Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony

October 18, 2004

US History from 1877

Grand View College

The word feminist can be though of in many ways. Some people can hear the

word in a positive way, and think of it as a woman standing up for her gender's rights. Other people can think of it in a negative way, as a woman who is too high strung and opinionated. The word feminist is actually a female who has opinions on the way her sex is treated. Modern feminism will be discussed, along with using some examples such as Susan B. Anthony.

As to the history of feminism, the beginning will be with what is called the "Feminist Revolution" (Rappaport 28). This revolution began in 1837 in New York. Women banded together for the first time at an anti-slavery convention. These women were considered "abolitionists" after being humiliated at a conference in Britain for being unladylike. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. This conference demanded woman suffrage, equality for wives, and the right to practice any profession they chose. Some feminists include Elizabeth Blackwell, Sojourner Truth, Emma Willard, Frances Wright, Mrs. Stanton, Ms. Mott, Mrs. Adams, and Susan B. Anthony.

A brief moment should be spent on a few of the notable women. It started with Emma Willard; she opened up the door for girls to get the same education as boys. She opened schools for females only. Following her is Elizabeth Blackwell. Ms. Blackwell pushed open the doors for women to be professionals. She became the first woman doctor to earn her MD in 1849 (Archer 47). Francis Wright was a Scottish-American reformer who advocated equal education for women. She once stated, "Unless women assume the place in society which good sense and good feeling alike assign to them, human improvement must advance feebly." Her words gave influence to women to earn their first college education.

Other than Ms. Anthony there are three very notable women: Mrs. Elizabeth Cody Stanton, Mrs. Sojourner Truth, and Mrs. John Adams. The three ladies advanced the movement so far that, without them, women would not be anywhere near the liberty of today. Mrs. Stanton began the revolution of women; and also started the Women's Rights Conventions. It was at one of these conventions in 1851 that a freed black female slave named Sojourner Truth spoke. It was probably the most famous speech ever remembered at these conventions. It was called "Ain't I A Woman" (Linthwaite 673). The other most remembered statement made by a lady was by Mrs. Abigail Adams, in March of 1776 (Weisberg, preface). Her statement was in a letter to her husband about writing the Constitution. John Adams was then a delegate to the Continental Congress. Abigail Adams' statement was as follows:

"Remember the ladies. Be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such limited power in the hands of the husbands. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." This statement was the motto and main motive of what was to come in the future.

Susan B. Anthony's influences came from her family, friends, and acquaintances. Starting with her family, are her parents. Her father, a Quaker, courted Susan's mother, a Baptist (Weisberg 23). The unorthodox match was opposed, but the two married anyway. Mrs. Anthony switched faith to become a Quaker. She gave up all the worldly pleasures endowed to her like singing, dancing, and stylish clothes. Susan's mother was Lucy Read, and her father was Daniel Anthony. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony were married in 1817. Over the next sixteen years, the pair would bear eight children, of which six lived. The children were Guelma, Susan, Hannah, Daniel, Mary, Eliza, and Merritt. Ann Eliza, born between Mary and Merritt died in infancy in 1833.

Ms. Anthony moved several times. Some of these times were when she was young and still living at home; and yet more were after she had grown up and moved away. Susan B. Anthony and her family managed to stay around the states of New York and Pennsylvania.

Susan B. Anthony was a well-educated and extremely intelligent woman. Her grandmother decided to teach Susan and her sisters to read. Ms. Anthony started to read at the age of four. "Susan, already noted for her quick mind and eager curiosity was delighted" (Weisberg 25). Ms. Anthony was soon at school. She outgrew the one-room schoolhouse at Battenville in terms of its resources. She once said, "I studied arithmetic and wanted to learn long division, but the teacher didn't know enough to teach me." Susan B. Anthony then joined her sister at boarding school, which was 300 miles away from Battenville. The school was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Daniel Anthony, her father, escorted her there in November of 1837. The trip took a week and included on the trip to Albany, New York, an open, horse-drawn cart, and a steamboat. From there, the father and daughter took a ferry, a train, a canal boat, and a stagecoach (Weisberg 30).

This trip to school in 1837, was soon to be followed by a severe financial depression in the year of 1838. Ms. Anthony's school days ended abruptly. Her father's business had been ruined, and the family fortune was gone. The family home had to be sold and she had to leave the school.

Susan B. Anthony had many jobs and occupations before becoming a feminist leader, but stayed focused on two main jobs; those being either a teacher or a governess. Starting her profession in the spring of 1838, Susan was a teacher in a neighboring town. She stayed at this school for two years. In the spring of 1840, she left to teach at a boarding school in New Rochelle. The fall of 1840, she left her teaching position to take a teaching job in a school district near her home and family. Ms. Anthony then skipped around over the next few years, moving from job to job, working as either a teacher or governess (Weisberg 34).

As for the lifestyle of Ms. Susan B. Anthony, all that can be said is that she was conservative and dignified. Ms. Anthony was seen extensively because of her public speaking (Weisberg 19). The comment made of her apparel was:

Miss Anthony was fashionably dressed in black silk...with flowing sleeves, a broad, graceful lace collar, with gold necklace and pendant. Her abundant hair was bushed back and bound in a knot after the fashion of our grandmothers.

Ms.