On October 15, 1872, a woman named Virginia Minor (image to the left) tried to register to vote in Missouri. However, she was turned down due to a Missouri state constitution that states:

"Every male citizen of the United States shall be entitled to vote."

Claiming that this violated her rights of the Fourteenth Amendment, Minor sued in the Missouri state court. Upon losing the suit, she appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court voted no on the basis that the right to suffrage was not a "necessary privilege and immunity" for all citizens and that the need for women's suffrage was not needed. Chief Justice Morrison Waite, shown below, wrote the opinion for the court decision.

As a result of the Supreme Court turnout, women were confirmed to be excluded from voting. This, once again, proved how a white, male-dominated America continues to neglect women, and exercise its power to downplay advances towards equal rights.

Nonetheless, there were still positive impacts. It was with this court case that the national fight for citizenship rights became the women's suffrage movement. To all women and people of color, this court case encouraged widespread civil disobedience, including Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and Plessy v. Ferguson. While this court case was a step back for the goal of women's rights, it ultimately pushed for more questioning and uprisings surrounding civil rights.