Which amendment, ratified in 1920, guaranteed U.S. women the constitutional right to vote?

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, guaranteed U.S. women the constitutional right to vote.

Congress approved the amendment in June 1919, and Tennessee became the required thirty-sixth state to ratify it on August 18, 1920. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the amendment on August 26, 1920. Its text barred the United States and the states from denying the vote on the basis of sex.

The amendment followed decades of organizing by women’s-rights activists, including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, and Alice Paul. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 is often remembered as an important early milestone in the movement.

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