The Amendments: Nineteen

The Nineteenth Amendment rectifies a wrong in earlier voting qualifications.  It has one mission, and that is to give women the right to vote:

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.

(source)

There’s not alot of commentary to make on this amendment, given that its pretty straightforward and only has one clause in it (Well, two but the second is pretty standard in Amendments as it gives Congress the power to enforce the amendment).

This amendment was first introduced in 1878, but only passed by congress in 1919.  It was ratified in only 13 months.  There were lawsuits claiming that the amendment usurped states rights during the early years, but since enough states ratified the amendment, they were shot down. (Leser Vs. Garnett WIKI).

Interestingly enough, there were some states, particularly newer states to the union, that already had some sort of voting laws in place to allow women to vote prior to this amendment.  New Jersey actually allowed it from the start, but revoked in 1807.  Many of the original states did not offer any voting rights to women till after this amendment.