Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony
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Susan B. Anthony

Born February 15, 1820(1820-02-15)
Adams, Massachusetts
Died March 13, 1906 (aged 86)
Rochester, New York
Occupation Suffragist, women's rights advocate

Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She traveled the United States and Europe, and gave 75 to 100 speeches per year on women's rights for 45 years.

On November 18, 1872, Anthony was arrested by a U.S. Deputy Marshal for alleged illegal voting in the 1872 Presidential Election two weeks earlier. She had written to Stanton on the night of the election that she had "positively voted the Republican ticket – straight...". She was tried and convicted seven months later, despite the stirring and eloquent presentation of her arguments that the recently adopted Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" the privileges of citizenship, and which contained no sex qualification, gave women the constitutional right to vote in federal elections. The sentence was a fine, but not imprisonment; and true to her word in court, she never paid the penalty for the rest of her life. The trial gave Anthony the opportunity to spread her arguments to a wider audience than ever before.