19th Amendment Dbq

The 19th amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920 and gifted women the right to vote, also known as woman suffrage. There are several reasons for this amendment including, campaigns and civil disobedience. These are not the only reasons, but are the main ones. H.L. Simpson, a suffrage worker, “addressed the assembly on May 21, 1917”(Swathi). Her speech “led to groups and clubs being formed in support of the suffrage movement”(Swathi). These campaigns are what led to the ratification, because without them - the 19th amendment probably wouldn’t exist and women wouldn’t have the right to vote.
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the Unites States or by any State on account of sex”(Bondi). This

is what the 19th amendment states. Beginning in the 1800s, women fought very hard for their rights until the amendment was ratified. That is over 100 years of petitions, parades and silent vigils. In 1918 when “President Wilson changed his position to support an amendment”(Bondi) the scales tipped towards passing an amendment.
Even though the suffragettes did everything to get it to the senate, “the largely Democratic Senate was unwilling to even debate the bill until September 1918, when they refused to pass it”(Brown).

In contrast, the Republican-dominated Congress passed the 15th amendment, but wouldn’t expand it’s thoughts on gender equality. These views kept the amendment from being ratified for 41 years.
Proposing and ratifying the 19th amendment was a very long, and tedious process.The 19th Amendment was first proposed in 1878 by Senator Aaron A. Sargent. Wisconsin approved the amendment first, and then the 36th and last approval was in Tennessee in 1920. From the proposal of the amendment, it took 1 year, 2 months and 14 days took to ratify the amendment.
The challenges proposed to the ratification of the 19th amendment were innumerable. Women were beaten, arrested, and indicted. Conditions in workhouses became appalling and “it even became fashionable to picket for suffrage and then serve time in jail”(Brown). The suffragettes were “subjected to taunts, spitting, slapping and burning cigars being thrown at them”(Brown) all while continuing to fight for their rights. These women were extremely strong and no matter what was thrown at them, death threats included, they still felt fighting for their equality was more important than

anything.
I definitely believe this amendment is still relevant because all over the world, women still do not have the rights that men do. The 19th amendment only covered the United States, not other countries. Alll over the world women work more and get paid less, they are phsycally mutilated, killed in the name of honor and sometimes unable to choose who they wed. After being married to someone who they didn’t choose, some women are unable to leave their husband. They are unable choose their own clothing and cannot leave their home as they wish. These women are derived of their basic rights, and we need to consider that the United States is only one country where women have equal rights.
It’s hard for me to believe that the 19th amendment passed less than 100 years ago. Looking at the amendment today, I do believe it is still relevant because there are still gender biases roaming all around the world. I hope this amendment will be relevant for the remainder of history because it changed women’s lives. The women who spent over 100 years of fighting for rights should not be forgotten or become irrelevant. Without them, we would not be close to where we are today. Even though the United States had a big win for women, other women, in other countries, need a big win too.