amendmentA change to the Constitution approved by the states. In February 1919 the suffrage amendment failed in the Senate by one vote.
ballotThe slip on which a person records a secret vote. The word comes from the Italian for a small ball: a ballot was once a ball dropped into a box.
bannerA wide cloth sign carried or hung to show a message. One banner at the White House asked: Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?
conventionA large formal meeting of people with a shared aim. About 300 women and men came to the convention at Seneca Falls in 1848.
movementA long shared effort by many people to change society. From Seneca Falls in 1848 to the vote in 1920, the movement lasted 72 years.
paradeA festive walk of many people down a public street. On March 3, 1913, more than 5,000 suffragists paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
petitionA paper that collects signatures behind a demand. In 1915 suffragists carried a petition with more than 500,000 signatures to Congress.
Show all 36 terms (29 more)
The fight for the vote, continued
picketTo keep a line of sign holders posted at a gate or door. On January 10, 1917, suffragists became the first group ever to picket the White House.
ratifyTo agree to formally and so make valid. With 48 states in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment needed 36 of them to ratify it.
suffrageThe right to vote, held by a citizen under the law. Early campaigners wrote woman suffrage; historians today usually write women's suffrage.
suffragetteA name for British women who fought boldly for the vote. The British suffragettes took purple, white and green as their colors in 1908.
suffragistA person who works to win the vote for more people. Suffragists won state by state at first: nine western states gave women the vote by 1912.
How the campaign was fought 12
activistA person who takes action to bring about a change. By 1916 the largest suffrage association in the country had two million members.
generationEveryone who grows up in the same span of years. The work passed through several generations: few of the first suffragists lived to see 1920.
lobbyTo meet lawmakers and press them to vote your way. In August 1920 suffragists and their opponents both went to Nashville to lobby the lawmakers of Tennessee.
pageantAn outdoor show in costume that acts out a story. During the 1913 parade a pageant was acted on the Treasury Building's steps.
pamphletA few printed pages, folded or stapled, that argue a case. Suffragists held meetings in the street and handed out pamphlets.
protestA public act that shows you object to something. In 1913 a band of suffragists walked from New York City to Washington, D.C., to draw attention to their cause.
rallyA big gathering held to stir up support for a cause. After the 1913 parade the marchers held a rally with speeches in a hall.
referendumA question put to all the voters to settle by ballot. In November 1917 New York's voters passed a referendum that gave the women of the state the vote.
reformA fix for a law or custom that treats people unfairly. The declaration of 1848 asked for reforms in schooling and jobs and in the wages and property of married women.
resolutionA statement that a meeting adopts by a vote. At Seneca Falls the resolution that asked for the vote was the only one not adopted by all.
sashA broad ribbon worn across the chest, shoulder to hip. Suffragists often marched in white dresses with suffrage sashes.
soapboxA crate a speaker stands on to talk to a street crowd. Suffragists gave speeches from soapboxes on street corners.
From Seneca Falls to 1920 12
abolitionThe outlawing of slavery everywhere in a country. Many who came to Seneca Falls also worked for abolition, and they wanted the vote for all adults.
anti-suffragistA person who campaigned against votes for women. In Nashville in 1920 anti-suffragists wore red roses and suffragists yellow ones.
CongressAll the senators and representatives of the nation. The House passed the suffrage amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate on June 4.
Declaration of SentimentsThe 1848 paper listing rights denied to women. Its signers were 68 women and 32 men, and it says that all men and women are created equal.
enfranchiseTo give a person or a group the right to vote. New Zealand, in 1893, was the first country to enfranchise women nationwide.
Nineteenth AmendmentThe 1920 amendment that guarantees women the vote. It was certified as part of the Constitution on August 26, 1920.
Seneca FallsThe New York town where the movement began in 1848. The convention met in a chapel there on July 19 and 20, 1848.
Silent SentinelsWomen who picketed the White House without a word. They kept watch from January 1917 until Congress passed the amendment in June 1919.
TennesseeThe 36th state to say yes, the last one needed. The deciding yes came from a lawmaker of 24 whose mother had urged him to vote for it.
Voting Rights ActThe 1965 law against barring voters by race. It was signed on August 6, 1965, forty-five years after the Nineteenth Amendment.
White HouseThe Washington mansion each President moves into. Suffragists stood at its gates in silence six days a week.
WyomingThe territory that gave women the vote in 1869. Women kept the vote when Wyoming became a state in 1890.
How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the English Wikipedia article on the term (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Women's suffrage in the United States, Suffrage, Suffragette, Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Seneca Falls Convention, Declaration of Sentiments, Silent Sentinels, Woman Suffrage Procession, Suffrage Hikes, Women's suffrage in Wyoming, Anti-suffragism, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Abolitionism in the United States, Picketing, Petition, Pamphlet, Lobbying, Referendum and Soapbox. Suffragist, ballot, amendment, ratify, convention, parade, banner, movement, protest, rally, sash, resolution, activist, reform, enfranchise and abolition were checked against the entry for the term in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), under the same license; pageant and generation are everyday words given in their common sense. The history in the meanings and the facts was checked a second time against pages of the National Archives (19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/19th-amendment; Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment, https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/woman-suffrage), of the National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/: Did You Know? Suffragist vs Suffragette; The First Women's Rights Convention; Declaration of Sentiments; The 19th Amendment: A Crash Course; Symbols of the Women's Suffrage Movement; 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession; the Wyoming and Tennessee pages of 19th Amendment By State) and of the Library of Congress (Historical Overview of the National Woman's Party and Tactics and Techniques of the National Woman's Party Suffrage Campaign, https://www.loc.gov/collections/women-of-protest/articles-and-essays/). The fact after each meaning is in our own words. Licence: own work
How it works
A women's suffrage worksheet for 4th grade social studies: twelve terms of the campaign for the vote to match to their meanings, with an answer key. The first sheet has suffrage, ballot, amendment, ratify, petition and picket.
Read the full guide
How the campaign was fought
In Set, the second sheet has the ways suffragists made their case: protest, rally, sash, pamphlet, lobby, pageant, resolution, referendum, activist, reform, soapbox and generation.
From Seneca Falls to 1920
The third sheet has the places and the papers: Seneca Falls, Declaration of Sentiments, Nineteenth Amendment, Wyoming, Tennessee, Congress, White House, Silent Sentinels, abolition, anti-suffragist, enfranchise and Voting Rights Act. Under the tool each term has a fact, checked against Wikipedia and pages of the National Archives, the National Park Service and the Library of Congress.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between a suffragist and a suffragette?
A suffragist is anyone who works for the right to vote. Suffragette began in 1906 as a British reporter's name for the boldest campaigners there. American campaigners did not take the name, so these sheets call them suffragists.
When did women get the right to vote in the United States?
On August 18, 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. Women in some states could vote before that, and unfair state laws went on keeping many women of color from the polls long afterward.
What does suffrage mean?
The right to vote. The word comes from the Latin suffragium: support, a vote, or the right to vote. Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote, and the long campaign to win it is called the suffrage movement.
Did the 19th Amendment give all women the right to vote?
No. Many Native American women were not citizens until 1924, and poll taxes, literacy tests and threats kept many Black women from voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ended many of those barriers.