# data[].attributes.headline
Lauren G - An Account of the Proceedings at the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November 1872

# data[].attributes.subject
Lauren G - An Account of the Proceedings at the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November 1872

# data[].attributes.body
Context: In 1868, after decades of civil unrest from many powerful female figures, with much led by freed enslaved peoples, and after the brief halt during the Civil War, as well as the publishing of "The Revolution", by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Parker Pillsbury about a month before, the 15th amendment had finally been ratified. This moment in history was a huge milestone in the abolitionist and feminist movement(s) during this era, demonstrating the birth-right of equality within America, yet only granted to men. With 50% of the country's citizen's disenfranchised still, resistance to the contradictory laws which tried women for casting a ballot was pursued in a revolutionary regard by Susan B. Anthony, upholding a standard of equality which the U.S. constitution alludes to yet, upholds conflicting laws which demean women.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Document controls

Main content

Commentary on An Account of the Proceedings at the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November 1872

Susan B. Anthony illegally cast a ballot in the presidential election of 1872 in Rochester, New York, as an act of civil disobedience. She was arrested, tried, and fined $100. At the end of the trial she gave this stirring speech, which was interrupted on several occasions by the judge.

An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November 1872

Miss Anthony-Yes, your honor, I have many things to say; for in your ordered verdict of guilty, you have trampled under foot every vital principle of our government. My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored. Robbed of the fundamental privilege of citizenship, I am degraded from the status of a citizen to that of a subject; and not only myself individually, but all of my sex, are, by your honor's verdict, doomed to political subjection under this, so-called, form of government.

Judge Hunt-The Court cannot listen to a rehearsal of arguments the prisoner's counsel has already consumed three hours in presenting.

Miss Anthony-May it please your honor, I am not arguing the question, but simply stating the reasons why sentence cannot, in justice, be pronounced against me. Your denial of my citizen's right to vote, is the denial of my right of consent as one of the governed, the denial of my right of representation as one of the taxed, the denial of my right to a trial by a jury of my peers as an offender against law, therefore, the denial of my sacred rights to life, liberty, property and-

Judge Hunt-The Court cannot allow the prisoner to go on.

Miss Anthony-But your honor will not deny me this one and only poor privilege of protest against this high-handed outrage upon my citizen's rights. May it please the Court to remember that since the day of my arrest last November, this is the first time that either myself or any person of my disfranchised class has been allowed a word of defense before judge or jury-

Judge Hunt-The prisoner must sit down-the Court cannot allow it.

Miss Anthony-All of my prosecutors, from the 8th ward corner grocery politician, who entered the complaint, to the United States Marshal, Commissioner, District Attorney, District Judge, your honor on the bench, not one is my peer, but each and all are my political sovereigns; and had your honor submitted my case to the jury, as was clearly your duty, even then I should have had just cause of protest, for not one of those men was my peer; but, native or foreign born, white or black, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, awake or asleep, sober or drunk, each and every man of them was my political superior; hence, in no sense, my peer. Even, under such circumstances, a commoner of England, tried before a jury of Lords, would have far less cause to complain than should I, a woman, tried before a jury of men. Even my counsel, the Hon. Henry R. Selden, who has argued my cause so ably, so earnestly, so unanswerably before your honor, is my political sovereign. Precisely as no disfranchised person is entitled to sit upon a jury, and no woman is entitled to the franchise, so, none but a regularly admitted lawyer is allowed to practice in the courts, and no woman can gain admission to the bar-hence, jury, judge, counsel, must all be of the superior class.

Judge Hunt-The Court must insist-the prisoner has been tried according to the established forms of law.

Miss Anthony-Yes, your honor, but by forms of law all made by men, interpreted by men, administered by men, in favor of men, and against women; and hence, your honor's ordered verdict of guilty, against a United States citizen for the exercise of "that citizen's right to vote," simply because that citizen was a woman and not a man. But, yesterday, the same man made forms of law, declared it a crime punishable with $1,000 fine and six months' imprisonment, for you, or me, or any of us, to give a cup of cold water, a crust of bread, or a night's shelter to a panting fugitive as he was tracking his way to Canada. And every man or woman in whose veins coursed a drop of human sympathy violated that wicked law, reckless of consequences, and was justified in so doing. As then, the slaves who got their freedom must take it over, or under, or through the unjust forms of law, precisely so, now, must women, to get their right to a voice in this government, take it; and I have taken mine, and mean to take it at every possible opportunity.

Judge Hunt-The Court orders the prisoner to sit down. It will not allow another word.

Miss Anthony-When I was brought before your honor for trial, I hoped for a broad and liberal interpretation of the Constitution and its recent amendments, that should declare all United States citizens under its protecting aegis-that should declare equality of rights the national guarantee to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. But failing to get this justice-failing, even, to get a trial by a jury not of my peers-I ask not leniency at your hands-but rather the full rigors of the law.

Judge Hunt-The Court must insist-

(Here the prisoner sat down.)

Judge Hunt-The prisoner will stand up.

(Here Miss Anthony arose again.)

The sentence of the Court is that you pay a fine of one hundred dollars and the costs of the prosecution.

Miss Anthony-May it please your honor, I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty. All the stock in trade I possess is a $10,000 debt, incurred by publishing my paper-The Revolution-four years ago, the sole object of which was to educate all women to do precisely as I have done, rebel against your man-made, unjust, unconstitutional forms of law, that tax, fine, imprison and hang women, while they deny them the right of representation in the government; and I shall work on with might and main to pay every dollar of that honest debt, but not a penny shall go to this unjust claim. And I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to the practical recognition of the old revolutionary maxim, that "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."

Judge Hunt-Madam, the Court will not order you committed until the fine is paid.

Source Citation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
An Account of the Proceedings at the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November 1872

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Commentary on An Account of the Proceedings at the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November 1872 Susan B. Anthony illegally cast a ballot in the presidential election of 1872 in Rochester, New York, as an act of civil disobedience.

# data[].attributes.headline
Grace Hall: Susan B. Anthony: letter to Adelaide Johnson, Feb. 8, 1896

# data[].attributes.subject
Grace Hall: Susan B. Anthony: letter to Adelaide Johnson, Feb. 8, 1896

# data[].attributes.body
Context: In the 1890s in America, there was economic depression sparked by the Panic of 1893; Ford Motors made advancements on automobiles;  Plessy v. Ferguson created the "separate but equal" doctrine on May 18, 1896; by 1896, women had been enfranchised in four states: Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah.

Context Continued:
"Immediately after the Civil War, Susan B. Anthony, a strong and outspoken advocate of women's rights, demanded that the Fourteenth Amendment include a guarantee of the vote for women as well as for African-American males. In 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association."
- This shows the teamwork of various reform movements during this time: the Women's Movement worked with the Abolitionist and African American Movement, the Temperance Movement, etc. Most movements supported each other to get done as much as possible.
Site:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Suffragists, April 22, 1913.

Immediately after the Civil War, Susan B. Anthony, a strong and outspoken advocate of women's rights, demanded that the Fourteenth Amendment include a guarantee of the vote for women as well as for African-American males. In 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Later that year, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and others formed the American Woman Suffrage Association. However, not until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919 did women throughout the nation gain the right to vote.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, women and women's organizations not only worked to gain the right to vote, they also worked for broad-based economic and political equality and for social reforms. Between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed in the United States increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. Although women began to be employed in business and industry, the majority of better paying positions continued to go to men. At the turn of the century, 60 percent of all working women were employed as domestic servants. In the area of politics, women gained the right to control their earnings, own property, and, in the case of divorce, take custody of their children. By 1896, women had gained the right to vote in four states (Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah). Women and women's organizations also worked on behalf of many social and reform issues. By the beginning of the new century, women's clubs in towns and cities across the nation were working to promote suffrage, better schools, the regulation of child labor, women in unions, and liquor prohibition.

Not all women believed in equality for the sexes. Women who upheld traditional gender roles argued that politics were improper for women. Some even insisted that voting might cause some women to "grow beards." The challenge to traditional roles represented by the struggle for political, economic, and social equality was as threatening to some women as it was to most men.

To find additional documents on this topic in Loc.gov, use such key words as women's rights, equality, social reform, and voting rights.

Documents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Women's Suffrage in the Progressive Era | Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929 | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Immediately after the Civil War, Susan B. Anthony, a strong and outspoken advocate of women's rights, demanded that the Fourteenth Amendment include a guarantee of the vote for women as well as for African-American males. In 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1848

Joined the Daughters of Temperance in Canajoharie, N.Y.

By March 1849, had become Presiding Sister of the Montgomery Union, No. 29, of the Daughters of Temperance in Canajoharie, a position she also held after moving to Rochester, N.Y., and joining that city's union in mid-1849

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Timeline | Articles and Essays | Susan B. Anthony Papers | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Joined the Daughters of Temperance in Canajoharie, N.Y. By March 1849, had become Presiding Sister of the Montgomery Union, No. 29, of the Daughters of Temperance in Canajoharie, a position she also held after moving to Rochester, N.Y., and joining that city's union in mid-1849