Skip to main content

The Nineteenth Amendment: Women's Suffrage

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

After years of frustration when women's rights advocates had argued that the preceeding amendments granting suffrage regardless of race should include the same regardless of sex, finally a proposal was drafted and sent to the senate for consideration in 1878. The senate did not even vote on the proposal until 1887, at which time it was rejected by a vote of 16 to 34. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, women's rights again became a hotbed issue and suffragettes won support in many states, especially in the west where several states passed legislation granting "partial suffrage".

On August 18th, 1920, after much urging from President Wilson and a special session of Congress, it finally passed and was ratified by the states. Despite this it was not until the 1950s that women began to vote in large numbers whereas today, statistically, more women vote than men, especially in the 18-24 age range.

Other countries where women can vote include:
Isle of Man (since 1881)
New Zealand (since 1893)
South Australia (since 1895), Australia entire 1902
Finland (since 1906)
Denmark (1915)
Armenia (1917)
Azerbaijan (1918)
Burma (1922)
Chile (1934)
France (1944)
Ethiopia (1955)
Iran (1963)
Kenya (1963)
Switzerland (1971)
Bahrain (1973)
Iraq (1980)
Liechtenstein (1984)
Namibia (1989)
Qatar (1997)
Kuwait (2005)

This list is by no means exhaustive, and there are some places in the world, like Saudi Arabia, where suffrage for women and men is severely limited or non-existant, but steps have been taken to see that it is eventually granted.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Italian Renaissance Hairstyles

In keeping with my last post on Italian Renaissance costume I thought we would take a look at something we didn't touch much on; hairstyles. They were extremely varying; up and down, braided, netted, entwined with silks and ribbons, even pearls, and, of course, dyed, bleached, and curled. The only thing in somewhat short supply seems to be hats, and really who would want to cover up what you had spent so much time constructing? "Do you have any idea how long it took me to get the curls placed?!" 1544 Portrait of Laura da Pola by Lotto Occasionally a small cap, or scuffia, was worn either with side curls, or with most of the hair stuffed up underneathe:- 1490 portrait by Ghirlandaio 1502 Betrothal 1510 Portrait by Araldi Another notable hair decoration was the reta, or hairnet. Some of these were beaded, some woven in decorative patterns, and some left very simple. 1505-1508 Siena 1545 Lavinia Under and around these ornamentations, o

How Our Ancestors Slept

As someone who wakes up during the night feeling frustratingly refreshed...and then struggles to rise in the morning, I found this article to be a kind of vindication. Apparently the way we sleep has changed. For more information you can visit the link here .

The De Berry Project- The Fabric and shoes

As I mentioned last time I am working on a version of the outfit to the left for an event coming up soon in July. I wanted something with a hat to shade my face, and not too hot since we are going to be outside in the middle of a Virginian summer. The fabric gods were not kind, when I went to my local fabric stores. There was really nothing in the right weight, color, pattern, fiber, or amount; especially the amount since I need about 8 yards for the undergown and 10 yards for the overdress. Part of the problem is that there are no waist seams, so each piece has to be cut from a long continuous length of material. Also, those sleeves are about four yards by themselves. I resigned myself to ordering online, which I hate doing because it's so hard to be sure of the color etc without seeing it in person, and by the time the fabric arrives often there just isn't time to send it back and get something else. I went first to an oldie, but a goodie; Thai silks. I knew they would