Essays on Susan B Anthony

February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906

Susan B. Anthony was an American activist who was a pioneer crusader for the women’s suffrage movement in the United States and was president (1892–1900) of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Her work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

In 1878, Anthony and Stanton arranged for Congress to be presented with an amendment giving women the right to vote. The Senate debated what came to be known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment periodically for more than four decades. Approved by the Senate on June 4, 1919, and ratified in August 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment marked one stage in women's long fight for political equality.

Anthony helped fugitive slaves escape and held an anti-slavery rally. She and Stanton gathered signatures to pass the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution formally abolishing slavery. She was also part of the Underground Railroad.

Principal among Anthony’s written works are the first four volumes of the six-volume History of Woman Suffrage, written with Stanton and Matilda J. Gage. Various of her writings are collected in The Elizabeth Cady Stanton–Susan B. Anthony Reader (1992), edited by Ellen Carol DuBois, and The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1997), edited by Ann D. Gordon.

Susan B. Anthony, an American women's rights activist, devoted her life to racial, gender, and educational equality. One of the most famous women in American history, she played a prominent role in the women's suffrage movement; the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, is named in her honor. She became the first female citizen to be depicted on U.S. coinage when her portrait appeared on the 1979 dollar coin.

“I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet.”
“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”
“Woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself.”