Susan_B_Anthony

Susan Brownell Anthony is known for her important role in the women’s rights movement in the 19th century and changed the course of the women’s history in the United States. Susan B Anthony was born in 1820 in Adams Massachusetts. She was an American civil rights leader who introduced women’s suffrage into the United States. Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Caddy Stanton paired up to form The Women’s New York State temperance movement in 1852 and Women’s Suffrage Association in 1869 (Freeman, 2002). Together they campaigned for women’s rights to be recognized and implemented in the American government. The two women traveled all over the US campaigning for women’s rights to own property and to vote. Their main objective was to get voting rights for women in various states by the amendment of the Constitution. In 1872, Anthony and 14 other women were arrested in Rochester for voting illegally. This brought much publicity and alerted people of the voting injustice. Anthony and Stanton conducted vigorous campaigns to find a way state legislatures could amend their state constitutions as well allowing women to vote in presidential elections and in municipal and local elections. Wyoming was the first state that accorded women the right to vote in 1890. By 1900 women in 34 states had some form of suffrage. Anthony did not live long enough to see her vision for women realized. Just 14 years after Anthony’s death, women in the association finally achieved the passing of the 19th amendment. On August 26, 1920 the 19th amendment, also known as “Susan B Anthony Amendment” was declared part of the Constitution of the United States. Women were finally considered equal to men and were given the right to vote in 1920. Anthony and Stanton’s’ efforts, years of numerous speeches, writing, and hard work, women finally achieved the right to vote. According to Anderson, “Susan B. Anthony’s persistence, passion and unwavering dedication to her beliefs effected a change in American society that she did not live to see, but her legacy survives in the daily lives of countless women who, today, have a voice” (Anderson, 2009, p. 2) More than 8 million American women were able to vote in 1920. In the early 19th century they women in the United States held the status of second-class citizens. Women were made slaves within their homes and had no right to own property, earn wages, hold a political office or even sign a contract. Women were considered inferior to men and forced to adhere to well defined gender roles. When Elizabeth Caddy Stanton and her colleagues were not allowed to sit at the world anti-slavery convention in England held in 1840, they had first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848. The purpose of this convention was to refuse this ill-treatment of women and demand necessary change in laws regarding child custody divorce and right to own property(Taylor,1999) Anthony partnered with and other delegates of the National women’s right convention, had annual meetings to discuss women’s rights issues. They insisted that women had a right to equal wages, career opportunities in and the ministry. They refused to allow the unjust treatment of women and demanded for necessary change. Stanton and Anthony disagreed with the fact that women were deliberately excluded from juries and could not have careers in law or medicine. They protested the laws that gave husbands ownership of their wives and children and called for coeducation and women’s right to divorce. Anthony began campaigning for women's property rights in New York state in 1853 (Eisenstadt & Moss, 2005). She spoke at meetings, collected signatures for petitions and lobbied the state legislature. Largely as the result of her efforts, Anthony got her first major legislative victory when in 1860; the New York State Married Women's Property Bill became law. This law allowed married women keep all their earnings in wages, to own property, keep their own wages, and have keep of their children after divorce (Anderson, 2009). Anthony established the American Equal Rights Association in 1866 and continued travelling broadly campaigning on the behalf of women. Through their tireless efforts, Anthony and Stanton continued to campaign for women’s rights. A revision of the law in 1860 allowed the women to retain their earnings and have what they rightfully deserved: equal rights. Anthony also opened labor unions for women, enabled more women to join the labor force and helped make women’s and men’s wages more equal. By around 1915 various states agreed to the movements’ demands and enfranchised their women. Susan B Anthony was a charismatic leader who left a legacy of speeches and writing that moved people to action and inspired countless women who work for equal rights and opportunities. Anthony’s final words spoken in public expressed her indomitable spirit- “failure is impossible”