RESOLUTION NO. 051053
Declaring
August 26, 2005, as the 85th Anniversary of the 19th
Amendment of the United States Constitution
WHEREAS, the
beginning of the fight for women suffrage is usually traced to the Declaration
of Sentiments produced at the first womans rights convention in Seneca Falls , New York in 1848. At the Womans Rights Convention in Syracuse in 1852,
Susan B. Anthony joined the fight arguing that the right women needed above
every other was the right of suffrage; and
WHEREAS, in
1878, a constitutional amendment was proposed that provided The right of
citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of sex. This same amendment would be introduced in every session of
Congress for the next 41 years; and
WHEREAS, in July
1890, the Territory of Wyoming, which allowed women to vote, was admitted as a
state, therefore making Wyoming the first state with womens suffrage; and
WHEREAS, the
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, also known as the Susan
B. Anthony Amendment, was proposed to the states by the U.S. Congress on June
4, 1919, and became part of the Constitution on August 18, 1920, upon its
ratification by Tennessee, the thirty-sixth state to do so; and
WHEREAS,
Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26,
1920. The Amendment prohibits both the Federal government and the states from
using a persons sex as a qualification to vote; it was specifically intended
to extend suffrage to women; and
WHEREAS, the
amendment reads: 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;
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED
BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
That the Mayor
and Council hereby declare August 26, 2005, as the 85th Anniversary
of the 19th Amendment of the United States Constitution; and
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that this Resolution be spread upon the Minutes of the Council in
testimony thereof to encourage all citizens of Kansas City to join in
remembering the many struggles our ancestors overcame in order to gain this
right to vote and to cherish and show our appreciation of this freedom by
voting our choice in every election throughout our life.
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