The addition of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1870 brought to the attention of some members of the women’s suffrage movement that the goal of universal female suffrage could only be achieved with a national solution—most likely, a separate constitutional amendment for women’s voting rights. Until that point, most advocates of women’s suffrage believed that change would come about by convincing each state to modify its laws. But the Fifteenth Amendment stated that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Although the wording implied that male suffrage was the only right that the national government was pursuing, the phrasing also demonstrated that a constitutional...