century, these conventions were finally victorious when the 19th amendment was passed. Although the privilege for women to vote was implied in the 14th Amendment, many states continued to restrict or prohibit women suffrage. The Nineteenth Amendment was necessary in the early twentieth century because it granted voting rights to women, prohibited any United States citizen to be denied the

citizen and has the right to vote, it was only meant for protecting freed male slaves at the time. The Fourteenth Amendment did not guarantee women the right to vote because the states saw the amendment only directed towards male U.S. citizens. The fight for women's suffrage became a mass movement and quickly spread across the country. In the early 20th century, leadership of the suffrage movement was split into two organizations. The first one was a moderate organization called the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt. This group undertook campaigns to enfranchise women in individual states, and simultaneously tried to get President Wilson and Congress to pass a woman suffrage Constitutional Amendment. In the 1910s, NAWSA’s membership numbered in the millions. The second group was a militant organization called the National Women’s Party (NWP), under the leadership of Alice Paul. The NWP undertook radical actions, including picketing the White House, in order to convince Wilson and Congress to pass a woman suffrage amendment. With the combined efforts of these two rigorous organizations, the Nineteenth Amendment was finally

It showed that regardless of gender, everyone should have equal opportunities and rights. While earlier generations discouraged women from participating in public, political movements, society began to embrace female activism in the late nineteenth century. Progressives often argued that women’s politics complemented their traditional roles as wives and mothers, caregivers and keepers of virtue. After the 19th Amendment affirmed women’s right to vote, suffragist leader Alice Paul introduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923. The ERA was the next step in bringing equal justice to all American citizens. In 1972, it was finally passed by congress and sent to the states for