Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920?

The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920.

The amendment prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. Tennessee became the necessary 36th state to ratify it, completing the approval process required at the time.

The amendment was the result of decades of organizing, petitioning, speeches, marches, and legal campaigns by women’s suffrage activists. Leaders included Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, Carrie Chapman Catt, and many others.

Ratification did not guarantee equal voting access for every woman. Many Black women in the South continued to face poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and discriminatory registration practices. Native American women and other groups also faced separate legal barriers. The amendment was a major constitutional milestone, but enforcement and access remained contested.