Womens Sufferage
In July 1848, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and three other women met at the Stanton home in Seneca Falls, New York, and decided to get others involved in the cause of women’s rights. On July 19, more than three hundred people, includ- ing black publisher Frederick Douglass, gathered in the Seneca Falls Methodist Church. The group talked about a variety of subjects including property rights, divorce laws, and voting rights. As word of the convention spread, thou- sands of women joined the movement to demand that the right to vote be given to women and blacks. The second suffrage movement began around 1905. Ten years later, suf- fragettes convinced the West Virginia Legislature to permit a referendum (a process whereby the people are permitted to vote on legislation) on women’s right to vote. In November 1916, the all-male electorate (vot- ers) rejected women’s suffrage. During World War I, many suffragettes became actively involved in supporting the war effort. They believed their efforts would be rewarded by giving them the right to vote. On June 4, 1919, some seven months after the end of World War I, the Nineteenth Amendment was proposed in the United States Congress.
In February 1920, the West Virginia Legislature met in special session to consider the proposed amendment. On March 3, the House of Delegates voted to approve the amendment. On March 10, the State Senate, by a vote of 15 to 14, made West Virginia the thirty-fourth state to ratify the amend- ment. The Nineteenth Amendment became law on August 24, 1920, when Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify it. Women cast their rst votes in the national elec- tions of November 1920.
In February 1920, the West Virginia Legislature met in special session to consider the proposed amendment. On March 3, the House of Delegates voted to approve the amendment. On March 10, the State Senate, by a vote of 15 to 14, made West Virginia the thirty-fourth state to ratify the amend- ment. The Nineteenth Amendment became law on August 24, 1920, when Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify it. Women cast their rst votes in the national elec- tions of November 1920.