227 years after the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, a Cougar commemorates that day by telling the importance of the amendment to her. | Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

“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.” (XIX Amendment)

The Nineteenth Amendment is the most important amendment in the Constitution because I am a woman, and without it, I would have no say in America.

Before the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920, women across the U.S. worked tiredly to be able to vote. Women held parades, stood outside the gates of the White House and were even jailed because they knew they had as much right to vote as men did.

I look up to these ladies as my role models. Without them, I and other women in the U.S. would have no voice in our government and even our day-to-day lives.

The Nineteenth Amendment made the U.S. a better place because it allowed women and men have the same opportunity in voting. Without this amendment, women would be cast aside and they would have no say in national, state and local actions.

After the amendment was ratified, “over 8 million women across the U.S. voted in elections for the first time” (History – 19th Amendment). This fact proves that giving women the right to vote made the United States a better place, because it gave opportunity to women to be able to voice their opinions and concerns.

Without the Nineteenth Amendment, I would probably not be where I am today. Without the suffragists who worked their entire life to get women the vote (Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony), I would not be allowed to go vote and voice my opinion.

I am forever grateful to these remarkable ladies who gave me and other women a chance to be heard and to not be silent anymore.

Brittany Sutton is a political science senior.

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“Constitution Day Essay Contest: Student inspired by strong women” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar