Problem
So much of American history is about the struggle for the nation to live up to the ideals of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution was not a perfect document when it was ratified in 1791, but it gave us a mechanism to make course corrections. The Amendment process has been used 17 times (the Bill of Rights was part of the original approved draft) to improve the status of the country. After a long and hard fought struggle, the Constitution caught up with women in 1920 with the passing of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
Document: Read the wording of the 19th Amendment (it is found on page A-32 in your textbook/ U.S. Constitution in the Appendix) It appears as Amendment XIX (I know, these Roman numerals confuse me too.)
Your Questions:
• After reading the account of Women's suffrage in chapter 20, what is your opinion about what it took to finally place this amendment in the Constitution. What did you think about Alice Paul's contributions to the effort. This is your opinion based on the facts presented in the reading. (short paragraph)
• After examining the wording of the 19th Amendment, do you think that it covered everything needed for its intended purpose? Would you have added any additional wording to it? Remember the context of 1920 in your response.