Susan B. Anthony
Abolitionist, Fighter for Women's Rights and
Temperance
1820 - 1906
Susan B. Anthony fought for women's rights and for the slaves to be free. Susan thought that all people are equal. I admire her for her strong determination, courage and confidence.
Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, near Adams, Massachusetts. She was one of eight children, although only six lived to be adults. Susan's father felt that women should get as much education as they wanted. He built a school by adding a room to their home for his own children and others.
When she was fifteen and sixteen, she went to other people's houses to teach children. She liked the chance to earn money of her own. In 1838, her father lost his cotton mill business because of the financial depression in the United States and in the spring of 1839 he had to sell their house. They moved to a town called Hardscrabble. In the spring of 1840, she went to teach at a boarding school near New York City. While Susan was teaching she heard people talking about getting rid of slavery. She agreed with this idea just like her father did. She believed that all people were equal.
In 1849, when Susan came back home to Rochester, her father had started inviting his friends who wanted to talk about getting rid of slavery. She listened to her father and to others who wanted to help slaves find freedom.
All through the 1850s the abolition of slavery was becoming an important issue. The people in the North, who were against slavery, wanted to break away from the people in the South, who wanted to keep slavery. The people who were against slavery were called abolitionists. A lot of abolitionists were invited to the farm. They all supported Susan in her work for women's rights.
In 1856 the abolitionists asked Susan to organize and to write and deliver speeches for a campaign against slavery. In 1865, their efforts would pay off with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Even though the slaves were free they didn't get the right to vote.
In addition to Susan's fight to end slavery, she joined the Women's State Temperance Society in the State of New York. Both men and women could join, and at the Society's second convention the men started taking over, so Susan resigned as leader of the group. That was the end of her work with the temperance movement; she began working for women's rights.