Which U.S. constitutional amendment established women’s voting rights nationwide?

The Nineteenth Amendment established women’s voting rights nationwide in the United States.

Congress approved the amendment in 1919, and the required number of states ratified it in 1920. It prohibits the United States and its states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex. The amendment became effective on August 18, 1920.

The amendment followed decades of organizing by women’s suffrage activists, including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, and Carrie Chapman Catt. Women had already gained voting rights in some states and territories, but the amendment created a national constitutional protection.

It did not instantly eliminate every barrier to voting. Racial discrimination, literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation continued to suppress many women of color until later civil-rights reforms. The amendment is also distinct from the Fifteenth Amendment, which addressed voting discrimination based on race.