Winning the vote: Seneca Falls to the 19th Amendment

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, Susan B. Anthony, address of 1873 (primary source; printed 1874, p. 152), given to voters in Monroe and Ontario counties, New York, before her trial: "And here, in this very first paragraph of the declaration, is the assertion of the natural right of all to the ballot; for, how can "the consent of the governed" be given, if the right to vote be denied." Card B, Anthony, the same address (p. 151): "Our democratic-republican government is based on the idea of the natural right of every individual member thereof to a voice and a vote in making and executing the laws." Card C, a summary in our words, written today: On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony cast a ballot in Rochester, New York, along with fourteen other women. Anthony was charged with voting unlawfully. At the trial in June 1873, the judge told the jury to find her guilty, and he fined her $100 and costs. She refused to pay, and the government took no further step to collect. Card D, a summary in our words, written today: Virginia Minor of St. Louis, Missouri, was denied registration as a voter, and she went to court. In 1875 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against her: women were citizens, but voting was not one of the privileges of citizenship. In 1876 the National Woman Suffrage Association announced a new plan, to seek an amendment to the Constitution.

2. 1.

   Card A is Anthony's address to voters before her trial. Which question is it better evidence for than card C, Ari asks?

   • What reasons she gave voters for treating the ballot as a right
   • How many women cast ballots in Rochester with her on November 5, 1872
   • Whether the voters who heard her agreed that the ballot was a natural right
   • Why the judge told the jury to find her guilty in June 1873
3. 2.

   Bo wants the justices' exact words from the 1875 ruling. Card D is a summary written today. What is its limit for that purpose?

   • It leans toward Minor's side, so its account of the ruling bends toward her view
   • Card A already gives the Court's reasons, so card D adds nothing for this purpose
   • It gives a later writer's wording, so the Court's own phrasing is not shown
   • It is a summary, so its account of what the Court decided is probably mistaken
4. 3.

   Jun reads cards C and D together. Which claim do the two cards support?

   • Both rulings turned on whether women were citizens, since each court weighed their status
   • Minor's loss in 1875 led Anthony to vote and stand trial in 1872 and 1873
   • In the 1870s the courts did not accept that women already had the vote by right
   • The courts of the 1870s held that a constitutional amendment was the sole route to the women's vote

5. Use this

   Cards E to H, all summaries in our words, written today. Card E: Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. The Arizona Equal Suffrage Association gathered petitions for an initiative, and on November 5, 1912, male voters approved woman suffrage by 13,442 to 6,202, making Arizona the tenth state where women won full voting rights. Card F: 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. Card G: In January 1918 the House passed the amendment, 274 to 136, but that year it failed in the Senate by 2 votes. President Wilson, who changed his position in 1918, addressed the Senate in person on September 30, 1918. The House passed the amendment again on May 21, 1919, by 304 to 90, and the Senate passed it on June 4, 1919, by 56 to 25. In 1919 the Senate had 96 members, two for each of the 48 states. Card H: 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. Wisconsin and Michigan ratified first, on June 10, 1919. Arizona ratified on February 12, 1920. Tennessee ratified on August 18, 1920, the 36th state to do so. In 1920 there were 48 states.

6. 4.

   Card E says Arizona's male voters approved woman suffrage in 1912. What does that show, Luz asks?

   • Women there won the vote by a state vote, years before the 19th Amendment
   • The federal government had already guaranteed the vote to Arizona's women by 1912
   • Arizona's women backed the measure by about two to one, as the count shows
   • Arizona's example led Congress to propose the amendment in 1919
7. 5.

   Card G says Wilson addressed the Senate in September 1918, and the Senate passed the amendment in June 1919. What can Milo conclude?

   • The Senate would have passed the amendment in 1919 even if Wilson had said nothing
   • The speech did nothing, because the amendment failed in the Senate that same year
   • The speech came first, so it may have helped, but the cards cannot show that it did
   • The speech caused the passage, because the Senate passed the amendment after hearing it
8. 6.

   Noah reads cards F and G together. Which statement do both support?

   • The arrests of 1917 are why the House passed the amendment in January 1918
   • Work went on in states and Congress at once; the Senate said no, then yes
   • The Senate's failure in 1918 shows that most senators opposed the amendment
   • Congress proposed the amendment first, and campaigns in the states began afterward
9. 7.

   A student says Arizona's women could vote only after the 19th Amendment. Pia checks cards E and H. What do they show?

   • Ratifying the amendment in 1920 is what first gave Arizona's women the vote
   • Both are true: a 1912 state vote gave the vote, then Arizona ratified in 1920
   • The amendment changed nothing for Arizona's women, since Arizona had acted first
   • Arizona ratified in 1920 because its women had already won the vote in 1912
10. 8.

    Card E gives Arizona's 1912 count as 13,442 to 6,202. Which statement uses the numbers fairly, Ren asks?

    • About two of every three Arizona adults, men and women, were for woman suffrage
    • Nearly three of every four votes cast were yes, and all those votes were men's
    • A little over two-thirds of the votes were yes, and all those votes were men's
    • Yes had about 37 percent of the votes cast, going by its 7,240-vote lead
11. 9.

    A student says 56 senators fell short of two-thirds of the 96-member Senate. Tala checks the 56-to-25 vote against card H. What is wrong?

    • The test is three-fourths of 81, which is 61, so 56 fell short of what was needed
    • Nothing is wrong: the rule counts the full 96-member Senate, so 56 fell short of 64
    • The rule counts senators voting; 81 voted, two-thirds of 81 is 54, and 56 met it
    • The rule is a simple majority of 81, which is 41, so 56 passed and the two-thirds rule did not matter
12. 10.

    Card H calls Tennessee the 36th state to ratify. What would that mean for the amendment if Tennessee had refused, Zee asks?

    • It would have failed for good, since no other state could ratify after Tennessee refused
    • It would have taken effect anyway, since 35 of 48 states is more than two-thirds
    • It would have been one state short of the 36 needed, so it could not yet take effect
    • It would have been two states short, since three-fourths of 48 is 37