Which amendment to the US Constitution gave American women the right to vote in 1920?

The Nineteenth Amendment gave American women the constitutional right to vote in 1920.

Congress proposed the amendment in June 1919 after decades of organizing by women’s suffrage activists. The amendment prohibited the federal government and the states from denying the vote on the basis of sex. Its ratification required approval from three-quarters of the states, and Tennessee became the decisive 36th state to ratify it on August 18, 1920.

The amendment was formally certified on August 26, 1920, a date now commemorated in the United States as Women’s Equality Day. It was a major constitutional milestone, but it did not instantly guarantee equal access to the ballot for every woman. Black women, Native American women, Asian American women, and others continued to face discriminatory laws, intimidation, citizenship restrictions, or local barriers.

A common mix-up is the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting for male citizens but did not bar sex-based restrictions. The Nineteenth Amendment addressed sex discrimination specifically.