Everyone Who Had Labored in the Cause

Abstract

Part 4 begins when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. People celebrated women winning the vote, but the reality was more complicated. The amendment did not guarantee all women the right to vote—it simply stated that sex could no longer be used as a reason for denying them the franchise. Suffragists arrived in Nashville, Tennessee for what seemed destined to be the final battle for ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Carrie Chapman Catt arrived for a statewide tour of stump speeches urging ratification. After Tennessee voted to ratify, Catt and her officers traveled triumphantly back to their headquarters in New York City. They celebrated their achievement of full citizenship, but not everyone was able to enjoy the fruits of victory. The new amendment changed the political playing field of the nation. In the fall of 1920, many women of color saw the real potential of the women’s vote to address the struggles in which they were already engaged. Their responses to the post-amendment world varied because they held distinct political priorities based on their communities’ histories.