The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, finally enfranchised American women. In the early 1920s, many women had well-paying jobs and more freedom than ever before. However, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 brought the Great Depression, making life extremely hard for working women, wives, and mothers. The Great Depression concentrates on key areas of women's lives, such as their role in the family and in the workplace. It traces the growing role of women in politics after they gained the right to vote in 1920 and describes the part some women played in advancing learning, science, sports, and the arts.