Ñ‹Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony is one of the most remarkable persons one will ever find in American history. She not only helped in the creation of the first womens rights movement in the United States, she led it tirelessly and brilliantly until her death. She was determined and dedicated, letting no one and nothing stand in her way. She faced opposition and even derision from people who had never met her, and worse, from those closest to her. But she never once faltered in her resolve. Although she did not live to see her greatest goal attained, it is an unarguable fact that her work for The Cause did more to gain women the right to vote than that of any other person. Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, the second of eleven children (Susan B. Anthony: A Biography, by Kathleen Barry, page 10). Her parents were Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read. Daniel was a Quaker, while Lucy was raised a Baptist. Their unique union was formed against the wishes of the Quaker community in which Susan was raised. Her parents defiance of the social norm set by the sedate Quaker community perhaps served as Susans earliest inkling that sometimes what society said was normal was not always right (Barry, 6). Susan had a very commonplace childhood, with no indication of her future. If anything, she was rather a homebody. But this childhood is precisely why she was an effective womens leader: She understood the situation of the common woman (Barry, 12). In the world in which Susan was raised, women had a very limited role. They were expected to stay at home and work like slaves, but if they went out into the world for a paying job, they were compensated at a fraction of the wages a man would receive for an equal position. A married woman could not own property; Her husband took custody of the property when they married. She also could not draw a paycheck; The money was handed directly to her husband, irrega...