It ’s been more than 100 twelvemonth since American woman take in the rightfield to vote , or at least the right hand tonot be deniedthe right to vote . And we ca n’t discuss the19th Amendmentand the women ’s suffrage move without talk about one of its most central human body : Susan B. Anthony .
In fact , the amendment that extended voting rights beyond men was name the " Anthony Amendment " in her honor . And years subsequently , Anthony ’s epitome — albeit a stern one — feel a dwelling house on the United States dollar coin , substitute President Dwight Eisenhower . So how in one century did the woman who claimed , " unsuccessful person is unimaginable , " go from espouse revolutionary theme to becoming an honoree on U.S. currentness ?
Susan B. Anthony’s Early Life
Born in Adams , Massachusetts , on Feb. 15 , 1820 , to Daniel and Lucy , Anthony spent most of her puerility in New York . Her father’sQuakerupbringing print upon her the opinion that " everyone was adequate under God , " according to theNational Women ’s History Museum . Sheworked as a teacherin Canajoharie , New York , during her 20s before give home , where she became involved in the abolition movement , working alongside important figures like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass .
In addition to a desire to get rid of slavery , Anthony sought torid the body politic of alcohol ; she and her family were active in the temperance movement . In fact , when she wasdenied the prospect to speakat a temperance get together because she was a womanhood , she partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and found theWomen ’s New York State Temperance Society in 1853 .
She had adjoin Stanton , who would become a lifelong friend and pardner , at an anti - slavery league the previous year . Stanton had already given her famedDeclaration of Sentimentsspeech at theSeneca Falls Conventionin 1848 , an event Anthony did not serve . Nevertheless , Anthony ’s body of work for woman ’s equality soon pull in ground , even while she continued to agitate against thralldom . For exercise , during the Civil War , Anthony and otherscollected more than 300,000 signatureson petition to get rid of slavery with a organic amendment .
Her Work for Women’s Rights
Together Anthony and Stanton founded the American Equal Rights Association in 1866 , an organization focalize on securing adequate right andvoting right for all Americans . Yet , despite her long involvement in the abolition movement , Anthony , in a like manner to other 19th hundred women ’s rights militant , has been criticized for putting white adult female ’s voting rights above those of former manlike slaves .
Smithsonian Magazinereported that in 1867 , Anthony , Stanton and Sojourner Truth " opposed the fifteenth Amendment , lay claim that women should take precedence over former slave . " However , this is an simplism of Anthony ’s position .
When asked by manly abolitionists Wendell Phillips and Theodore Tilton to suspend work for universal suffrage and concentrate on getting the voter turnout for men of color only , Anthony ’s biographer , Ida Husted Harper , state Anthony respond that " she would earlier cut off her correct arm before she would ever operate for or demand the ballot for the blackened humans and not the adult female . " Anthony and Douglass ultimately rive because of this difference in opinion .
But the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & Housesays it ’s a misrepresentationto say " Anthony choose whitened woman over all people of color " when the activist more correctly sought equality for all .
By 1869 , Anthony and Stanton formed theNational Woman Suffrage Association(NWSA ) , which produced " The Revolution , " a weekly women ’s rights issue . With fellow women ’s rights advocate Matilda Joslyn Gage , they launched the monolithic " account of Woman Suffrage " publishing project for which the NWSA write three of six volumes .
Yet , like Anthony ’s division with Douglass , a rift over the fifteenth Amendment appeared within the vote crusade itself . The more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association ( AWSA ) , lead by Lucy Stone , supported the 15th Amendmentas a whole step in the right commission and focused on a state - by - state strategy to gain voting rights for women . By contrast , Anthony and Stanton ’s NWSA sought voting and other rights for women and a constitutional amendment to ensure them .
" Anthony from 1866 forwards was a passionate suspensor of a Union amendment as the way to achieve women ’s suffrage , " tell Anya Jabour , Regents prof of history at the University of Montana . " She was securely identified with the federal amendment . "
Although she never had the opportunity to vote legally , Anthony cast a ballot in the 1872 presidential election , voting for Ulysses S. Grant . For this criminal act , she was arrested , try and fined $ 100 . She never devote the amercement .
What Anthony had hoped would be the 16th Amendment was not ratified until half a hundred later , after amendments allowing for income tax ( 16th ) , popular election of senator ( 17th ) and Prohibition ( 18th ) had been tally to the Constitution . Although several United States Department of State already admit women ’s suffrage by that time , at a constitutional level , women in the United States finally gained the right to vote with the 19th Amendment Aug. 18 , 1920 . Unfortunately , Anthony cash in one’s chips in 1906 and never had the chance to go to the poll lawfully .
laud the accomplishment of the balloting rights amendment has drawn criticism , and Anthony again has been get in the crossfire . The 19th Amendment specificallystates :
However , billion of char , in special African American char in theJim CrowSouth , were still excluded from the polls until the eventually passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 .
Anthony’s Enduring Legacy
If her most authoritative bequest is the " Anthony Amendment , " another is that she is the first woman to appear on a U.S. coin . The Susan B. Anthony dollar mark was issue by theUnited States Mintin 1979 to substitute the Eisenhower dollar . At that time , the 2nd undulation of the women ’s movement was underway , and the donnish discipline of cleaning woman ’s work was in its babyhood , Jabour says .
Choosing Anthony as a founding figure for the campaign and for the dollar coin egress as a logical alternative because she had been so attached to suffrage for so long . However , with a modest marketing campaign surrounding its launch and the coin ’s law of similarity in size to a stern , the dollar was considered afailure within months . However , its " flop " was belike more related to the coin itself than Anthony ’s image being on it .
Today Anthony ’s words are sometimes co - opted by anti - abortion organizations to make the argument that former women ’s rights activists were against miscarriage . That estimation has been good discredited , Jabour explains . These claims are often ground on " repeated factual errors " and leave out " crucial features of the suffragists ' beliefs about sex , justice and the legal philosophy , " writeReva Siegel and Stacie Tarantoin The Washington Post . TheNational Susan B. Anthony Museum & Houseandothershave also debunked the assumed connection between Anthony and the political science of abortion .
Suffragist , emancipationist , teetotalist and renegade , Anthony never splice or had child . And in showcase you are question , the B is for Brownell .
