Passed by Congress in June of 1919, then ratified on August 18th of 1920, and officially adopted eight days later on August 26th, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted women the right to vote. But, the movement began long before 1920. Beginning in the mid-19th century, woman – and some men – wrote, lectured, marched and lobbied to achieve what many Americans of the time considered to be radical change. Very few of the movement’s early supporters actually lived to see it succeed.