Winning the vote: Seneca Falls to the 19th Amendment

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, the Declaration of Sentiments (primary source; Seneca Falls, New York, July 1848; printed in History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 70), written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others for the convention and the public: "He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise [right to vote]. He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice." Card B, a resolution of the same convention (History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 72): "Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise [right to vote]." Card C, a summary in our words, written today: On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 people, women and men, gathered in Seneca Falls for the first convention on women's rights. Stanton and the M'Clintock family wrote a Declaration of Sentiments that borrowed its wording from the Declaration of Independence. At the end, 68 women and 32 men signed it. Every resolution passed with no one against it except the call for women's right to vote. Stanton and Frederick Douglass argued for it, and it passed by a small majority. Card D, a summary in our words, written today: In February 1869 Congress sent the Fifteenth Amendment to the states. It barred denying the vote because of race but said nothing about sex, and suffragists were told to wait. The movement split. In May 1869 Stanton and Susan B. Anthony started the National Woman Suffrage Association. In November 1869 Lucy Stone led the start of the American Woman Suffrage Association, which chose to work in the states. The two groups merged in 1890 as NAWSA, the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

2. 1.

   Card A copies the pattern of the Declaration of Independence. What does that choice show about its purpose, Bo asks?

   • It showed that the authors wanted to break away from the nation, as the colonies had
   • It showed the authors expected lawmakers to grant the vote quickly, since the model had succeeded
   • It framed the vote as a rights claim that Americans already honored in their founding text
   • It was meant to record grievances for the convention's own members, not to persuade
3. 2.

   Esme wants to know how the Seneca Falls authors worded their complaint about the laws. Which card is the better source, and what is its limit?

   • Card A: it gives their own wording, but not what all women felt
   • Card C: a summary written today can check the authors' complaints against the laws of 1848
   • Card A: it gives their wording, and so shows how all women in 1848 judged the laws
   • Card B: a resolution of the same convention states the complaint more directly

4. Use this

   Cards E to H. Card E, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, address to the Senate in person, September 30, 1918 (primary source; printed 1924, p. 527), asking the Senate to pass the suffrage amendment: "I regard the concurrence [agreement] of the Senate in the constitutional amendment proposing the extension of the suffrage to women as vitally essential to the successful prosecution [carrying on] of the great war of humanity in which we are engaged." Card F, a summary in our words, written today: In 1916 Carrie Chapman Catt, NAWSA's president, set out a plan to work in the states and for a federal amendment at the same time. In June 1916 Alice Paul and her allies formed the National Woman's Party. From January 1917 its members picketed outside the White House, and from June 1917 police arrested more than 500 of them. In January 1918 the House passed the amendment, 274 to 136, but that year it failed in the Senate by 2 votes. By 1919 women in fifteen states had full voting rights. Card G, the 19th Amendment (primary source; Statutes at Large, vol. 41, p. 362): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged [cut back] by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Card H, a summary in our words, written today: The House passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, by 304 to 90. The Senate passed it on June 4, 1919, by 56 to 25. Wisconsin and Michigan ratified first, on June 10, 1919. Tennessee ratified on August 18, 1920, the 36th state to do so. Bainbridge Colby, the Secretary of State, certified it on August 26, 1920. Congress may propose an amendment when two-thirds of those voting in each house agree, and an amendment takes effect when three-fourths of the states ratify it. In 1920 there were 48 states.

5. 3.

   Card F: House vote of January 1918, 274 to 136. Card H: May 1919, 304 to 90. A student says support grew little. What is the better reading, Kira asks?

   • The yes share rose from about two-thirds to over three-fourths, reasons unstated
   • Support grew from a bare majority to two-thirds, the share needed to propose an amendment
   • Support fell, because fewer members voted in 1919 than in 1918
   • Support grew little, because yes votes rose by just 30 between the two votes
6. 4.

   Cards G and H together: whom did the ban on denying the vote because of sex bind after August 26, 1920, Luz asks?

   • Every state, since three-fourths ratified it and card G says 'any State'
   • Every state from June 4, 1919, when the Senate finished Congress's vote on it
   • Every state, and it ended every barrier to voting in all of them
   • Only the 36 states that ratified it, since each state had to accept it for itself
7. 5.

   Cards E and F show the war, the pickets and the state campaigns all pressing on the Senate. Which claim is best supported, Milo asks?

   • State campaigns were the main cause, since fifteen states had already acted by 1919
   • Several pressures acted together, and the cards do not show which mattered most
   • The pickets were the main cause, since more than 500 of them were arrested
   • The war was the decisive cause, since the president himself gave it as his reason

8. Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, the Declaration of Sentiments (primary source; Seneca Falls, New York, July 1848; printed in History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 70), written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others for the convention and the public: "He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise [right to vote]. He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice." Card B, a resolution of the same convention (History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 72): "Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise [right to vote]." Card C, a summary in our words, written today: On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 people, women and men, gathered in Seneca Falls for the first convention on women's rights. Stanton and the M'Clintock family wrote a Declaration of Sentiments that borrowed its wording from the Declaration of Independence. At the end, 68 women and 32 men signed it. Every resolution passed with no one against it except the call for women's right to vote. Stanton and Frederick Douglass argued for it, and it passed by a small majority. Card D, a summary in our words, written today: In February 1869 Congress sent the Fifteenth Amendment to the states. It barred denying the vote because of race but said nothing about sex, and suffragists were told to wait. The movement split. In May 1869 Stanton and Susan B. Anthony started the National Woman Suffrage Association. In November 1869 Lucy Stone led the start of the American Woman Suffrage Association, which chose to work in the states. The two groups merged in 1890 as NAWSA, the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

9. 6.

   Card D says the movement split in 1869. Which explanation fits the card best, Noah asks?

   • The American Woman Suffrage Association wanted a federal amendment, and the other group wanted the states
   • The amendment covered race but not sex, and the movement then divided over how to go on
   • The split came first, and Congress then left out sex when it sent the Fifteenth Amendment
   • A rivalry between two leaders explains the split, and the amendment gave just an occasion

10. Use this

    Cards I to K. Card I, Susan B. Anthony, speaking in court at her sentencing (primary source; Canandaigua, New York, June 1873; printed 1874, pp. 84-85), answering a fine: "May it please your honor, I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty. All the stock in trade I possess is a $10,000 debt, incurred by publishing my paper — The Revolution — four years ago, … and I shall work on with might and main [all her strength] to pay every dollar of that honest debt, but not a penny shall go to this unjust claim." Card J, a summary in our words, written today: Some suffragists worked state by state, and by 1919 women in fifteen states had full voting rights. Others pressed for one amendment to the Constitution. It was first introduced in the Senate in 1878 and defeated there in 1887. NAWSA's plan of 1916 used both paths at once. The Senate passed the amendment on June 4, 1919. Card K, a summary in our words, written today: Arizona joined the Union as a state on February 14, 1912. In November 1912 its male voters approved woman suffrage, and Arizona became the tenth state where women won full voting rights. On February 12, 1920, Arizona's legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment.

11. 7.

    Card J describes a state path and a federal path. With card K, which conclusion is best supported, Pia asks?

    • The state path failed, since a federal amendment was still needed in the end
    • The federal path won once the state path had stopped producing gains
    • The federal path alone won the vote, since the Senate finally passed the amendment
    • Both paths advanced: states granted the vote before Congress passed the amendment
12. 8.

    Card K: Arizona was the tenth state to give women full voting rights, in 1912. Card J: fifteen by 1919. A student says the state path sped up. What do the cards allow, Ren asks?

    • Fifteen states acted after 1912, which makes the 1910s the peak of the state path
    • The path slowed after 1912, since the federal amendment drew the movement's effort
    • Five states in seven years; with no dates for the first nine, no speed-up shows
    • The path sped up after 1912, since five states in seven years beats the earlier pace

13. Use this

    Cards A to D. Card A, the Declaration of Sentiments (primary source; Seneca Falls, New York, July 1848; printed in History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 70), written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others for the convention and the public: "He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise [right to vote]. He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice." Card B, a resolution of the same convention (History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 72): "Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise [right to vote]." Card C, a summary in our words, written today: On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 people, women and men, gathered in Seneca Falls for the first convention on women's rights. Stanton and the M'Clintock family wrote a Declaration of Sentiments that borrowed its wording from the Declaration of Independence. At the end, 68 women and 32 men signed it. Every resolution passed with no one against it except the call for women's right to vote. Stanton and Frederick Douglass argued for it, and it passed by a small majority. Card D, a summary in our words, written today: In February 1869 Congress sent the Fifteenth Amendment to the states. It barred denying the vote because of race but said nothing about sex, and suffragists were told to wait. The movement split. In May 1869 Stanton and Susan B. Anthony started the National Woman Suffrage Association. In November 1869 Lucy Stone led the start of the American Woman Suffrage Association, which chose to work in the states. The two groups merged in 1890 as NAWSA, the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

14. 9.

    Card C says the 1848 vote resolution barely passed. Card D shows two national groups seeking the vote in 1869. What do the two cards allow, Tala asks?

    • The vote became a shared aim as a result of the Fifteenth Amendment leaving women out
    • The vote went from the 1848 convention's one divisive demand to both groups' aim
    • By 1869 the movement had dropped its other demands to concentrate on voting
    • Disagreement over the vote faded as the 1848 majority grew into agreement

15. Use this

    Cards E to H. Card E, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, address to the Senate in person, September 30, 1918 (primary source; printed 1924, p. 527), asking the Senate to pass the suffrage amendment: "I regard the concurrence [agreement] of the Senate in the constitutional amendment proposing the extension of the suffrage to women as vitally essential to the successful prosecution [carrying on] of the great war of humanity in which we are engaged." Card F, a summary in our words, written today: In 1916 Carrie Chapman Catt, NAWSA's president, set out a plan to work in the states and for a federal amendment at the same time. In June 1916 Alice Paul and her allies formed the National Woman's Party. From January 1917 its members picketed outside the White House, and from June 1917 police arrested more than 500 of them. In January 1918 the House passed the amendment, 274 to 136, but that year it failed in the Senate by 2 votes. By 1919 women in fifteen states had full voting rights. Card G, the 19th Amendment (primary source; Statutes at Large, vol. 41, p. 362): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged [cut back] by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Card H, a summary in our words, written today: The House passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, by 304 to 90. The Senate passed it on June 4, 1919, by 56 to 25. Wisconsin and Michigan ratified first, on June 10, 1919. Tennessee ratified on August 18, 1920, the 36th state to do so. Bainbridge Colby, the Secretary of State, certified it on August 26, 1920. Congress may propose an amendment when two-thirds of those voting in each house agree, and an amendment takes effect when three-fourths of the states ratify it. In 1920 there were 48 states.

16. 10.

    Suppose a state required every voter, women and men alike, to pass a reading test. Does card G settle whether that rule is allowed, Zee asks?

    • It does settle it, because Congress's power to enforce reaches any voting rule it dislikes
    • It does not settle it: the ban is on denial on account of sex, and this test applies to all
    • It does settle it: the rule is barred, since 'abridged' forbids any cut back in the vote
    • It does settle it, since card H's summary of the certification says what the article covers