Susan B. Anthony is one of the most well known fighters for women’s rights. She was a pioneer who sacrificed many things for what she believed in. She worked with many people throughout her career who held the same beliefs as she did. Each and every one of them had a helping hand in getting women their right to vote. Susan B. Anthony was and still is an inspiration to many women today. There were many different things she did to get the word out about women’s suffrage, such as co-founding the Americans Equal Rights Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, forming suffrage organizations and even publishing a newspaper. Although she died before she could witness the passing of the 19th Amendment, which does give women the right to vote, her efforts were the driving force for others to continue the fight and accomplish what she could not.
Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, to Daniel and Lucy Anthony in Adams, Massachusetts. Her father was a farmer and an anti slavery-activist. She had six siblings and was the second child out of seven surviving children. She was raised a Quaker and believed that everyone was equal under God. This belief was one of her main inspirations that she would keep with her throughout the rest of her life.
She was very smart and learned how to read and write at the age of three. In 1826 at the age of six she and her family moved from Massachusetts to a large farm in Battenville, New York. The farm property had a house, store and a large school room where her and her siblings were homeschooled. She had a happy life but wanted to continue her education so her father sent her and her sister away to school in order to further their education.
In 1837 there was a financial depression that caused them to declare bankruptcy. They lost everything they owned. In 1838 Susan’s father had no choice but to take her and her sister out of school. In 1839 after they lost most of their belongings, Susan joined a Quaker seminary in New Rochelle, New York.
Trying to get back on their feet Susan’s family moved to a small farm in Rochester,New York. Susan stayed behind in New York where she became a teacher to help pay off her family’s debt. After a few years passed her father asked that she come home to help run the farm while he focused his attention on other endeavors. She agreed and before long was back home running her family’s farm. Her father used the farm as a meeting place for anti-slavery activists and Susan would listen in on these meetings and talk to some important abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas. From listening in on the meetings and talking to these men, Susan decided to become an activist on social reform
At the same time the temperance movement came about and she was very interested in it. The temperance movement encouraged people to ban the consumption and production of alcohol. Her mother and sister were very active in this movement and even attended the first movement. One reason they were active in this movement is because being Quakers, as they were, they did not believe that one should indulge in drinking alcohol.
In 1851, Susan traveled to Seneca Falls for an anti-slavery convention. While there, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton who she became instant friends with. The two worked tirelessly together in the fight for women’s rights and the other movement’s that they held strong convictions for. Many times Elizabeth would write the speeches that Susan would deliver at conventions and rallies they attended; Elizabeth was well educated and was known for her writing ability.
In 1852, Susan went to the state convention of Sons of Temperance. She wanted to be a speaker at this event but was told that she could not because she was a woman.. She was told that she should listen and learn and keep quiet. This did not sit well with Susan B, Anthony and in 1856 she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Women’s New York State Temperance Society. The goal of the society was to petition the State legislature to pass a law limiting the sale of liquor. The petition had over 28,000 signatures and yet it was rejected because the legislators said the signatures were from women and children and they did not have a voice at this time. Elizabeth Stanton became the president of this society and pushed Susan to become more involved in reforming women’s rights.
Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton traveled the country together making speeches fighting for slavery to end and demanding that women be given the right to vote. Although Susan and Elizabeth were abolitionists, in 1866 they spoke out against the 14th and 15th Amendment because although it gave the right to vote to black men the amendments did not give the right for women to vote.
After the 14th and 15th Amendments were passed the two women formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. It was formed to push for a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote on a state by state basis. Two years later the two friends became editors of a weekly paper, The Revolution. It was the official publication of the National Woman Suffrage Association, which spread the ideas of equality and rights for women. The motto of the paper read; “Men their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” The paper only ran for 29 months but word spread about women’s suffrage nonetheless.”
During the 1872 presidential election, Susan B Anthony and a few other women including three of her sister’s vote in the election even though it was illegal for them to do so. The women were arrested but only Susan B Anthony faced a trial. She had a strong voice and was well known for her activities in women’s suffrage and the law tried to keep her quiet. At her trial the judge did not let her testify and instructed the jury to find her guilty. The jury found her guilty as instructed to do so and Susan was ordered to pay a fine of $100. She never paid the fine but did continue her work in women’s suffrage making speeches and travelling the country to promote the causes she believed in.
Susan B. Anthony gave her last speech at suffrage hearings in Washington D.C. in February 1906. The speech was called “Failure is Impossible” and as you can gather from title failure was not an option for Susan B Anthony and all the other people that worked tirelessly for women’s rights. Unfortunately, Susan B Anthony died on March 13, 1906, a month after giving that speech and never got to see an amendment giving women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment was finally passed in 1920, fourteen years after her passing. In 1979, the US Mint featured Susan B Anthony on a dollar coin. It was done to honor all her efforts in the suffrage movement.
Susan B Anthony believed in freedom for all, justice for all and rights for all. Her entire life was devoted in the crusade to make it happen. She travelled across country, at times, sleeping on the side of dirt roads. She didn’t do it for fame or money. She did it because she believed so strongly that everyone should have a voice and that women should be treated fairly and equally.
WORKS CITED
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/susan-b-anthony Date accessed. February 20, 2020
https://susanb.org/her-life/ Date accessed. February 2, 2020
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/susan-b-anthony Date accessed. February 15, 2020
Hayward, Nancy. “Susan B. Anthony.” National Women’s History Museum, 2017. Date accessed. February 2, 2020
https://www.notablebiographies.com/An-Ba/Anthony-Susan-B.html Date accessed. February 15, 2020