Amendment Process
Above- Our Constitution. Is it easy to change or difficult to change? How do we change it?
...Understanding the legislative branch of American democracy:
While some states individually had granted women the right to vote, a guarantee was sought after to ensure full and complete voting rights to all women across America. This guarantee would only be realized in the form of an amendment to the Constitution. The women's suffrage groups had their work cut out for them. In a democracy, such as America, the political leaders (which are put in place through majority vote) make the actual decisions pertaining to government order. Concerning amendment process itself, it is the legislative branch that hold this responsibility. The Constitution states that an amendment may be proposed for ratification in either of two ways. Either U.S. legislatures called Congress (made up of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives) can propose an amendment or the State legislatures (often called a General Assembly made up of the State Senate and State House of Representatives) can call for a constitutional convention. Either way, a two-thirds vote is needed to actually even propose a new amendment (The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). The 19th Amendment was first introduced in 1878 (Linder, 2012). It provides "The right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This same amendment would be introduced in every session of U.S. Congress for the next 41 years awaiting a two-thirds vote to qualify for being proposed for ratification (Linder, 2012). An amendment can not be adopted into the constitution until three-fourths of the individual State legislatures agree upon it- this agreement is called ratification (The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). Today, this means that 38 out of our 50 states must vote "aye". At the time of the Women's Suffrage Movement, considering the United States only consisted of 48 states, only 36 states were needed for ratification- 36/48 still amounts to three-fourths (Linder, 2012). *This is why Tennessee would be known as the "perfect thirty-six" for the passage of the 19th amendment, it being the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment and therefore meeting the long awaited 3/4 vote of all states.
This means to amend the constitution, most (meaning, at least 3/4) political leaders must support the particular amendment. Women had to not only enlist other women to their cause, but they had to actually persuade men to support their rights. This was necessary because it was ultimately their opinion that mattered for passage of the 19th amendment, since the voting population as well as the actual Tennessee representatives were....well, men. If you look at the image of the Tennessee General Assembly provided by the Tennessee State Museum (2010), you will notice that the only role the five women pictured with the 61st Tennessee General Assembly were assistants to the clerks, they did not have any decision making power. Also, remember that all of these men held their job position because of a vote. Just like our representatives today, if they had put legislation into effect that went against what the general voting population desired, they could expect not to have a successive term. This is the same thing that happens in politics today with voting cycles. For instance, Tennessee representatives are up for election every two years. However, as long as the voting population is happy with their leadership, they could hold office indefinitely since they do not have term limits. While this ensures that the people (voters) have a say in how their government is run (the essence of democracy) it also makes sure that our representatives pay attention to the voice of the people if they do not want to be voted out the next round of elections. Tennessee state representatives serve a two year term, the 61st's Assembly term was up in 1921, so you can be sure that their jobs were on their mind. The women's suffrage groups had to be persuasive indeed that women should have a voice in our democracy. They had the job of changing the mindset of centuries of oppression. This was a daunting task and also explains why the Women's Suffrage Movement lasted over 72 years.
This means to amend the constitution, most (meaning, at least 3/4) political leaders must support the particular amendment. Women had to not only enlist other women to their cause, but they had to actually persuade men to support their rights. This was necessary because it was ultimately their opinion that mattered for passage of the 19th amendment, since the voting population as well as the actual Tennessee representatives were....well, men. If you look at the image of the Tennessee General Assembly provided by the Tennessee State Museum (2010), you will notice that the only role the five women pictured with the 61st Tennessee General Assembly were assistants to the clerks, they did not have any decision making power. Also, remember that all of these men held their job position because of a vote. Just like our representatives today, if they had put legislation into effect that went against what the general voting population desired, they could expect not to have a successive term. This is the same thing that happens in politics today with voting cycles. For instance, Tennessee representatives are up for election every two years. However, as long as the voting population is happy with their leadership, they could hold office indefinitely since they do not have term limits. While this ensures that the people (voters) have a say in how their government is run (the essence of democracy) it also makes sure that our representatives pay attention to the voice of the people if they do not want to be voted out the next round of elections. Tennessee state representatives serve a two year term, the 61st's Assembly term was up in 1921, so you can be sure that their jobs were on their mind. The women's suffrage groups had to be persuasive indeed that women should have a voice in our democracy. They had the job of changing the mindset of centuries of oppression. This was a daunting task and also explains why the Women's Suffrage Movement lasted over 72 years.