Final answer:
Anthony argued that laws prohibiting women the right to vote violated the Constitution because it speaks of 'persons' without excluding women from voting, and the 14th Amendment prevents states from infringing on the privileges and immunities of citizens. Suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton argued against the gender-biased screening of who was fit to vote and highlighted the inequity in taxing single, property-owning women without enfranchising them.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anthony declared that states with laws prohibiting women the right to vote were in violation of the Constitution in her "Speech on Women's Rights" for a few reasons. First, the Constitution speaks of "persons" and does not explicitly exclude women from voting. The 14th Amendment stated that "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States," a principle that proponents of women's suffrage argued should inherently include the right to vote.
Opponents of suffrage often claimed that women did not possess the necessary discretion for voting due to supposed delicate natures and domestic duties, a stance that women's rights activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton fervently contested. Furthermore, arguments by activists like Hannah Corbin highlighted the inequity in taxing single, property-owning women while denying them the vote. The logic underpinning such discriminatory legislation began to crumble as suffragists demonstrated the possession of profound intellects and appealed to the principles of a democratic society formed on the premises of no taxation without representation.