On what date did the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution take effect?

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution took effect on August 18, 1920.

The amendment barred the United States and its states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex. Tennessee supplied the decisive 36th ratification, completing the number of states then required for constitutional adoption.

Congress approved the amendment in 1919 after decades of organizing, petitions, demonstrations, and legal campaigns by women’s suffrage activists. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were major earlier leaders, while Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul helped lead later national efforts.

The amendment was formally certified on August 26, 1920, which is why that date is also widely remembered. Its text did not eliminate other barriers to voting, and many African American, Native American, Asian American, and Hispanic American women still faced discriminatory laws and practices.