Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony is a great woman in history, she was loved and hated by many people. She was an activist who fought for women’s rights, but she didn’t just fight for women, she fought for equal rights for the entire human race. She firmly believed in equality, that’s why I chose to write this paper on her. She is a great role model and inspiration to many women all over the world. So, take this journey with me through history. Susan B. Anthony, here we come!

Susan B. Anthony

Susan was born on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts, U.S.A. She was raised in Rochester, New York and was the second born of 7 children. She was a Quaker. Quakers believe that everybody has some of God in them and that each human

Some people know the first part of the story which is how the women felt. The other part is how the man felt. Since the stone age, the man’s role in a family has always been to protect and provide for their families. The women’s role was to tend to the house and upbringing/ raising of the children. With those underlying expectations in play, men did not think women needed rights because (in a man’s view) all women did was take care of the family and the home. To men, women did practically nothing and did not need to vote about anything. Men went out to work all day, while women stayed home. With that being said, men obviously did not know what women did was just as exhausting as what they did at work. With technology not being as developed as it is now, women had to churn butter, wash clothes by hand, and deal with their children, while wearing a ball gown-like dress that was considered “casual wear”. But, believe it or not, some men were actually trying to protect women’s “special innocents” by not getting them involved in politics and other things. Men were treating women as if they were porcelain statues- (weak, fragile, delicate)- but women were a lot tougher than they thought. At that time, they most likely had no idea that what they were doing was wrong. With that in mind, I can understand how a man seeing a woman protesting and yelling “rights” would appear as being ungrateful.

Anthony worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was also an activist/reformist for women and other causes. They met in 1851. Even though they were total opposites, they were best friends. While they worked together, Elizabeth usually stayed indoors writing books as she had to raise her children, while Susan was out giving speeches and protesting. Together, they launched a national woman’s suffrage movement, published the newspaper - The Revolution, and lectured, lobbied, and protested for equal rights. They made a great team and wrote to each other often over the years. After years of waiting for something to change, Susan was fed up. So, she and many other women went to the polls to vote for president. Susan was later arrested. She was 52 years old. While being arrested, Susan asked the police “Is this how you arrest men?” “No” said the police officer. “Then I demand for you to let me go change, and you hand cuff me like you would do a man!”. Even during her arrest, she was fighting for equal rights. During Susan’s trial the judge made the mistake of asking, “..any last words.” Susan took advantage of the opportunity and jumped to her feet. The speech she gave is one I personally believe to be one of the greatest in her