Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Ladies, the woman of our country have come a long way. Years ago, our rights and freedoms were greatly restricted, until two woman made a tremendous positive impact on US history, forever changing the rules and allowing us the freedom to vote, and giving woman the freedom to run for President of the United States.
But those were not the only significant changes that have taken place in somewhat recent history. Do you know why you now have the same rights as a man? Do you know why black women and white women both finally have the same rights? Well, you may not, and that is exactly why I’m here to explain the legacy of two truly remarkable, unstoppable women: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

            Stanton and Anthony were two of the most influential people in United States history. Without these women, it is needless to say, that the world would just not be the way it is today, and that is a fact. Prior to the 1920’s, women had very limited rights with respect to many very important issues, such as the legal rights concerning a woman's body, her ability to vote, to work, as well as other, more simple rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Stanton and Anthony fought their entire lives to try and combat this discrimination and make these rights possible for all female US citizens.

            Stanton was the daughter of a wealthy mother, and a father who was a judge in the courts. Stanton's father had put all of his hopes and dreams into his children, especially his sons. Unfortunately, all of his sons ended up getting ill, and passing away, likely pushing Stanton so hard to make her father happy, but all he could say continuously to her was, “ I wish you were a boy.” That sentence replayed over and over in her head, as you can imagine, and influenced her thoughts and actions as she set out to become one of the  most notorious women's activist leaders in world history. This negative situation brought on by her father was transcended into a positive situation and only made Stanton hustle and bustle a bit more.[2] “Man cannot speak for her, because he has been educated to believe that she differs from him so materially that he cannot judge of her thoughts, feelings, and opinions by his own" (Stanton quoted  in ).[1]

Susan B. Anthony grew up a little bit differently, most notably because she had a father who had great morals at the time he raised her. He did not agree with the way the school system worked at all, and when he saw that his daughter could not practice long division with the boys, he yanked her out of grammar school, and sent her off to Philadelphia to get a proper education. Anthony, held her head high, and proudly went into teaching and leading the female department at the school she worked for. Anthony aspired to be a lot of things, but no way in heck was this woman going to get married, and tend to a man. Anthony was all about not being a “drudge ” and was determined to have equality.[2]  “The old idea that man was made for himself and woman for him, that he is the oak she the vine, he the head, she the heart, he the great conservator of wisdom, she of love, will be reverently laid aside with other long since exploded philosophy's of the ignorant past.” ( Quoted by Susan B. Anthony). [1]

            Anthony and Stanton met in 1851, in the midst of the women's rights convention. Word on the street, was that Anthony was eager to meet Stanton, because she had heard many positive things about the woman, including her passion for standing up for females of any color,all over. Anthony had thought Stanton had reminded her of herself, and was curiously admiring her works from afar. Fortunately, the two had come together, and were the most powerful duo of women the world has yet seen by leading the Women's Rights movement.  Anthony was convinced, that without Women being able to vote, equality was just something the world would never have the privilege of seeing, and therefore, women would not be granted the ability to live a safe, comfortable, equal life. The two went on to fight, lecture, and protest all over. The two even got to write and start the “Revolution” newspaper, which was all about women's suffrage movements.  The duo also went on to create and lead the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton did all the public events, while Anthony did most of the behind the scenes work. The two women did pretty much everything they could to combat patriarchy, and more. In 1863, they were fortunate enough to win over the respect of male abolitionist republicans, which had formed “Women's Loyal National League” which paved the way for thousands of females to protest and prohibit slavery. In 1868, “The Revolution” went on to become a nationwide women's journal! [2 ]
                 Many achievements were completed, and Anthony fought so hard that she wound up getting arrested, but soon released. Despite the arrest, these accomplishments by both Stanton and Anthony were greatly recognized.  Anthony was said to have gone on to fight hard for women's rights, while Stanton at some point, had actually gone back home to be with her husband and six children.[2] Anthony had written many letters to Stanton, in midst of her dismissal. “Oh- How I do think of you & wish I had you here to help on the work-- Can’t you write at some point & send it on-- I can get all and more published than I can get-- Lovingly, yours-- “Susan B. Anthony. (95. The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony : An Awful Hush, 1895 to 1906)  [3]This letter and many more letters out there, led me to believe that Anthony was missing her partner in crime, Stanton. It seems as if though, Anthony was a little bit more introverted, and a fighter, while Stanton was at home tending to her children. It was said that Stanton, at times, lived vicariously through Anthony.  " My whole soul is in the works but my hands belong to my family" she said to Susan. (Judith Wellman-Biographer) [3 ] 
              The picture that I have put here of the two women, pretty much sums up their relationship. Anthony on the right, reading to Stanton and wearing glasses, and Stanton on the left, I assume is being taught something by Anthony. I guess it makes sense, because Stanton was the woman with the babies, and Anthony was the one more actively running around, trying to encourage and enforce change. The picture also shows the beauty of their friendship. It gives me comfort and pleasure  to imagine, that right here in this image, Anthony had come to Stanton's house to ask her advice on something she was about to publish in their newspaper, "The Revolution." Or, maybe Stanton was about to go on stage and speak, and they were both reading over some work they had formed together. Or maybe Anthony was telling Stanton she didn't agree with her works, and they were agreeing on something more suitable, or vice versa. Either way, no matter what the duo were doing in this photo, I'm sure it held great importance, since this remarkable photo is almost everywhere on the internet.

Figure 1: Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) and Susan B. Anthony (standing). Photograph by. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Susan-B-Anthony 

Figure 2. "The Revolution Newspaper" published Jan 15th 1868 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/The_Revolution_vol_1_number_2.png/440px-The_Revolution_vol_1_number_2.png

        
     After all the effort these two women put forth, after all the agony and protesting, one day at the last Women's suffrage Convention meeting, when it was apparent that the 19th amendment for women to vote would not be passed, Anthony fearlessly stood up, and stated, “Failure is Impossible.” It was not until much later that the The 19th amendment  was passed.  Bitter sweetly, it ended up passing  14 years after Anthony had been deceased, and 18 years after Stanton was deceased. Needless to say, these two admirable women kept the movement alive with their passion, long- loving friendship, and bad-ass work ethic! [2 ]

It excites me to state that Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, are the reason that us girls, AND BOYS, got to vote for Hilary Clinton  Clinton a few months ago, and that is a fact. Check out this fun video below! 

Figure 3: Video of Susan B. Anthony created by Dreamworks TV. Aug. 12, 2016. 

 

 

 

References:

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[1] "Susan B. Anthony." Gay & Lesbian Biography, edited by Michael J. Tyrkus and Michael Bronski, St. James Press, 1997. Biography in Context, libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1634000014/BIC1?u=mlin_n_umass&xid=b241683d. Accessed 13 Feb. 2017.

[2] Ken Burns and Paul Barnes ; written by Geoffrey C. Ward ; produced by Paul Barnes, Ken Burns ; directed by Ken Burns. Not For Ourselves Alone : the Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony. [Alexandria, Va.] : Hollywood, CA :PBS Home Video ; Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, 2004. Print.

[3] Bowers, Andy, and Katharine Lee. The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: An Awful Hush, 1895 to 1906. Edited by Ann D. Gordon et al., Rutgers University Press, 2013, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hjfh1.