What Happened
Susan B. Anthony first questioned why a skilled female weaver could not oversee her father’s cotton mill in Adams, Massachusetts, while the male overseer relied on her expertise to fix machinery. This early irritation grew into a career spent challenging state and federal laws that excluded women. She joined forces with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to agitate for woman suffrage, petitioning Congress and state legislatures during the drafting of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. She fought the prioritization of male-only voting rights, navigated political alliances with abolitionists, and endured public abuse from editors like Horace Greeley. Through constant petitioning, speaking tours, and the publication of The Revolution, she transitioned from a local teacher into a relentless strategist demanding full citizenship for women in the American republic.
Key figures
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Close collaborator and fellow strategist for woman suffrage.
- Daniel Anthony
Susan's father and a Quaker cotton mill owner.
- Horace Greeley
Tribune editor and ally-turned-opponent regarding woman suffrage.
- Lucy Stone
Abolitionist and pioneer for women's educational and voting rights.
- American Equal Rights Association
Group advocating for universal suffrage regardless of race or sex.
What it's really about
- Suffrage and Citizenship
- Defining voting rights through federal constitutional amendments.
- Strategic Alliances
- Navigating tensions between abolitionism and the women's rights movement.
Why it's memorable
- Eleven-year-old Susan questioning why her father won't promote the most skilled weaver to overseer.
- Anthony circulating suffrage petitions across New York despite threats from former political allies.
Where it lands
Even as her Republican allies grew confident and withdrawn, Anthony refused to endorse any party that did not recognize women's right to vote.
For your book club
- Should the women's movement have compromised their goals to ensure the passage of Negro suffrage?
- How did Anthony's Quaker upbringing shape her persistence against prevailing social norms?