Which amendment to the United States Constitution established women’s voting rights nationally in 1920?

The Nineteenth Amendment established women’s constitutional voting rights nationally in 1920.

Congress proposed the amendment in 1919 after decades of organizing by women’s-suffrage activists. It states that the United States and its states may not deny or abridge a citizen’s voting rights on account of sex. Tennessee became the decisive 36th state to ratify it on August 18, 1920, and the amendment was certified on August 26.

The amendment was the culmination of campaigns associated with leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 had helped launch the organized national movement, although several western states and territories had already granted women voting rights before the federal amendment.

The amendment did not immediately guarantee equal access to the ballot for every woman. Discriminatory laws, intimidation, and registration barriers continued to exclude many African American, Native American, Asian American, and Latina women. The Fifteenth Amendment concerns race-based voting restrictions, while the Nineteenth concerns sex-based restrictions.