About This Lesson
In August 2020, we commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted women the right to vote and was ratified on August 18, 1920. While there were Black women who were suffragettes and were very involved in fighting for the right to vote, when suffragists gathered in Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1848, they advocated for the right of white women to vote. When the Nineteenth Amendment passed, women of color were still unable to vote. As this significant anniversary is marked and celebrated, it is also important to understand how racism played a role in how certain women won the right to vote and other women did not.
This lesson provides an opportunity for students to learn more about the women’s suffrage movement, reflect on how Black women were excluded from it and explore a central question about the centennial anniversary by writing an essay.
