Which statement best explains how women achieved voting rights changes in the Constitution?
The right to vote was secured when women won voter registration challenges under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The right to vote was guaranteed when Congress included the right to vote for women in the Fifteenth Amendment after the Civil War.
The right to vote was secured through the Declaration of Sentiments, which declared that all women and men were equal.
The right to vote was secured through changing state laws that created momentum to add an amendment to the Constitution.
The right to vote was secured through changing state laws that created momentum to add an amendment to the Constitution.
The statement that best explains how women achieved voting rights changes in the Constitution is: "The right to vote was secured through changing state laws that created momentum to add an amendment to the Constitution."
To understand why this statement is the best explanation, let me break down the process that led to women gaining voting rights:
1. The women's suffrage movement in the United States began in the mid-19th century. Women activists worked tirelessly to bring attention to their cause and advocate for equal voting rights.
2. Initially, progress was made at the state level. Some states began to grant women the right to vote in local and state elections through changes in state laws. Wyoming became the first state to grant full voting rights to women in 1869.
3. As more states started to support women's suffrage, it created a momentum that increased the pressure on the federal government to act. The suffragettes focused on lobbying Congress to pass a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.
4. The turning point came on August 18, 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting women the right to vote nationwide. This happened after years of campaigning, lobbying, and public demonstrations by women suffragettes.
Therefore, the statement stating that the right to vote was secured through changing state laws that created momentum to add an amendment to the Constitution is the best answer because it accurately captures the trajectory and chronology of the women's suffrage movement in the U.S.