The Right to Vote
In the picture: Alice Paul 1920. Celebrating the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing women nationally the right to vote. (Photo by Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)
In 1869, Wyoming became the first territory to grant women the right to vote. Alice Paul, Anita Pollitzer, and Carrie Chapman Catt were among critical personalities who were instrumental in the ratification and passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which officially granted women the right to vote. This was 72 years after the Seneca Falls Convention that had first championed for women’s suffrage. The 19th Amendment declared “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.” Before this, women were not allowed to vote and Susan B. Anthony had been arrested and found guilty after she voted in 1872.