Why Is Susan B Anthony Important

Throughout history there have been various influential people. It is interesting to think what would have happened if certain people met each other and had conversations together. Sometimes you can imagine what would have occurred if two people worked together to accomplish a similar goal that they both had. With the technology and resources provided to us today, we are able to educate ourselves about individuals and then imagine what would have occurred if they had met each other.
Simply put, Susan B. Anthony was a women’s rights advocate. She saw issues in the world that made things unfair to women and she decided to stand up and fight for a change. This is a common thing we see throughout history where people do not agree with what is happening so they stand up and fight to change it. Anthony knew that she could not just sit at home and complain about the issues because then nothing would change. Susan B. Anthony grew up with a thirst for knowledge. She attended public school up until her teacher decided that women did not need to learn long division. This thought that women did not need to be
educated because they were just going to be housewives infuriated Anthony. Her father believed in women being educated and decided to create an educational program that would teach women. Anthony attended her father’s program until she herself became a teacher and continued the legacy of teaching women.
After teaching under her father for some time, Anthony went and taught at another school, and this is where she encountered more people thinking women did not deserve as much as men. Men were being paid $10 a month, while women were being paid $2.50 a month. (Susan B. Anthony Facts) Susan B. Anthony did not think this was fair because the men were being paid more than the women and they were doing the same work. She went on to fight for women’s rights in all aspects. At this time, women were not allowed to vote which was not fair because they were just as much citizens of the country as the men were. Anthony partnered with other women to be advocates for women’s rights. The major issue that Anthony focused on was the right to vote for women. She gave multiple speeches all around the country to convince people that since women were citizens, they also had the right to vote. In 1872 (history.com), Anthony decided to make a stand for women and voted in the Presidential election. She was arrested and fined, but she never paid. Although she was not alive when women finally received the right to vote, she was one of the main reasons it happened.
Emily Dickinson is an American poet who has, on several occasions, been hailed as one of the great American poets, standing among the likes of Walt Whitman and Robert Frost. Emily Dickinson changed the way we read poetry and the way that poets write. She hardly ever went by the usual rules of language, punctuation, and rhythm that many writers swore by. This idea also reigned true in her everyday life. The way Emily chose to live her life is seen as limiting and sometimes even selfish to some, but to Dickinson the way she lived was liberating.
Emily Dickinson is most well known for being a reclusive person and almost never left her house unless absolutely necessary.
She often kept in touch with close friends by letter writing rather than human interaction. Seven of her works were published during her lifetime, and most of them were published without her consent. She felt very personally connected to her poetry and rarely let anyone see it. When she was on her deathbed, she asked her sister to burn her journals and letters. This showed that she was extremely reclusive and an extreme introvert. Emily never got married, or had a relationship for that matter, even though she is most well known for her love poems. Her choice to not get married gave her freedom and once again even though her choices can be seen as oppressive, they did the exact opposite by giving her a chance to live her life exactly as she
wanted. Decades after the deaths of Emily Dickinson and Susan B. Anthony, time travel has been invented and it becomes extremely common for one to transport between time periods. Throughout the past two years of it being around, there have been a handful of influential people who have come to the present to see if they really were influential to modern day people. In April of 2016, Anthony and Dickinson travel to the present to explore what the world is like in the twenty first century. Everything has changed so much since their time, so the two meet in New York at a local coffee shop just to talk. They have been in the twenty first century for almost two months when they meet for coffee.
Dickinson: “Hello Miss Anthony! How are you?”
Anthony: “I am well, thank you, and you?”
Dickinson: “I’m well. This time travel is incredible is it not?”
Anthony: “Absolutely! I never could have imagined anything like it!”
Dickinson: “The people are so different now. When they dress themselves, there is a lot of skin uncovered. It is quite strange.”
Anthony: “That is something I too have noticed. They speak different than our time but I am beginning to understand more.”
Dickinson: “I often wonder why they don’t speak in the same way as we did. I too am beginning to understand more. Also, I am beginning to speak a little like them.”
Anthony: “I have noticed. What have you been doing since you arrived?”
Dickinson: “I have mostly been going to libraries and reading poetry from my time. I never knew that my poems would become popular and end up in libraries.”
Anthony: “Have you read any poetry from this century yet to see how it has changed?”
Dickinson: “Actually, I have read quite a lot of this century’s poetry.”
Anthony: “What’s your favorite poem from this century that you have read so far?”
Dickinson: “The Mermaid by Michael Faudet is quite extraordinary.”
Anthony: “I’ve read that one as well. It’s a lovely poem.”
Dickinson: “Indeed, Miss Anthony, do you feel accomplished now that women have the right to vote?”
Anthony: “Yes, it is remarkable that women now have the right to vote. I wish that women in our time would have been able to vote and have that freedom. Once I gave a speech about how the fourteenth amendment gave women the right to vote. It states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside.” Therefore, women should have been given the right to vote.”
Dickinson: ”It is a colossal step forward now that women have the same right as men do, although we still have a far way to go don't we?”
Anthony: “Yes, there is still a good deal of improvements that can be made. Now, people take voting for granted. They do not realize the great amount of work that various individuals did in order to give them the right to vote.”
Dickinson: “I agree completely. It took a tremendous amount of work for women to get the right to vote, and now they don’t feel the need to exercise this right and go out and vote. Did you know that I met some people here in this time that do not plan to vote in the upcoming Presidential election?
Anthony: “I have encountered people who told me the same thing! I cannot comprehend why they would not want to vote! Once I went to vote in the Presidential election even though women did not have the right to vote yet. I wanted to voice my opinion because I am a United States citizen.”
Dickinson: “Did any law officials discover you in the voting site?”
Anthony: “Yes, they arrested me and gave me a fine just for voting! They say it’s a free country but then they arrested me for voicing my opinion on who should be the next President of the United States!”
Dickinson: “That is absurd! You should not have been fined for voicing your opinion and exercising your right to vote, did you pay the fine?”
Anthony: “Absolutely not! It is a free country and I should have been able to vote if that is what I wanted to do. I was a legal citizen. Men who were citizens had the right to vote and women should have as well. Women and men were not treated equally back in our time and that was a major issue we had. Before I began trying to persuade the government into letting women vote, I was a teacher and at the school I was working at, the wages were unfair. Men were getting paid $10 a month while women were being paid $2.50 a month. We were all doing the same work, but somehow they were being compensated more for it.”
Dickinson: “I was speaking to an individual this evening, and she expressed to me that what you just talked about is still happening in this day and age!”
Anthony: “I heard the same thing!
Dickinson: “Did you do anything else to be an advocate for women?”
Anthony: “I worked for a newspaper called, The Revolution. We worked to make women aware of the disadvantages they had because of their gender.”
Dickinson: “What was the result of that newspaper?”
Anthony: “Women formed a union because they had been excluded from the men’s union. Nobody had realized that the men excluded them until the newspaper made them aware. Did you know that some girls are still not allowed to attend school? When I was younger and going to school, my teacher refused to continue teaching me because she said women did not have a need for an education. I wish that had changed, but some people still view women in that way.”
Dickinson: “I visited a library, and learned about Malala Yousafzai. She is young women from Pakistan who is an activist for women’s education all around the world.”
Anthony: “That’s incredible! I wish that there was someone like her in our time when all I wanted was an education. My father opened a school for me so that I could receive the education I wanted.
Dickinson: I attended Amherst Academy. (Famous People) It was difficult at times because I was a woman, but it was well worth it. At first, I wanted an education to grow in my writing skills. Eventually I left school because I did not want to be around that many people everyday. My father also wanted me to stop going to school.
Anthony: I always used to say, “The day will be approaching when the whole world will recognize women as the equal of man.” (Brainy Quote) There is still more advancement that can be made, but the world has made improvements since we have passed.”
Dickinson: “I never thought that my poems would be published. I had a more difficult time than the men because I was not one of them.”
Anthony: “Did you ever attempt to have your poetry published?”
Dickinson: “Yes, I did and one time there was a man in charge of the company and he told me that my poetry was not capable of being published. He probably did not even read it and just assumed it was not well written poetry because I was not a man.”
Anthony: “That is exactly how I felt with voting. I would have been allowed to vote that day, and not arrested, if I had simply been a man.”
Dickinson: “At least you stood up for what you believed in. Since I have traveled to this time I have began to regret not standing up for women more back then. At the end of my life I began to live in seclusion. I stayed in my house and barely spoke to people. Although I did not go out into the world anymore, I continued to write my poetry.”
Anthony: “You seem so social, I never would have imagined that you lived in seclusion. What was that like?”
Dickinson: “At times, it was very lonely, but it was what I wanted and it was my choice. It was easier than facing the world. Like I said, I continued to write my poetry which kept me happy and fulfilled.”
Anthony: “What did you do in times where you felt lonely?”
Dickinson: “I would write poetry during that time and I would write letters to my sister in law, Susan Gilbert. I wrote her around three hundred (Emily Dickinson) letters in that time.”
Anthony: “That’s so wonderful that you had someone to communicate with during that time and that you took time to focus on your writing. How are you so comfortable talking to everyone now and going to libraries all the time?”
Dickinson: “I think I just got over the secluded way of life. I did that once and now I want to experience the world and what it has to offer. I really want to learn more about the world and how things are now and I need to go out in order to do that. The invention of the computer would have been extremely useful to me during my seclusion time though. It would have made speaking to publishers possible.”
Anthony: “Technology has taken over the world in this time. Everywhere you go, you see people on those telephone inventions but nobody is talking so I’m not really sure how they are used for “communication.”
Dickinson: “I have noticed that as well. They say they are used to communicate with others quickly but there is nobody speaking on them.. It is quite strange. Their technology does not make much sense.”
Anthony: “I try to understand it, but I just cannot!”
Dickinson: “I read something at the hospital the other day that will amaze you. There is a woman running in this year's Presidential election!”
Anthony: “I never would have thought that could be possible. That is such an amazing step forward for all women. What is her name?”
Dickinson: “Hillary Clinton. It is quite incredible the progress women have made.”
Anthony: “Women have come from not being allowed to continue their education to running for President of the United States.”
Dickinson: “Women can finally vote as well, not just men.”
Anthony: “Did you ever try to vote like I did?”
Dickinson: “No I did not, but I often wished I could vote.”
Anthony: “There will never be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” (Brainy Quote)
Dickinson: “Now that women can vote, they have the ability to reach equality eventually.”
Anthony: “It may take some more time, but they’ll get there eventually.”
Dickinson: “I have noticed that now there are other groups being left out. Culture has not really changed since our time. People have always had prejudice against a certain group of people.”
Anthony: “It is quite horrible. People should accept others for who they are and eliminate prejudice.”
Dickinson: “If only there was something we could do to make people aware of what is going on. They need to stop this cycle now.”
Anthony: “We could schedule times to give speeches about our experiences with prejudice and how to avoid it.”
Dickinson: “We could also remind people that they need to vote because people worked hard for that right.”
Anthony: “Another important thing we should let people know is that they should appreciate school and their education. College is essential if they want to have a successful future.”
Dickinson: “I agree with you and we could also mention that reading various types of writing could help.”
Anthony: “Let’s meet back up here tomorrow to figure out our plans more. How much longer are the time travelers letting you stay here?”
Dickinson: “I will be here for one more month.”
Anthony: “We will meet tomorrow to discuss our plans. Goodbye!”
Dickinson: “Goodbye! See you tomorrow.”