etitioned Congress. Women used the public circulation of Newspapers to voice their opinions. Many activists were arrested much like Susan B. Anthony, by attempting to vote and using the words of the Fifteenth Amendment as support. It was at this time that the Federal and State levels of government stepped in. The government backed up their reasoning by stating that women wouldnt have enough time to get involved with elections and still take care of their families. Another reason for not allowing women to vote was that the polls were unfit places for them to go12. At that time, there might be some drinking, gambling and fighting at polling places. Feminists did not accept these reasons at all. They simply answered that if men could find time to get involved in elections while they were working and supporting their families, then so could women. As for the fact that the polling places were reckless, women stated that they could easily make the polls a fit place for people to go to13. By the time women walked into the polling places, most of the initial leaders in the womens rights movement that were mentioned before had died, without personally experiencing the act of voting. However, other powerful women of the newer generation stepped into their places and made sure that the equality that so many fought for was indeed attained and maintained. It wasnt until the year 1920, that women were finally granted the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment states that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. This amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878. This proposed amendment remained a controversial issue in Congress for over 40 years14.The battle over womens rights was a long and labored fight. Powerful and intelligent women led the way, providing every woman with political options. Women such as Anthony, Stanton, Mott, and others, held the grea...
