USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -When Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920, the amendment passed its final hurdle of obtaining the agreement of three-fourths of the states. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26, 1920, changing the face of the American electorate forever.

Detailed explanation-2: -Adding the amendment to the US Constitution required passage by two-thirds of each chamber of Congress, then ratification by three-fourths of the states, which in 1919 was 36 of the 48 states. (Alaska and Hawai’i were still US territories.)

Detailed explanation-3: -That made Tennessee the 36th state to ratify the amendment, which clinched its inclusion in the U.S. Constitution. The amendment gave women the right to vote for the first time.

Detailed explanation-4: -It was not until May 29, 1790, that the last state, Rhode Island, finally ratified the Constitution.

Detailed explanation-5: -Southern states were adamantly opposed to the amendment, however, and seven of them-Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia-had already rejected it before Tennessee’s vote on August 18, 1920.