Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born November 12th, 1815. She was raised with an abolitionist background and carried her abolitionist beliefs out and acted upon them. She fought strongly for the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments because she wanted African American men to have the right to vote. Stanton felt that African Americans were entitled to vote, and so were women. Along with Susan B. Anthony, she fought for African American and women suffrage and rights. Both felt that the language of the amendments must be changed in order to grant full and secure equality. In 1868, Stanton and Anthony started a women's rights weekly called the ''Revolition". The editorials showed greater opportunities for working women and articles to encourage women to demand their granted their rights. Later both women founded the Nation Woman Suffrage Association to get federal passage of the women's suffrage amendment. Stanton traveled across the country trying to gain support and encourage women to take action. Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for the rights of women and was a leader in the fight for women suffrage.

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Research Question

I am studying Susan B. Anthony's beliefs about women's rights because I want to find out how women impacted society and helped create change to our history, in order to help my reader understand how influential women and their actions influenced new laws and society.

Research Question: Did Anthony's actions and beliefs influence congressional decisions?

Final Overview

After reading these three articles, I learned how influential women are to our history. Women like Susan B. Anthony took action against injustice to women and the effect was success. Anthony and many other activists including the NAWSA, did not only take action but encouraged others to take action as well. The women who took action and fought for their rights helped the Nineteenth get ratified. I feel that even today the power of women is underestimated. After reading, i still have questions such as, why did it take so long for change to be made? Why did congress feel that women should not have the right to vote? Where other movements taken but ignored? I think it is important to read about women because they are extremely powerful and make a difference in our history. The actions that these women took lead to change and a better country with true equality.

Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment was a women's suffrage amendment that was introduced to congress in 1868. Ten years later, the suffrage supporters proposed the new Amendment. They called this the "so-called Anthony Amendment", named for Susan B. Anthony, which was modeled off of the Fifteenth Amendment. This amendment provided that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex".  Suffragists were unsure of the prospects of a constitutional amendment and resorted to breaking laws. Susan B. Anthony was prosecuted for attempting to vote when she did not have a "lawful right". After being convicted the Supreme Court rejected the her rights and held the Fourteenth Amendment against her. Their evidence was that the Fourteenth Amendment did not give the right to vote to women. The Constitution allows states to determine the qualifications for voting and before the amendment, most states neglected women. Taken back by the women's activist, the suffragist movement succeeding and persuaded Congress to enact the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18th 1920. This amendment guarantees women the right to vote and was a huge accomplishment in the history of women.

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Susan B. Anthony: Women's Right to Vote speech (1873)

In 1872, Susan B. Anthony, an American woman suffragist, tried to cast a vote in the U.S presidential election. This action was illegal. For this, she was fined $100 which she refused to pay. Due to this in justice, she delivered speeches to secure her efforts of the women's rights, and the right to vote in the United States. Anthony was outraged because she did not feel that she was committing a crime, but fulfilling her responsibility as a citizen. She felt that she was practicing her given right guaranteed by the Constitution. Anthony sees the laws as a mockery because all citizens are equal and granted equal rights, but women do not get to receive them. The equality is spoken of but not given. She is enraged that women are not allowed to vote because they are citizens and it is unjust to only give our guaranteed rights to one gender. Anthony states " To them this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy; a hateful oligarchy of sex". She expresses that she feels the government is no longer just and is not a democracy. It is a government that favors one sex and rejects the rights to the other.  Susan B. Anthony is encouraging women to carry out their rights and fight for the ones not being given.

http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/253900?terms=susan+b+anthony

National American Women Suffrage Association

The National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was created in 1890. It was a merge of two different organizations, the National Women Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. The main goal for the organization was to fight for women's rights and receive the equality they deserved. For over 30 years the organization served as a advocate for woman suffrage, public education, seeking support and assisting in campaigns for amendments. Due to the NAWSA efforts and many other activists, the 19th amendment was ratified granting voting rights to women. The first president of the organization was Elizabeth Cady Straton then followed by Susan B. Anthony. The organization was infused with the ideas of a younger generation of feminists who had attended college and had careers. These women wanted to move past the discrimination of women and show how powerful and equal women are.The National American Women Suffrage Association strived to grant equality for women.With the help of the NAWSA, the federal suffrage law was passed but congressional supporters were unable to obtain action on it.  Under the NAWSA seven states adopted constitutional amendments granting women suffrage rights. Anthony was so determined to gain the support that of women that she even admitted that "I myself asked Mr. Douglass not to come. . . . I did not want anything to get in the way of bringing the Southern white women into our suffrage association." Anthony did not women to be discouraged to attend so she felt that having a black man present would decrease her support. She felt she had to do whatever she could to gain support. After the 19th Amendment was ratified, the NAWSA became the League of Women Voters.
I feel that the National American Women Suffrage Association was extremely powerful and is an example to women everywhere that if we take action, we will get results.

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Susan B. Anthony

          Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachussettes on Feburary 15th, 1820. Anthony was an American civil rights leader who played a strong role in the fight for women's rights in the 19th century. She worked hard to raise awareness of the suffrage of women. She was the co-founder of the Women's Temperence Movement and co-founded the first women's civil rights journal, The Revolution. In her early years she petitioned against slavery and took strong roles in the anti slavery movements. The American Equal Rights Association, which fought for the rights of men and women, supported the 15th amendment which granted suffrage to blacks, not women. This angered Anthony and as a result she devoted her life to getting women the equal rights they deserve.
          In 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Straton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association that was dedicated to granting women equal rights. In the early years of the assocation, Anthony made many attempts to unite the women that were involved in the labor movement with the suffragist cause.
In February 1890, Anthony began the merger of the NWSA with the American Woman Suffrage Association. This was now called the National American Women Suffrage Association. The creatation of the NAWSA effectivly started more radical elements in the movement. Susan B.Anthony fought for the rights of women and dedicated her life to creating and granting equality for women.

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