Did the 19th amendment achieve voting rights for all?
In this activity you will analyze documents related to the women’s suffrage movement and the journey towards “universal suffrage” – the right to vote for all adults. As you work, think about if and when this was ultimately achieved.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment was ratified, formally abolishing slavery. Within the next three years, the 14th Amendment would also be added to the Constitution, granting citizenship to persons born or naturalized in the United States, which included newly freed slaves. Then with the 15th Amendment, African American men were granted the right to vote – a key component of citizenship in the United States.
But one half of the adult population – women – were still not guaranteed this right. Women’s suffrage supporters had been organizing and pressuring Congress since the mid 1800s. The 19th Amendment, finally ratified in 1920, prohibited states from denying women the right to vote.
Follow the steps below.
- Read the questions and analyze the documents that follow.
- Click “View Primary Source Details” to learn more and see each one more closely.
- Answer the questions in the blank boxes that follow each document group.
- Then click “When You’re Done,” where you’ll need to use what you learned from the documents to answer questions about the journey to universal suffrage.
