On what date did the United States ratify the Nineteenth Amendment?

The United States ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on August 18, 1920.

The amendment prohibited the United States and its states from denying the vote on the basis of sex. Tennessee became the decisive thirty-sixth state to ratify it, reaching the three-quarters threshold then required for a constitutional amendment. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the amendment on August 26, 1920.

Those dates are often confused. August 18 marks ratification by the necessary state legislature, while August 26 marks federal certification. The amendment’s text is brief, but it represented decades of organizing, petitioning, public speaking, legal challenges, and political campaigning by suffrage activists.

Ratification did not instantly produce equal voting access for every woman. Many women of color still faced discriminatory state laws, intimidation, citizenship barriers, and other obstacles. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 later strengthened federal protection against racial discrimination in voting.