06/04/2026
On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate passed the 19th Amendment, advancing the decades-long fight for women’s suffrage.
More than 60 years after his death, Abraham Lincoln’s words became part of that movement.
While running for re-election to the Illinois General Assembly in 1836, then-27-year-old Lincoln wrote: “I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens, by no means excluding women.”
Though historians still debate exactly what Lincoln meant by the statement, suffragists in the early 20th century embraced the quote as part of their movement.
The amendment was officially ratified the following year, granting millions of women the right to vote.
