AUGUST 26

On this date in 1920, the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution became effective. Here is the text of the amendment: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

In essence, neither the federal government nor any state was now allowed to refuse to let women vote. Seems like a 'no brainer' to us. To become an amendment, both houses of congress had to approve the language. Then, 36 of the 48 states had to ratify it.

Well, you might find this information interesting: the House of Representatives voted 304-89 to pass it and the Senate voted 56-25. Aren't you surprised that 89 Reps and 25 Senators had the guts to vote against this amendment?

Well, that all happened in May of 1919. It wasn't quite so easy to get the States to approve it. As you can see, it took over a year to get 36 states to muster a positive vote for ratification. Now for the kicker. Florida and South Carolina didn't ratify the amendment until 1969. Georgia and Louisiana ratified it in 1970. North Carolina got around to it in 1971. To beat all, Mississippi finally ratified this amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1984. I would say these southern states are a tad bit slow.
:D