The Woman's Hour

The Nineteenth Amendment ensures that women who are citizens of the United States have the right to vote in all states. Even though many states had already legalized women’s suffrage, this right had never been granted at the federal level. Since many of the states withholding the franchise were in the South, the ratification battle in Tennessee carried weighty regional significance.

After the Civil War, as the North attempted to restructure the South in Reconstruction, a process directed by Congress, the South perceived the newly set up free labor economy and the protection of freedmen’s rights as abuses. With the South still smarting from this violation of the slavery status quo, the prospect of the Nineteenth Amendment raised fears of new upheavals in the power dynamic, with men losing status and falling pretty to “petticoat government.” Antis eagerly capitalized on the bitter memory of Reconstruction in their bid to sway popular opinion against the amendment. 

Upon taking office, Tennessee state legislators are required to swear an oath to uphold the state constitution. The Antis’ lawyers interpreted the oath in bad faith to imply that women’s suffrage was unlawful in Tennessee because the state constitution made no provision for it. Although this interpretation was later proven to have no basis, politicians like Warren Harding, who wanted to distance themselves from the controversy of ratification frequently used the state oath of office as their excuse. 

The South became particularly sensitive to the issue of states’ rights after Reconstruction. The prospect of the Nineteenth Amendment brought this regional anxiety to the forefront once again. Antis conjured images of brutal federal intervention to enforce the amendment and the Black franchise. Although the federal government did have Force Bills on the books, these were never invoked with respect to the Nineteenth Amendment. 

Regional differences in culture played a large role in the battle over ratification. Southern white supremacist and patriarchal traditions upheld a vision of passive femininity and Black servitude—values challenged by the Nineteenth Amendment. Assertive women exercising the right to vote opened the door to assertive Black people of both sexes doing the same.

Suffrage refers to the right of any citizen to vote. Black male suffrage was granted in 1870. Women’s suffrage wasn’t legalized until 1920. Women who actively demonstrated for the right to vote were known as “Suffragettes.” 

“Anti” refers to anyone opposed to the Nineteenth Amendment. In Tennessee, a coalition of anti-suffrage organizations was formed to defeat ratification. Its chief organizers were Josephine Pearson, who headed the Tennessee State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, and Nina Pinckard, who led the Southern Women’s Rejection League. They were supported by Northern legal teams and capitalists whose interests were threatened by passage of the amendment.