A Twitter hashtag made national headlines last week. “#Repealthe19th” started trending, as in, repealing the 19th Amendment. The hashtag has been around for months, but has become more popular after a graphic was released showing Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election if all women voted.
These graphics caused reaction tweets like these:
When the U.S. was formed, women did not have the same rights as men. They were considered inferior, and were not allowed to do much at all other than tend to houses. They were known as property, not as equals.
The 19th Amendment is a United States Amendment put in place that gives women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, not even 100 years ago. While the amendment was put into place in 1920, not all states followed it right away. Only 35 states approved of the amendment, and it took 60 years for the remaining states to get on board. In fact, Mississippi was the last state to let women vote (not until 1984). After the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, more than eight million women hit the polls that year on election day. Since then, women continue to impact voting in America.
Ever since, women have been able to vote and even run for office. Millions of women vote every election. There may still be lots of articles in their way, but women are becoming more prominent in the House, the Senate, and now maybe in the Oval Office. Taking away a woman’s right to vote would, literally, set our country back 100 years.
Election day is November 8, 2016. Make sure to vote and get an absentee ballot, no matter your gender.