Susan B. Anthony's Contributions

Women have had to fight for their rights for centuries due to discrimination and double standards. These rights have not come easily and many of the people behind this ongoing fight have not been recognized as fully as they should be for their contributions. One woman at the forefront of the fight, Susan B. Anthony, founded many organizations and travelled around the country giving speeches to support the women's suffrage movement in the 19th century. Her diligence and dedication led to the passing of the nineteenth amendment in 1919, giving women the right to vote. She also fought for the rights of union workers and overall equality. Due to her tireless efforts, Susan B. Anthony established herself as a women's rights advocate and opened the
Her father was the owner of a cotton mill (Peck). Susan's family moved to Battenville, New York when Anthony was six and she was sent to a Quaker school near Philadelphia (Peck). Anthony grew up in a Quaker household where according to Biography.com, “early in her life she developed a sense of justice and moral zeal.” Thus, Anthony's basic character knew early on that everyone should be treated equally. After attending the boarding school, Susan B. Anthony was offered her first paid job at the Canajoharie Academy as head of the girls department in 1846. After leaving this position at the Canajoharie Academy, she then campaigned for equal opportunities and treatment of boys and girls while serving on the Board of Trustees at Rochester’s State Industrial School as well (Susan B. Anthony House). Her teaching career lasted 15 years. Her education and teaching experience served as a basis for the things she went on to
When she was alive during the 1800s, women could not vote, attend college, and were expected to stay at home and cook, clean, and care for their children. Anthony did not agree with any of this, so she, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, another woman at the front of the women's rights movement, formed the National Woman's Suffrage Association (Johnson Lewis). The goal of this organization was to pass an amendment giving women the right to vote. Anthony later became president of The National Women's Suffrage Association (Peck). Because of this desire to vote, Susan B. Anthony went to the polls in Rochester, New York and tried to vote for Ulysses S. Grant who later became president of the United States from 1869 to 1877 (This Day in). She was charged with violating the fourteenth amendment by the United States district attorney, Richard Crowley (Peck). The courtroom was packed when her trial was being held in Ontario County, New York (Susan B Anthony Biography). She was found guilty of illegally voting in the presidential election. Anthony was fined $100 which she never paid (This Day in). Her partnership with Elizabeth Cady Stanton was also very important, as they changed political and social conditions for women in the United States together. Anthony was friends with Amelia Bloomer, a women's rights and temperance activist, which led her to meet Stanton, who