Susan B. Anthony and Her Contribution to Equal Rights and Anti-slavery Movement

In the early 1800s women were not seen as equals. When it came to women having an important part in society, other women were fearful of that. Work was being done around the world, but it took many decades to finally see a change in women’s rights and the end of slavery. Susan B. Anthony worked hard with the Daughters of Temperance and the Anti-Slavery Movement to further help women and slaves in America. Until her dying breath, Anthony worked tirelessly to end slavery and secure women’s right to vote, struggles that eventually brought great benefit to America, only one of which she would see concluded successfully in her lifetime. In order to establish how this is true, it will be important first to examine the overview of Anthony’s early life. Second, will need to be explored in detail of the actions Anthony used to further the Temperance. The third section of this work will explain the she took to further the Anti-Slavery Movement. Fourthly, this essay will explore the actions Anthony helped used to further Women’s Rights. Fifthly, will need to be explored in details of Women’s Loyal National League. Finally, this essay will explore Anthony’s contribution to America's Equal Rights Association.

On February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts, Anthony was born. Her full name was Susan Brownell Anthony, but she never went by her full name. Anthony was raised a Quaker. She worked as a teacher for a major portion of her life. She was a writer, lecturer and an amazing leader who helped fight for women’s rights.

Anthony grew up in a Quaker family who opposed drinking. Her and her family believed that the United States should have stronger alcohol laws. Anthony first tried to get equal pay for all teachers but was unable to do that, so she changed her focus to the Temperance movement. Anthony wanted to get further involved in the Temperance movement, so she joined Daughters of Temperance.

Anthony first joined the Daughter of Temperance in 1848 and that same year she gave her first speech with them. Another event that happened around that time was the Seneca Falls Convention. This event helped with women’s rights. Anthony tried to speak at the Sons of Temperance but because she was a female she was told to sit down and just listen. Anthony unable to speak at this event inspired her to create the women’s state Temperance Society. She was later appointed the President of the Rochester branch.

Anthony started the Women’s state Temperance Society in April 20 and 21, 1852 in Rochester, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the president with the help of Anthony. Their goal was to help public education. They encouraged women in bad marriages to get a divorce, which at this time was an extremely bold thing to state. Many believed because of their statement they were against religion, but they were not. Both women were raised and practiced Quaker religion.

Anthony became an agent for the American Anti-Slavery movement in 1856. She helped put on speeches, arrange meetings, and creating posters. People were not a fan of her because she was a female having such a big role in this movement. While she was an agent, she had many threats towards her and during speeches she had things would be thrown at her from the crowd.

Anthony was a major abolition activist, but she was not the only one in her family. Her entire family was trying to help end slavery. They would put on meetings at their house for people to come and share their opinions. Anthony worked closely with William Lloyd and Frederick Douglass to end slavery. She made many speeches against slavery but due to the fact she was a woman she received many threats.

Anthony was a leader of many things including the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Stanton helped her with this, and they traveled together giving speeches to encourage other women and men for that matter. Her work with the temperance, anti-slavery, and equal right work helped Anthony become the face of this movement. When the 14th and 15th amendment gave African American men the right to vote this made Anthony mad.

Seneca Falls was an event that brought women in 1848 together for a convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. This event helped start the suffrage movement. The irony of this convention was that Anthony was not there, but her mother and sister did. Her mother and sister met Stanton and thought her, and Anthony would be great friends. Three years later, Anthony and Stanton met, and her mother and sister were right, they quickly became great friends.

Anthony being the leader of many movements and groups she did a lot of traveling. Anthony traveled all over the world to promote women’s rights. She gave many speeches, spoke to many women, got signatures and much more. But no matter where she went hate followed her. It was looked down upon for women to speak at events much less be the leader of one. She received death threats, had things thrown at her and more. This did not stop her from being a leader and fighting for women’s rights. Women were finally given the right to vote 14 years after Anthony died.

Lincoln started the Emancipation Proclamation which Anthony did not agree with. To help support the 13th Amendment they wanted to get signatures. They were able to get over 400,000 signatures. They would have not been able to do this without help. A person who helped with the signatures was Senate Charles Sumner. Sumer started the signatures, and this drove the people to create the 13th Amendment.

Anthony and Stanton were amazing friends and partners. They worked together when Anthony was a 31-year-old. They worked together up until Stanton's death in 1902 from a heart attack. Stanton was the founder of the Women’s National loyal league. She wanted to end the American Civil War by using amendments to the constitution. By them working together they were able to accumulate 5,000 members. The members were people who had stopped work on women's suffrage on war effect.

The American Equal Rights Association started on May 10, 1866 and lasted through 1869. This event first came together during Eleventh National Woman's Rights Convention. They wanted the American Educational Research Association (AERA) to follow and support the 16th amendment. In the Kansas campaign Anthony got help from the AERA president Lucretia Mott.

Unfortunately, this Association only lasted three years ending in 1869. Anthony was unable to gain support from other leaders to support the 16th amendment. Her and Stanton left to join another Association. This Association was the National Woman's Suffrage Association.

On November 28th Anthony and 15 other women who had voted a few days earlier were arrested. When they got to the station, she refused to pay the bail fee, but they allowed her to go anyways. Anthony was later arrested again for the same thing. Once again, she refused to pay her bail, but her judge paid it for her. Anthony voting lead a movement. Across the United States 50 women tried to vote but only 16 were successful.

As Anthony was waiting trail, she travels around the work speaking to women trying to get them the right to vote. She was trying to get people to see that the 14th amendment said women had the right to vote. Anthony was not fearful of going to jail and was going to fight this no matter what that meant for her.

In January 1873 by a jury made up of all men found Anthony guilty. She was fined 100 dollars but would not agree to pay the money. Although she did not pay her bail she was never sent to jail. Her judge did not allow her to go to jail. This case helped give women a voice. Minor v. Happersett also was a major turning point to lead women.

Anthony died on March 13, 1906 in Rochester, New York. Her cause of death was due to heart failure and pneumonia. She fought for women’s rights up until her last breath. Her final words were, “Failure is impossible”. She knew that what she had been fighting for her entire life was eventually going to happen, and it did. 14 years after her death, women were given the right to vote. If it were not for Anthony many people believe women may still not have the right. She devoted her entire life to many causes but her main fight was for women and women have Anthony to thank for having a say in this world today.

Anthony has a dollar coin made in 1979. The coin was only produced in 1981. They stopped making the coin because people thought it was a quarter. The coin talks about liberty, In God we trust and has the date. They started picking up the coin in 1999 but was quickly stopped. The coin today is worth around 12 dollars.

Located in Rochester, New York is the home Anthony lived in for many years. Now it is the Susan B. Anthony Museum and Home. This was the home where she was famously arrested in and had her final breath in. You are now able to take tours of the home and they hold many events there. There is a shop you can go to and you are able to give. When people give, they are giving to help keep the Museum open and Anthony's’ legacy alive.

Anthony worked hard her entire life to end slavery and secure women the right to vote, which would eventually benefit American after her lifetime. In order to establish how this was true, it was important first to examine the overview of Anthony’s early life. Second, the need to be explored in detail of the actions Anthony used to further the Temperance. The third section of this was the work that explained the actions took to further the Anti-Slavery Movement. Fourthly, we explored the actions Anthony helped used to further Women’s Rights. Fifthly, we explored in detail of the Women’s Loyal National League. Finally, in this essay we explored Anthony’s contribution to America's Equal Rights Association. Knowing the struggles of what it took people like Anthony to get women the right to vote and end slavery truly makes you grateful for the time period you live in today.