105 years ago today, August 26, 1920 (July 13, 1920, lunar calendar), American women gained the right to vote. American women win the right to vote August 26, 1920, the 81-year struggle ended quietly this morning thanks to the signing of a declaration giving American women the right to vote. No women were present when Secretary of State Bainbridge-Colby signed documents certifying the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. While cheering the final step in the long battle, leaders of the National Women's Party protested their exclusion from the signing ceremony held at the Colby's home in Washington. "It's very sad," said Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, a leader of the women's suffrage movement. Many leaders of the movement stayed on the watch all night long. Waiting for documents to arrive proving that Tennessee had ratified the amendment two days earlier to make up the number of states needed to ratify the bill. The struggle for women's suffrage in the United States dates back to 1839, when Lucretia Mott was refused to sit with her husband at a conference on slavery in London. But it was not until many years later that Susan B. Anthony persuaded a member of Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote. It was held in custody for several years before the amendment was approved by Congress and sent to the states. Some states have allowed women to vote for years. Wyoming women have a pioneering tradition, and as early as 1869, the state became the first state in the country to allow women to vote. Today's victory puts American women ahead of their sisters, and British women have not been able to gain full voting rights despite years of fighting. After the outbreak of World War, British feminists dedicated their lives to the war. Recently, they won a limited vote and Mrs. Astor was elected to Parliament. But they are still working to get exactly the same voting rights as men. The first countries to grant women the right to vote were Scandinavian countries. Finnish women won the right to vote in 1906. Women in Norway gained the right to vote in 1913.