A Short History of the Nineteenth Amendment

• Author: Hon. M. Margaret Mckeown
• Pages: 23-27

23VOL 46 | NO 3 | SPRI NG 2020

My Mother

Made Me Do It

A Short History of the

Nineteenth Amendment

HON. M. MARGARET MCKEOWN

The author sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a native of Wyoming, the first state to

grant women the right to vote, and she is chair of the ABA Commission on the Nineteenth Amendment.

Mothers have been the inspiration and driving force behind many

wonderful things, but perhaps none so historic as the ratification

of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right

to vote: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall

not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on

account of sex.”

In the summer of 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was on

the brink of ratification. Thirty-five of the 36 required states

had voted to ratify the amendment. Eight states had rejected

the amendment, which left only five to cast the final deciding

vote. Hoping to pass the amendment before the 1920 presidential

election, suffragists believed Tennessee was their best hope for

ratification. Indeed, Florida and North Carolina waited another

50 years to approve ratification.

Tennessee Governor Albert H. Roberts, a supporter of the

amendment, called a special session of the state’s general assem-

bly to consider ratification. Thousands of suffragists and anti-

suffragists made the pilgrimage to Tennessee, flooding the capital

to influence the lawmakers. One anti-suffragist broadside read:

“MEN of the SOUTH: Heed not the song of the suffrage siren. Seal

your ears against her vocal wiles.... DO NOT JEOPARDIZE the

present prosperity of your sovereign States, which was so dearly

bought by the blood of your fathers and tears of your mothers.”

Supporters on both sides viewed the vote as a broader battle

between good and evil, and their rhetoric and tactics followed

accordingly. Legislators received late-night phone calls threat-

ening professional, financial, and political ruin. In the spirit of

the day, some accepted bribes. Those known to have a weakness

for whiskey were liquored up in the Jack Daniels suite, with the

hope that their hangovers would be brutal enough to keep them

from the voting roll call.

Despite the volatile mood, the amendment easily passed in the

Tennessee Senate, though it faced significant roadblocks in the

House of Representatives. The House Speaker twice attempted

to table the vote on ratification but was defeated both times by

a deadlock vote of 48–48. One of the votes in favor of tabling the

resolution came from 24-year-old Harry T. Burn, the youngest

member of the legislature. Burn showed up to the session with a

red rose pinned to his lapel, signaling his opposition to suffrage.

The roll call vote was finally held after vigorous debates. The

vote passed—to the ire of the anti-suffragists, Burn voted yes.

Although Burn wore a red rose on his lapel, he also had a let-

ter from his mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn, in his suit jacket

pocket next to his heart. The letter read: “Hurrah, and vote for

suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt. I notice some of the speech-

es against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how

you stood, but have not noticed anything yet.” She ended her

letter with a nod to the suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt,