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100 years ago: Women gain the right to vote in the U.S.

The Crowley Company/AP

In this Aug. 19, 1920 photo made available by the Library of Congress, Alice Paul, chair of the National Woman's Party, unfurls a banner after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, at the NWP's headquarters in Washington. The women’s suffrage movement in the United States is widely considered to have been launched at the Seneca Falls convention in New York state in 1848. At the time, many Southerners were wary of the movement because key leaders also were engaged in anti-slavery campaigning. (The Crowley Company/Library of Congress via AP)

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(WXYZ) — Women didn't gain the right to vote in the United States until the 19th amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920, 100 years ago Tuesday.

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and Tennessee became 36th state to ratify the amendment on Aug. 18, 1920.

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation," the text of the amendment reads.

The amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878 after women had worked for decades to get the right to vote.

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100 years ago: Women gain the right to vote in the U.S.

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