February 15 marks the 205th anniversary of Susan B. Anthony’s birth. A pioneer in the fight for women’s rights, Anthony was born to a Quaker family near Adams, Massachusetts, where she worked towards the abolitionist cause from a young age. Deeply influenced by the social justice testimony of her Quaker faith, Anthony served as a teacher and later became a New York State agent for the American Anti-Slavery Association and a staunch proponent of the temperance movement.
As a young woman, Susan B. Anthony noticed a gender pay gap among the staff at the school where she worked. Later in life, she was denied the right to speak at a temperance convention. These experiences motivated her to work for women’s suffrage as a step towards equality.
In the 1850s, Anthony found a new cause worthy of her attention: women’s suffrage. After meeting Elizabeth Cady Stanton at an anti-slavery conference in 1851, the pair joined forces, founding the Women’s New York State Temperance Society in 1852, and the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. By 1869, Anthony and Stanton had founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association.
Anthony worked tirelessly for the right to vote, organizing petition campaigns, lobbying state legislatures, and traveling around the country to give lectures. The motto of the women’s rights newspaper she founded with Stanton, The Revolution, captured the essence of their mission: “Men, their rights, nothing more; women their rights, nothing less.”
While Anthony’s contributions to women’s rights were monumental, it is important to acknowledge the racial limitations of her advocacy. She did not scruple to voice her disdain for the Black suffrage movement. During the 1860s, Anthony opposed the 15th Amendment, which granted Black men the right to vote but did not include women. She famously declared: “I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the negro and not the woman.”
This led to a split in the women’s rights movement. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association, which excluded Black women and opposed suffrage for Black men, while Lucy Stone (1818-1893) led the more inclusive American Woman Suffrage Association. The two groups later merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
By the early 1870s, the movement had gained significant momentum, and its proponents had transitioned to decidedly confrontational tactics in their activism. In 1872, Anthony was arrested, indicted, and tried for casting her ballot in the 1872 election. She was fined $100 but refused to pay, leveraging her trial as an opportunity to argue that denying women the right to vote was unconstitutional. Despite her tireless activism, Anthony never lived to cast a ballot legally. On August 19th, 1920, 14 years after her death, the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote in the United States.
Anthony was arrested in 1872 for voting in the presidential election, arguing that the 14th Amendment granted her that right. She delivered speeches across the United States. In one speech, she said, “Woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself.”
Anthony’s tireless advocacy for women’s rights was bolstered by the tenacity of Black women’s rights activists. From Sojourner Truth to Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Maria Stewart, Black women were the unsung heroes of the suffrage movement – individuals whose contributions remain overshadowed and underrepresented today.
In our unprecedented era in American history, it is important to reflect on the women who fought valiantly to secure our right to vote. In August, the United States will celebrate the 105th anniversary of women’s suffrage. Today, women’s rights are more vulnerable than ever. Anthony’s legacy serves as a powerful reminder that the fight for equality is lifelong, and freedom – particularly women’s freedom – must be actively defended.
Watch our Stand UP, Speak OUT docuseries to learn more about the history of women’s rights and hear from women who experienced its impact on their lives.
