Question

Read "On Women's Right to Vote," a speech given by Susan B. Antony after she was arrested for voting in the 1872 presidential election. Then, respond to the question that follows. Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny. The preamble of the Federal Constitution says: "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people -women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government—the ballot. For any state to make sex a qualification that must ever result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people, is to pass a bill of attainder, or, an ex post facto law, and is therefore a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it the blessings of liberty are forever withheld from women and their female posterity. To them this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed. To them this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is

Answer 1

a system of oppression, based on the denial of women's rights to participate in the democratic process. The government, by denying women the right to vote, goes against the principles of the Constitution, which was established to secure the blessings of liberty for all citizens, not just a select few.

Susan B. Anthony argues that the Constitution does not exclude women from its protection; instead, it includes "we, the people," encompassing all citizens, regardless of gender. She emphasizes that the denial of women's suffrage is a violation of the fundamental democratic principles on which the United States was founded. To deny women the right to vote is to deny them their rightful place in a government that should derive its powers from the consent of all its governed citizens.

Anthony calls out the injustice of disfranchising half of the population based on their sex, referring to such actions as a "bill of attainder" or an "ex post facto law." These terms imply that the denial of women's voting rights is not only unfair but also unconstitutional, as it effectively punishes an entire group without proper legal process.

In her speech, Susan B. Anthony passionately argues that until women are granted the right to vote, they will not truly enjoy the blessings of liberty promised by the Constitution. She sees voting as the most critical means for women to secure their rights and actively participate in shaping the government that governs them.

Her speech makes a powerful case for women's suffrage, challenging the status quo and advocating for a more inclusive and just democratic-republican government. Susan B. Anthony's tireless efforts, along with those of many other suffragists, contributed significantly to the eventual passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote in the United States.