Susan B Anthony Essay

In the 1800’s, it was illegal for women to vote. One citizen in particular, Susan B. Anthony, found that completely unjust, and cast a vote at the 1872 presidential election. Later that year, she was found guilty of committing a crime. Due to this, Anthony spoke out to the public to prove her that what she did was no crime at all. Susan B. Anthony’s speech “On Women’s Right to Vote” grabs her audience’s focus with the use of references, parallelism, and logic, making it a remarkable speech.
Anthony proves a strong point when referencing the preamble of the Constitution. As referenced in the speech, “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 ” (Anthony Online). Anthony then goes on to say that, “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 ” (Online). Anthony is proving since people formed this

As mentioned in the speech, “It is an odious aristocracy; a hateful oligarchy of sex; the most hateful aristocracy ever established on the face of the globe; an oligarchy of wealth, where the rich govern the poor. An oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Sazon rules the African” (Anthony Online). Anthony is trying to get across to the audience that the way women are perceiving the government is as a higher power, the men, ruling over a lower power, the women. She demonstrates this comparison through examples like the rich governing the poor and the educated governing the ignorant. This is leaving the women with scarce rights, unlike the