Existing comment:
Ratification:
On June 8, 1919 Congress passed the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. While the National Woman's Party celebrated this victory they knew there was one final step: the amendment must be ratified by 36 states to become part fo the Constitution.
Alice Paul said "We enter upon this final stage of the campaign joyously, knowing that women will be enfranchised citizens of this great democracy within a year."
The battle for state ratification had begun.
The National Woman's Party (NWP) and the National American Woman's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) agreed that momentum needed to be maintained and ratification must occur within a year, to allow all women to vote in the presidential election of 1920.
For the next fourteen months, women from the NWP and NAWSA lobbied governors and state legislatures to ratify the 19th amendment in time for the election of 1920. |