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The Supreme Court Declares that the Constitution Does Not Protect Women’s Right to Vote (with text supports)

Female suffragists were disappointed when the final language of the 15th Amendment did not specifically protect the right of women to vote. Some women activists opposed the amendment for this reason. Virginia Minor was one of those activists. Partly inspired by western territories granting universal suffrage, partly to test how well the 14th and 15th Amendment would protect women’s rights, Minor tried to register to vote in 1872. After she was denied, Minor and her husband sued the registrar; the case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The court delivered this unanimous decision.


Source | U.S. Supreme Court, Minor vs. Happersett, 1875; in Linda K. Kerber and Jane De Hart Matthews, Women’s America; Refocusing the Past (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982).
Creator | U.S. Supreme Court
Item Type | Laws/Court Cases
Cite This document | U.S. Supreme Court, “The Supreme Court Declares that the Constitution Does Not Protect Women’s Right to Vote (with text supports),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 19, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1689.

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