"Is It A Crime To Vote?": Susan B. Anthony & Suffrage
- Rosie Jayde Uyola
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
Target: I can explain the arguments for and against women's suffrage by comparing Susan B. Anthony’s speech to an anti-suffrage political cartoon.
Key Vocabulary
Suffrage: The right to vote.
19th Amendment (1920): The change to the U.S. Constitution that finally gave women the right to vote.
Civil Disobedience: Breaking an unfair law on purpose to show that it is wrong (e.g., voting when it is illegal).
Seneca Falls Convention (1848): The first major meeting for women's rights, where the "Declaration of Sentiments" was written.
Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)
Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.
Prompt: Imagine a rule in this school said: "All students must follow the code of conduct, but only students with blue eyes are allowed to vote for Student Government." Would this be fair? If you had brown eyes and were forced to follow laws you didn't vote for, how would you react? |
Sentence Starter: This rule would be unfair because... If I had to follow laws I couldn't vote on, I would feel... because...
Part 2: Analyzing the Sources
Directions: Analyze the two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.
Source 1: Susan B. Anthony, "Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the U.S. to Vote?" (1873)
Context: In 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting illegally in the Presidential election. She gave this speech while waiting for her trial. She argued that the Constitution already gave her the right to vote.
Original Text | Simplified Text |
"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... 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." | "The Constitution says 'We the People,' not 'We the white male citizens' or 'We the men.' It was all of us—the whole people—who created this country. We made this country to secure liberty for everyone, not just half of us, but for women as well as men. It is a joke to tell women they have liberty when they are denied the only tool that protects liberty in a democracy: the right to vote." |
Source 2: Anti-Suffrage Political Cartoon, "Election Day!" (1909)
Context: Many people opposed women's suffrage because they believed it would destroy the family. This cartoon shows the fear that if women voted, men would be stuck doing "women's work."
Description: A mother is dressed in a suit and leaving the house to go vote. She looks stern and serious. The father is sitting in a chair, looking miserable, wearing an apron. He is holding two crying babies, and the house is a mess. A sign on the wall says, "A Woman's Place Is In The Home."
Analysis Questions
Directions: Answer the writing questions and the two Multiple Choice questions.
1. In Source 1, how does Susan B. Anthony use the phrase "We the People" to prove she has the right to vote?
Sentence Starter: She uses "We the People" to prove that women are citizens because... Therefore, they should not be denied...
2. Look at Source 2. What is the cartoonist afraid will happen if women get the right to vote?
Sentence Starter: The cartoonist is afraid that if women vote, they will abandon their... and men will be forced to…
Regents-Style Multiple Choice
3. Susan B. Anthony’s action of voting in 1872, even though it was illegal, is an example of:
(1) Civil disobedience
(2) Nativism
(3) Laissez-faire capitalism
(4) Manifest Destiny
4. The "Declaration of Sentiments" from the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) and Susan B. Anthony’s speech (Source 1) are similar because they both:
(1) Borrowed language from the Declaration of Independence to demand equal rights
(2) Argued that women should stay in the "sphere of domesticity"
(3) Demanded that the U.S. government ban the sale of alcohol
(4) Called for a violent revolution against the government
Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)
Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences).
Prompt: Using evidence from both sources, explain the conflict over women's suffrage. Why did Susan B. Anthony believe voting was a "citizen's right" (Source 1), and why were opponents (Source 2) afraid to give it to her? |
Sentence Starter: Susan B. Anthony believed she had the right to vote because, as Source 1 says, the Constitution starts with... She argued that without the ballot, women were denied... However, opponents of suffrage disagreed. As shown in Source 2, they feared that if women voted, it would... This shows a conflict between equal rights and traditional...
