“No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent.” – Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony Biography

When people think of the rights of women, of the protection of those rights, and of those who fought most vigorously to secure them, few names come to mind swifter, in the United States at least, than that of the passionate women’s suffrage leader Susan B Anthony. Susan B Anthony holds a special place of honour in the history of equality for her unflinching devotion to the cause, her unwavering leadership, and her determination to see women receive the vote. So who was she and what led her down the path of this righteous crusade?

Susan Brownell Anthony was born on 15 February 1820 to a family of reformers. Some of her brothers would later fight against pro-slavery forces in Kansas in order to ensure that when Kansas joined the Union on 29 January 1861, it would do so as a free state. Although they were Quakers by religion, they did not hold with many traditional Quaker ideals. Their family was considered too liberal at the time and a rift grew between them and the rest of the congregation after Susan’s father Daniel Anthony allowed a dance to occur at his home.

In 1837, economic panic struck the country and the Anthonys lost most of their material wealth. Although an uncle bought their belongings at auction and returned them to the family, they were still desperately short of money and so Susan decided to go to work as a teacher at a Quaker school. The Anthonys continued to be at the fringes of society due to their passionate reforming nature and their farm became a place where other like-minded individuals who sought reformation came, including the great Frederick Douglass who was a well-known abolitionist in Rochester, New York.

As Susan B Anthony grew older, she taught herself a range of social reform concepts and worked tirelessly to improve both her knowledge of the subject and her eloquence when it came to delivering her message. For a brief time, she was even a strong proponent of wearing the highly controversial blooming dress, which did not go all the way down to the ankles. Although the dress was far more comfortable and easier for women to wear, she was eventually forced to stop wearing the improved garment so that opponents would be compelled to address her ideas instead of merely criticizing her clothing.

In 1851 at Seneca Falls, Susan B Anthony met another strong and motivated woman called Elizabeth Cady Stanton who had previously written the Declaration of Sentiments which being based upon the United States Declaration of Independence made the proclamation that men and women were created equal and that women should be allowed to vote. The meeting between the pair was fortuitous as Elizabeth and Susan had mutually beneficial skills with Elizabeth being an outstanding writer and Susan being a highly effective organizer and strategist. The pair worked well together and their friendship grew as they continued to work hard in the women’s suffrage movement.

The rights of women in the early and mid-19th century were few and limited. Women did not traditionally work in roles outside of the household and so had little say in society. Added to this, any woman who was successful and generated an income would be compelled by force of law to hand any money over to her spouse. This meant that even a financially capable and successful woman, if she were married, would not have any say in her own financial solvency. Additionally, women were not generally allowed to own any property, and as they could not vote, they could do nothing to alter the situation either.

Between the lack of economic options and the lack of voting power, the rights of women were severely curtailed. However, the women’s reform movement did not grow up in a vacuum and many of the movers and shakers of the women’s rights movement first got their feet...