Susan B. Anthony, the Constitution and the Vote
 "One-half of the people of this nation to-day are utterly powerless to blot from the statute books an unjust law, or to write there a new and a just one." Susan B. Anthony

On November 5, 1872, Susan Brownell Anthony and her sisters, slipped ballots into a ballot box
in Rochester, New York. It was considered an outrage.

Susan B. Anthony alone was charged with violating The Enforcement Act of 1870 by voting in a federal election without having a lawful right to vote. Read accounts of the trial.

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony | Library Of Congress - Susan B Anthony Defendent.

Trial of Miss Anthony for Illegal Voting New York Times article June 19, 1873

The story of Susun B Anthony and her first vote

Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment

Votes for Women LOC | Justice Ward Hunt

Not for Ourselves Alone

Speech made by Judge Henry R. Selden Acting as defense attorney at Susan B. Anthony's trial for voting illegally, June 17, 1873.

Civil Rights Act of 1870 (The Enforcement Act), 16 Stat. 140 (1870).

Did she violate The Enforcement Act? Explain.

 

Was she treated fairly and legally under the United States Constitution?

Support your answer.

Susan B Anthony portrait

 

"I do not ask the clemency of the court. I came into it to get justice, having failed in this,
I demand the full rigors of the law." ~ Susan Brownell Anthony

"Failure is impossible." Her final public words.

Speech on the Right to Vote

Extensions:

In 1871, Sara J. Spencer and Sarah E. Webster each brought cases before the court in the District of Columbia.
They argued that they were enfranchised by the Fourteenth Amendment. 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

What do you think?

The 19th Amendment of the U, S, Constitution granted women the right to vote. It was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Identify a prominent women's suffrage activist from your state. How did that person advocate for suffrage?
How has your state recognized the person's efforts? Women's Suffrage at LOC

Create a timeline of events from 1800 to 1995 pertaining to women's rights. ReadWriteThink - Timeline generator

When Susan B Anthony was born in 1820 no school of higher learning in the United States admitted women. By the end of the century,
nearly half of all colleges admitted women. But women were still denied the right to vote. When she spoke regarding women's rights she wore a red shawl. It became her advocacy badge. People expected to see her wearing it when she spoke.

Examine your Government's Demographic Statistics | Voting and Elections project and essays | Who represents you?

Founding Mothers and Daughters of Liberty | What is the nature of public service? Wangari Maathai

Gentle Annie: Civil War Nurse | National Constitution Center | National Museum of American History

A Woman Got it Done Internet activity | Women remain single | Women's Suffrage - recognize a suffragette

Exceptional Women of Pennsylvania Activity | Outstanding Women of the World Activity

The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2), by Ida Husted Harper


Internet Hunts / Civics activities / Nature / Pennsylvania Projects / Computers / Puzzles & Projects / Site map / Home

All trademarks, copyright and logos belong to their respective owners.
Cynthia J. O'Hora posted 4/2006. In honor of all the women who have fought for equal rights released to public domain.

Susan B. Anthony

"No ministering angel, she
To bind up wounds
or cool the fevered brow
With the soft hand of pity.

She was of that sterner stuff
Whereof God makes his heroes.
Stalwart, stark, yet pitiful withal,
With tearless tenderness that found expression
in deeds of battle for the cause of right.

Hers was the warrior soul
Locked in a woman's heart,
Predestined to do battle.

Nobly she strove, yet sacrificed no whit
Of that true womanhood
Which was her high ideal.

A lady valiant she,
Semiramis of suffrage, who enlarged
The boundries that spaciously enclose
Her sex's empire.

Great were her labors, great her victories,
As liberty attests. The pay be hers.

Yet this her greatest glory-
That though opposing and opposed thereby
To stale conventions by the world esteemed,
She overthrew them; yet at last still held
The love of women and respect of men."

History and Genealogy of "Elder" John Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts His English Ancestors and American Decendants

 

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