Launching the Suffrage Movement
Rebels With a Cause: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
After the two met in 1851, they were an unstoppable force in working on women’s rights. The published the magazine The Revolution from 1868 to 1872. You can read more about it here.
The First Feminist Newspaper: The Lily
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“The Lily was the first paper published devoted to the interests of woman and as far as I know, the first one owned, edited, and published by a woman… It was a needed instrumentality to spread abroad the truth of the new gospel to women, and I could not withhold my hand to stay the work I had begun… “-Amelia Bloomer, creator and owner of The Lily.
On January 1, 1849, the first issue of The Lily was published. It began with a circulation of about two or three hundred and within a year, increased to between six to eight hundred. In four years, The Lily reached six thousand. Both Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony wrote for The Lily. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote under the pseudonym, Sunflower, which became her symbol.
Writing History While Living it
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony worked on a series of books on the “History of Woman’s Suffrage” which appeared in 1881.
Link to Volume 1.
Who is Elizabeth Cady Stanton?
Elizabeth Cady Staton was an author, lecturer, and one of the key founders in the women’s suffrage movement. Born in the early 1800s, Stanton fought for women’s rights her entire life and is remembered today as a great role model and leader for young girls all across the country. “The best protection any woman can have… is courage”, Stanton once said, and that is what she stands for today. She is an image of strength and fortitude and teaches us to never give up until you have accomplished what you started. She had a long and successful career, and even though she did not live to the day women got the right to vote, her impact on society greatly changed women’s role in “her-story”… or history that is.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12th, 1815 in Johnstown, New York to Margaret Livingston and Daniel Cady. They were a rather wealthy family. Danel Cady was a lawyer, state assemblyman, and later a Supreme Court judge, and Margaret Livingston came from a storied family. They were able to provide an excellent education for young Elizabeth Cady. She attended the Johnstown Academy and later Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary in New York, which she graduated from in 1832. She also learned a few things about the law from her father. More than anything, she wanted to be equal to her brother who was the light of her father’s life. When her brother died, she wanted to take her place in her father’s heart and do all the things he did. But at the time, women could not. This goal to have the same rights as a man would drive Stanton her whole life.
In 1840, Cady married a lawyer and abolitionist, Henry Brewster Stantonr. Together, they attended the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London on their honeymoon. Cady who now added Stanton to her name also met Lucretia C. Mott, another suffragette, at the convention. They both disliked the unequal representation of women and wanted to do something about it. Their meeting would lead to a lifelong friendship and working relationship.
After a three month honeymoon in Europe, the Stantons settled into a small home in Boston. They lived there until 1847, when they moved to Seneca Falls to be closer to Elizabeth’s family. Not long after, a New York bill granting married women property rights passed in 1848, due in no small part to Henry Stanton. He gifted a house in Seneca Falls to Elizabeth and gave her $300 to fix it to serve as the home base for her growing family. In 1848, she and Lucretia, her now very close friend, were reunited, and together, held the first Woman’s Rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. At the convection, Stanton expressed her feelings toward the inequality of women. She read the Declaration of Sentiments, an article that she wrote that included 16 injustices women faced, similar to the structure of the Declaration of Independence.
Stanton continued to fight for women’s suffrage, but it became increasingly harder for her to travel because of the demands of her family life. In 1851, Stanton was introduced to Susan B. Anthony by a mutual friend, Amelia Bloomer. They became not only lifelong friend but also fighters for women’s rights. They instantly connected, working together to write and deliver speeches, and organise rallies. Anthony babysit Stanton’s children while Stanton would write a speech for Anthony who would then deliver it. The pair would go on to work together for 50 years. They traveled to many different places, spreading the suffrage movement as they went. In 1866, Stanton became the first woman to run for Congress. Unfortunately, she only received 24 votes out of the 12,000 males who were able to vote. The following year, Stanton and Anthony traveled out west to Kansas for three months promoting the movement.
Stanton and Anthony organized the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1869, which later became the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1890. Stanton was president of both of these organizations. In addition to writing speeches for herself and Susan, Stanton also wrote for newspapers, authored several books, and even wrote her own autobiography. The newspaper she wrote for under the pseudonym, Sunflower, “The Lily” was the first feminist newspaper. Later Stanton co edited “The Revolution”, a newspaper dedicated entirely to women’s rights. She is also the author of “The Women’s Bible” and the first three volumes of “History of Women’s Suffrage.” She wrote her autobiography, “Eighty Years and More,” in 1898. Stanton died on October 26, 1902. She is buried in The Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy in New York City.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a smart and courageous woman. Though she did not live to see the day when women were granted the right to vote, her daughter and granddaughter were suffragettes and they were there at this important moment in history. Stanton’s work to have women treated equally and fairly will always be remembered, and her legacy will never be forgotten. She never got to be on a U.S. coin like Susan B. Anthony, but we can always look up to her for strength and perseverance, and she will always be known as a hard worker. We need to acknowledge women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton for the rights women have today. She made many sacrifices to ensure a better future for women, and eventually, it paid off. Because of Elizabeth and her fellow suffragettes, we are able to celebrate the 100th year of women having the right to vote in America this year.
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Who is Susan B. Anthony?
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
Celebrating the 19th Amendment – 100 years and counting!
2020 is the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment. It took 72 years from the 1st Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls to the passing of the 19th Amendment. Neither Elizabeth Cady Stanton nor Susan B. Anthony lived to see this day, but their work laid the foundations to make it happen.
Find out more about the Centennial here.
How & Where to Celebrate the Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
Locally at the New York Historical Society – they are launching a new exhibit, Women March
“For as long as there has been a United States, women have organized to shape the nation’s politics and secure their rights as citizens. Their collective action has taken many forms, from abolitionist petitions to industry-wide garment strikes to massive marches for an Equal Rights Amendment. Women March celebrates the centennial of the 19th Amendment—which granted women the right to vote in 1920—as it explores the efforts of a wide range of women to expand American democracy in the centuries before and after the suffrage victory. On view in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, this immersive exhibition features imagery and video footage of women’s collective action over time, drawing visitors into a visceral engagement with the struggles that have endured into the 21st century. (Curated by Valerie Paley, senior vice president, chief historian, and director of the Center for Women’s History, and the Center for Women’s History curatorial team)“
Around the country, the New York Times has put together a list of places you can visit both in upstate New York where Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony lived to farther south and west.
Timeline of Women’s Suffrage in the US and around the World
The following link maps the earliest country (New Zealand, 1893) and the latest country (Saudi Arabia, 2011) to give women the right to vote.
While the map by Katie Anastas shows that, “Starting in 1869, legislation was introduced in one or more states nearly every year. The timeline and maps below record the defeats as well as victories, demonstrating the persistence and ingenuity of suffrage activists.
Link here.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Life
1815
Elizabeth Cady Stanton is born in Johnstown, NY, the middle child of 11 children (1 boy and 10 girls). Her father, Daniel Cady, is a respected state judge. Her mother is Margaret Livingston Cady.
1826
Elizabeth learns about law from her father, including how women are treated differently with few rights. In 1826, Elizabeth’s brother dies. Her father is devastated and tells her, “I wish you were a boy.”
1831
Elizabeth tries to make her father proud and be like a boy. She finishes school with the highest grades and wants to go to college like boys do. College is not open to women. Instead, she attends the all women’s Troy Seminary.
1839
Elizabeth meets Henry Stanton, an abolitionist lawyer. She falls in love but her father forbids her from marrying.
1840
Elizabeth and Henry elope. They travel to London for their honeymoon where Henry attends the World Anti-Slavery Convention. Elizabeth also goes but the men keep the women in a separate space in the back of the room. Elizabeth is upset and meets a like-minded activist, Lucretia Mott. Lucretia, a popular Quaker speaker, introduces Elizabeth to ideas of equality for all.
1841-1847
Elizabeth lives in Boston where she and Henry are involved in the abolition movement. Henry travels and tries to enter politics. Elizabeth gathers ideas on women’s rights. They start family (and eventually have 7 children.
1847
Elizabeth and Henry move to Seneca Falls. Elizabeth’s father buys the house in her name, and the next year a change in New York State law allows her as a married woman to own her own property. Her father gives her $300 to fix the house and she takes up the challenge.
1848
Elizabeth is tired of homemaking and feeling unequal. She again meets Lucretia Mott who is visiting her sister and they decide to do something instead of just talk.
July 19 and 20, the first Women’s Rights Convention is held in the Wesleyan Chapel in Secena Falls. Over 300 people travel to attend the convention, including Frederick Douglass. 100 people sign The Declaration of Sentiments, which Elizabeth models after the Declaration of Independence. She calls for equality of women and men and the right to vote.
Elizabeth calls her home the “Center of the Rebellion.” She can not travel because of her growing family but she opens her door to leading thinkers and starts writing more.
1849
The first newspaper for women, The Lily, starts in 1849 (til 1853) edited by Amelia Bloomer. Elizabeth writes for The Lily under the pseudonym, “Sunflower” which became her symbol. She wrote about education and being a mother and then about laws that were unfair to women.
1851
Elizabeth’s friend, Amelia Bloomer, introduces her to Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth said, “I liked her immediately and why I did not invite her home to dinner with me I do not know.” “A Friendship Through History” begins.
1853 – 1854
Elizabeth writes speeches while Susan helps watch Elizabeth’s children. Then Susan goes out campaigning. She circulates petitions for women’s property rights and suffrage. She speaks at the National Women’s Rights convention in 1854 and urges more petitions.
1861-1865
During the Civil War, the women’s rights movement slows down. Elizabeth and Susan found the Women’s Loyal National League in 1863 and collect over 400,000 petition signatures to urge President Abraham Lincoln and Congress to end slavery. They believe that women will get equal rights after the war along with enslaved people. New York City becomes their home base (and they love going to Central Park!).
1866
Elizabeth and Susan found the American Equal Rights Association that works to “secure Equal Rights to all American citizens, especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, color, or sex.”
Elizabeth is the first woman to run for Congress in what was then the Eighth Congressional District. She runs as an independent and receives 24 votes of the 12,000 cast by male voters.
1867
Elizabeth and Susan travel to Kansas to talk about women’s suffrage. They cross the state for three months to try to get votes for Kansas to pass the law but it fails. Susan will continue her travels out West.
1868
Elizabeth and Susan start the newspaper, The Revolution. The masthead of the newspaper proudly displays their motto, “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” They publish the paper til 1870.
The 14th Amendment passes that all MEN born in the United States have the right to vote. Elizabeth and Susan are disappointed.
1869
Elizabeth and Susan split from other women’s rights proponents over the passage of the 15th amendment, which gives the vote to men regardless of race. Though Susan thinks Elizabeth is too stubborn in her views, they keep working together. They form the National Woman Suffrage Association and focus their efforts on a federal woman’s suffrage amendment.
1870
Elizabeth and Susan work on the language of the 19th amendment. It will be passed 50 years later!
1881-1885
Elizabeth, Susan and Matilda Joslyn Gage write the History of Woman Suffrage.
1888
Elizabeth and Susan sponsor the International Council of Women meeting with people from 8 countries attending. President Grover Cleveland invites the group to the White House.
1890
The two side of the women’s suffrage movement come back together after the 1869 split. They form the National American Suffrage Association. Elizabeth is the first president. The next year she gives her last speech to the Senate Committee on Women’s Suffrage.
1895
Elizabeth celebrates her 80th birthday at the Met Opera House. All of her friends and family are there. November 12th is named Stanton Day in New York City. Elizabeth writes The Women’s Bible which challenges why women should be subservient to men. Two years later she publishes her autobiography.
1902
Elizabeth dies at the age of 86. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.
1920
The 19th Amendment passes. It is known as the Susan B. Anthony amendment. Elizabeth’s daughter, Harriot Stanton Blantch, and granddaughter, Nora, are there to see the Amendment finally passed.