People had ridiculed Anthony as an "old maid" who wanted to upset the traditional authority of men. But the courage she had shown at her trial won her new respect. Gradually, public opinion swung in her favor. It would take years of struggle, but women one day would win the right to vote. Quaker women were allowed to speak at religious meetings, to vote on church matters, and to become ministers. At home, daughters were treated as no less important than sons.
This was highly unusual in a time when a woman had no property other than her clothes. If she earned money, it belonged to her husband. He had complete control over their children. She could not sign a contract, make a will, or sue in a court of law. She could not vote in elections. By custom, women were barred from higher education and almost all professions except teaching.
Anthony first became active in the Daughters of Temperance, an organization that crusaded against the sale and use of liquor. Drunkenness was becoming a serious problem, especially for the wives of alcoholic husbands. Wife beating was not a crime, nor was alcoholism grounds for divorce.
Like her parents, Susan B. Anthony also became an abolitionist, supporting immediate freedom for slaves.
Susan B. Anthony is most famous as an early leader of the women's rights movement. She became convinced that women could not achieve equality unless they won the right to vote. In 1869, she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton started a new organization, the National Woman Suffrage Association. Its goal was nothing less than the passage of an amendment to the Constitution that would give women the right to vote.
Stanton was married and the mother of six children. She divided her time between her family and the women's rights movement. But Anthony, who had remained single, devoted herself entirely to her cause.
It was not an easy life. Anthony gave lectures all over the country in support of women's suffrage. In one year alone, she traveled 13,000 miles and gave 171 lectures. Many nights she had to sleep in railroad stations.
She often was heckled, or worse. Gangs of ruffians sometimes broke into her lectures and threw rotten eggs at her. She was accused of undermining the home, the family, and the purity of American womanhood.
But after the famous trial in 1872, she won more and more support. Younger women rallied around her. They too went out and made speeches and handed out petitions. Affectionately, they called her "Aunt Susan." Even some men were beginning to admire her.
When Susan B. Anthony started campaigning, lots of people rejected her. But on her 80th birthday she was invited to the White House to meet president, William McKinley.
In February 1906, Susan B. Anthony made her last speech at a convention in Baltimore. She was given a 10 minute ovation. She told the women, "I am here for a little time only, and then my place will be filled... The fight must not cease. You must see that it does not stop. Failure is impossible."
In March, she became ill and had to stay in bed in her Rochester, NY home. At that time, only four states, all in the West, allowed women to vote. Anthony told a friend, "I have been striving for over 60 years for a little bit of justice... and yet I must die without obtaining it. Oh, it seems so cruel." She was dead two days later.
Other women carried on the struggle. In 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment o the Constitution which was ratified in 1920 by the states. It said, "The right of a citizen of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."
One hundred years after her birth, Susan B. Anthony's dream had come true!
This was highly unusual in a time when a woman had no property other than her clothes. If she earned money, it belonged to her husband. He had complete control over their children. She could not sign a contract, make a will, or sue in a court of law. She could not vote in elections. By custom, women were barred from higher education and almost all professions except teaching.
Anthony first became active in the Daughters of Temperance, an organization that crusaded against the sale and use of liquor. Drunkenness was becoming a serious problem, especially for the wives of alcoholic husbands. Wife beating was not a crime, nor was alcoholism grounds for divorce.
Like her parents, Susan B. Anthony also became an abolitionist, supporting immediate freedom for slaves.
Susan B. Anthony is most famous as an early leader of the women's rights movement. She became convinced that women could not achieve equality unless they won the right to vote. In 1869, she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton started a new organization, the National Woman Suffrage Association. Its goal was nothing less than the passage of an amendment to the Constitution that would give women the right to vote.
Stanton was married and the mother of six children. She divided her time between her family and the women's rights movement. But Anthony, who had remained single, devoted herself entirely to her cause.
It was not an easy life. Anthony gave lectures all over the country in support of women's suffrage. In one year alone, she traveled 13,000 miles and gave 171 lectures. Many nights she had to sleep in railroad stations.
She often was heckled, or worse. Gangs of ruffians sometimes broke into her lectures and threw rotten eggs at her. She was accused of undermining the home, the family, and the purity of American womanhood.
But after the famous trial in 1872, she won more and more support. Younger women rallied around her. They too went out and made speeches and handed out petitions. Affectionately, they called her "Aunt Susan." Even some men were beginning to admire her.
When Susan B. Anthony started campaigning, lots of people rejected her. But on her 80th birthday she was invited to the White House to meet president, William McKinley.
In February 1906, Susan B. Anthony made her last speech at a convention in Baltimore. She was given a 10 minute ovation. She told the women, "I am here for a little time only, and then my place will be filled... The fight must not cease. You must see that it does not stop. Failure is impossible."
In March, she became ill and had to stay in bed in her Rochester, NY home. At that time, only four states, all in the West, allowed women to vote. Anthony told a friend, "I have been striving for over 60 years for a little bit of justice... and yet I must die without obtaining it. Oh, it seems so cruel." She was dead two days later.
Other women carried on the struggle. In 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment o the Constitution which was ratified in 1920 by the states. It said, "The right of a citizen of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."
One hundred years after her birth, Susan B. Anthony's dream had come true!