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Today marks the anniversary of one of the most important events in U.S. History. On August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, which finally allowed women in America to vote. As you know, once an Amendment passes the House and Senate (which happened in June of 1919 for the 19th Amendment), it must be approved by three-quarters of the state legislatures.
And it fell to Tenneessee to be the thirty-sixth state, where it was a near-run thing, as the state’s legislative body was deadlocked on the issue. As one of the state’s youngest legislators, Harry Burn had determined in his mind to vote “no” on the Amendment, which would have defeated the issue in Tennessee.
But the 24-year-old Burn had a note in his pocket…a note written by his mother. Mrs. Burn reminded her son “to be a good boy” and vote for ratification. “Hurrah and vote for suffrage!” she wrote. Harry Burn listened to his mother and changed his vote, because a good boy does what his mother asks (provided she doesn’t ask him to rob a bank or run over the neighbor’s dog that continuously barks at 2am). The Nineteenth Amendment passed in Tennessee by a 49-48 vote, and ratification was complete.
There is absolutely zero doubt that this Amendment would have eventually passed had it failed in Tennessee. But if it had fallen to Connecticut (which ratified it less than a month later), a mom in Tennessee would have been pretty disappointed.
And who wants to intentionally disappoint his (or her) mom?
Nicely done. I enjoy your apolitical snippets of history.