On November 1 1872, Susan B. Anthony, along with a group of women that she had organized, entered a barbershop in order to register to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. According to her argument, women were already constitutionally guaranteed the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment, which said that “all persons born and naturalized in the United States…are citizens…” The women demanded that election inspectors register them to vote, and when the logic of Anthony’s arguments did not sway them, she said, “If you refuse us our rights as citizens, I will bring charges against you in Criminal Court and I will sue each of you personally for large, exemplary damages!” The inspectors consulted with each other and their supervisor, and decided that, by registering the women to vote, they would be taking themselves out of the legal battle, thus placing the entire offense on the shoulders of the women. The community expressed outrage in newspaper editorials, both at the audacity of the women, and at the capitulation of the election inspectors who registered them.
On the morning of November 5, Anthony and seven or eight other women cast their ballots, followed by about eight more women that afternoon. She voted a straight Republican ticket, based upon the party’s promise to respectfully consider the demands of women.
Susan was arrested on November 18, following the complaint filed by a Rochester salt manufacturer named Sylvester Lewis, who charged that Anthony had cast an illegal ballot. Though all of the women who voted, as well as the ballot inspectors who authorized their votes were arrested, Anthony was the only one brought to trial. At the end of the arguments, the judge drew from his pocket a previously drafted statement, in which he declared, “The Fourteenth Amendment gives no right to a woman to vote, and the voting by Miss Anthony was in violation of the law…Assuming that Miss Anthony believed she had a right to vote, that fact constitutes no defense if in truth she had not the right. She voluntarily gave a vote, which was illegal, and thus is subject to the penalty of the law. Upon this evidence, I suppose there is no question for the jury and that the jury should be directed to find a verdict of guilty.” In making this move, the judge took away from the jury the opportunity find Anthony innocent, and one juror was quoted as saying, “Could I have spoken, I should have answered ‘not guilty,’ and the men in the jury box would have sustained me.”
When it came time for sentencing, an exchange between Anthony and Judge Hunt ensued, in which she attempted to argue that her rights were being trampled. Hunt would hear nothing of it, and sentenced her to pay a $100 fine and court costs. In response, she openly refused to pay the fine, though she saw the court costs as honest debt. Judge Hunt cunningly declined to arrest her, knowing that by doing so, she would be unable to appeal his verdict. Ironically, the trial afforded her a measure of notoriety, giving her a much wider reach than she had previously had.
Political cartoon showing President Grover Cleveland, carrying a book entitled “What I know about women’s clubs,” being chased with a “Women’s Suffrage” umbrella by Susan B. Anthony, as Uncle Sam chuckles in the background. The cartoon was created by Charles Bartholomew sometime between 1892 and 1896, by which time Anthony’s work was known worldwide.
Susan B. Anthony continued in her work to obtain equal rights for women until the end of her life. In 1890, she orchestrated the merger between the National Women’s Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association, which was controversial because AWSA was a more conservative organization. Anthony believed that a more moderate approach had a better chance of success, which caused tension between herself and Stanton. She felt it more important to unite the various suffrage movements if they were to see success. In a letter to Stanton, she wrote, “We number over 10,000 women and each one has opinions…we can only hold them together to work for the ballot by letting alone their whims and prejudices on other subjects.” Though Stanton’s own, more radical views, were relegated to the fringe by the merger, Anthony successfully pressed for Stanton to be elected the first NAWSA president, and the pair continued working together toward a common goal.
Susan B. Anthony died at her Rochester, New York home, on March 13, 1906.
She did not live to see the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote. She was the first woman to appear on a U.S. coin, the Susan B. Anthony dollar, which was minted for only four years, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1999. More than a hundred years after her death, Susan B. Anthony remains controversial. Her childhood home in Massachusetts was purchased in August of 2006 by Carol Crossed, founder of the New York chapter of Democrats for Life of America, a pro-life organization. While Anthony was opposed to abortion, it is not known whether that had to with the fact that abortion was often life-threatening in the 19th century, or that contraception was primitive and unreliable. She argued against anti-abortion law, believing that legislation would not prevent unwanted pregnancy. Regardless, her name still carries with it the weight necessary to give validation to the organization’s cause.
So, with election day looming, we remember the fights that were fought so that all of us, regardless of race, religion, or gender, can cast our ballots. With this in mind, how can any of us neglect this privilege? We remember Susan B. Anthony for her courage and conviction, and for the battle that was concluded long after her death.
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