Minor v. Happersett

On October 6, 1869, Virginia Louise Minor, the president of the a Woman's Suffrage Association of Missouri, presented a new approach to women's suffrage at the association's first convention. She argued that the U.S. Constitution gave all native-born citizens, including women, the full rights and privileges of citizenship. Her husband, attorney Francis Minor, presented six resolutions that supported Virginia's argument that the original federal Constitution already enfranchised women. The Minors’ arguments relied on the Preamble, Articles One, Four, and Six of the original ...