Our Rights and Nothing Less: Struggles to Secure the Vote in the United States

2020 marked the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, expanding the franchise in the United States and fundamentally altering the participatory rights available to previously disenfranchised women. Within the U.S. political system, the act of voting holds a unique centrality in civic identity by vesting power in the hands of citizens. However, access to the ballot box has expanded and contracted throughout U.S. history and the struggles to cast a vote and engage in civic life has been fraught with racial and gendered obstacles. In this virtual workshop Primary Source joins with the Collaborative for Educational Services and the Massachusetts Historical Society to examine the historical and contemporary struggles to vote. Focusing on African Americans, women, and people with disabilities, this virtual workshop introduces content, themes, resources, and teaching strategies to foster students’ awareness of the personal sacrifices and collective efforts made in the effort to secure the right to be heard and influence the governing of this country.