In the text sample of Anna Howard Shaw’s speech about women's suffrage, “The Fundamental Principle of a Republic” she highlights the importance of equality within a republic. Anna believes that if there is no equality amongst a republic, how can it be called a republic? Anna states,”Whenever the government says that a citizen, in order to vote, must be a resident of a community a certain length of time, and of the state a certain length of time and of the nation a certain length of time, that applies to all equally. There is no discrimination”(Lines 47-50). If there are rules established by a republic that are meant for all people, why can only a majority of the population vote? She additionally acknowledges that men and women can be very ignorant …show more content…
Anna attempts to understand how ignorant women prevent women from voting, yet ignorant men don’t prevent men from voting. If the rules of a republic are to be applied to all, why not this one? Anna uses irony to further prove her point that women should have the freedom to vote. In the second paragraph of the speech she states,”If a woman’s suffrage1 is wrong, it is a great wrong; if it is right, it is a profound and fundamental principle, and we all know, if we know what a Republic is, that it is the fundamental principle upon which a Republic must rise. Let us see where we are as a people; how we act here and what we think we are”(Lines 14-17). It is ironic how we called ourselves a republic at the time when we restricted most of our population from voting, knowing that a republic is a primary power that is sustained by the people and the electors that they voted for. Anna used this irony to construct her claim about women's