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Women had been discriminated for almost one hundred years during the year of 1873. Susan B. Anthony, a women’s rights activist voted in the 1872 presidential election, and for this was arrested. A year later, she gave a speech, “Women's Rights to the Suffrage,” that changed not only history, but women’s rights ever since. In, “Women's Rights to the Suffrage,” Susan B. Anthony persuades her audience that women have the right to be involved with the government according to multiple credible sources. She argues that if the constitution is correct, both genders have made this nation what it is, so, we aren’t following our own rules. Then she adds; because we are doing this incorrectly, this democracy is actually a dictatorship since the government …show more content…
In continuation Anthony adds; even though women are considered citizens according to Webster, Worcester, and Bouvier, we haven’t recognized them, but discriminated them. This speech by Susan B. Anthony is most compelling because she used ethos, logos, pathos, and other rhetorical devices to reach out to the audience’s hearts and minds. Anthony convinces us throughout the speech that women already have the same rights as men. Her biggest main idea explains that both genders built this nation, therefore we need to respect the men and the women, and their unalienable rights of which we haven’t ensured. “The preamble of the Federal Constitution says:,” Anthony’s idea of connecting her argument with the Constitution: the backbone of our country, made this point unforgettable and relatable. This allusion made people think, could this be true, why do people disagree with her? Doing this gave her both credibility (ethos) and attention of hearts (pathos). …show more content…
Anthony’s main arguments comes up in the middle of the speech. It claims that this government we call a democracy is actually an oligarchy made of rich, educated, white men, and all males ‘rule’ over females and the less wealthy. So, Anthony claims our government has become a dictatorship due to how and who runs this country. This statement impacted the central idea because it almost summed up the entire point of her speech. By all means she was arrested for voting as a woman, so this charge justifies her feelings about her experience. Giving these titles out was a big opposition due to the way she delivered her idea. Her long sentences showed she had a lot to say, and supported her opinion with a great deal of confidence. “To them this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed.” In this sentence, Anthony uses her vocabulary to broaden the meaning of a word or phrase, giving her logos. Derived means, that came from, and consent translates to permission. So, to rephrase, she said; for women, this government has no fair powers that came from the permission of the citizens. By broadening this statement, she got ethos, which gave her respect for her thoughts. This credibility she attained through this claim made a difference because the audience could have contradicted with Anthony, doing nothing for her cause. She used repetition in her speech as well, “to them this government...to them this government is not a democracy. It
Anthony’s speech is more effective because she has evidence to show that they are withdrawing their rights as citizens for no reason. One example is that the Constitution says that citizens of the United states have the right to vote. In the Constitution, the only person discarded from this right is people that committed a criminal offense or bribery. The only part in the Constitution that says females can’t vote is when they mention men over the age of twenty-one can vote. Another reference is when Ellen Van Valkenburg stopped paying taxes because there were no feminine pronouns. She did this because of the justification of no taxation without
The road to women's rights was long and hard, but many women helped push the right to vote, the one that was at the front of that group was Susan B. Anthony. She learned how to read and write at the age of three. She was put in a home school setting at the age of six because her other teacher refused to teach her long division. Since the school was run by strong willed women, Anthony received a new image of womanhood by being taught not only long division and grammar, but also manners and self worth.”
However, the writers of the Constitution had omitted women in that pivotal statement which left women to be denied these “unalienable” rights given to every countryman. Gaining the support of many, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the Women’s Rights Movement declared at Seneca Falls that women had the same rights as men including the right to vote and be a part of government. The Women’s Rights movement gained support due to the years of abuse women endured. For years, men had “the power to chastise and imprison his wife…” and they were tired of suffering (Doc I). The new concept of the cult of domesticity supported women’s roles in society but created greater divisions between men and women.
I also think that she has another audience in mind. She is also addressing the city officials, the politicians and the rest of the male population in society. She is addressing the city officials and the politicians because they are the people responsible for the decision making in the implementation of any new changes in the voting rights. She is also addressing the rest of the male population, such as the husbands, the fathers, the brothers, the nephews to stand by the women and support them in gaining their voting right in order to raise and educate a better generation of sons and daughters.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
The central idea of, “Woman's Right to Suffrage,” By Susan B. Anthony is to persuade you to believe that women should be able vote and hold all the rights of men, and to make you go out and to do something about it. “Woman’s Right to Suffrage,” by Susan B. Anthony is the most compelling because it uses an amazing tone, detail, and good sources that persuades the reader to do something.
...hey are essentially attacking the government asking how idiotic men who have no education can vote while educated women can’t. She says that the existing laws “give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife.” There are too many laws that only benefit the male population, while bringing down women’s rights at the same time. Attempts to abolish slavery and to give women equal ground weren’t successful until after the Civil War, these reforms tried to expand the idea of equality for all.
Throughout history, women have always fought to gain equal political rights, but conventional roles kept women from getting enough political representation. Many suffrage groups founded by women challenged the conventional roles of women during 1840 to 1968 with the dream of obtaining equal political representation. In 1919, the nineteenth amendment, drafted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was passed. The 19th amendment has been desired by many women for years. Although the 19th amendment passed and women thought that they were able to be equal in politics, many women did not get equal political representation due to their conventional roles at the time period. Women were not able to achieve high roles in politics, shown through the fact that there has never been a woman president in the history of the United States. The presidency of women did not occur due to the perceptions that generally, women should be protected and hidden, not out in the open and leadin...
During the beginning of the 20th century, the increase activity of the National Union Of Women attractive additional support of the suffrage movement. “However, it was possible to criticize the policy and tactics of the constitutional suffragist on several grounds. It was argued that the suffragists should have revolted in 1884, when the amendment to the reform bill of that year failed through the opposition of the liberal leadership, but the suffragists were too well mannered to do more protesting and concentrate all of their efforts on one private members bill.” The women suffrage’s organization could not force the political parties to adopt the cause of women’s suffrage and need a major party to pick up their campaign or there was no hope of a government bill. Women’s suffrages leaders saw that they need more of a drastic tactics to gain public awareness. Women started protesting by undergoing violence methods and tactics however, the National Union Of Women believed that any aggression or violence acts of protesting would only weaken the movement. These actions would persuade male’s voters that women are too emotional and thus could not be trusted with the responsible of voting. These gentle ways of protesting was unconvincing, as many political believed would give up or lose interests. The lack of actions cause many women to take strongest methods of protesting their rights and formed a more violent group called Suffragettes.
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.” (Anthony 182). This speech was meant to kindle the flame of the women’s right movement for the citizens of the United States more accurately “Friends and fellow citizens…. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several states is today null and void” (Anthony 181-182). She uses much logos, unlike Chief Joseph, stating the constitution and supporting it with “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but
Sixty- nine years after the Declaration of Independence, one group of women gathered together and formed the Seneca Falls Convention. Prior and subsequent to the convention, women were not allowed to vote because they were not considered equal to men. During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the “Declaration of Sentiments.” It intentionally resembles the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…” (Stanton, 466). She replaced the “men” with “men and women” to represent that women and men should be treated equally. Stanton and the other women in the convention tried to fight for voting rights. Dismally, when the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to the Congress, the act failed to be passed. Even though women voiced their opinions out and urged for justice, they could not get 2/3 of the states to agree to pass the amendment. Women wanted to tackle on the voting inequalities, but was resulted with more inequalities because people failed to listen to them. One reason why women did not achieve their goals was because the image of the traditional roles of women was difficult to break through. During this time period, many people believed that women should remain as traditional housewives.
...women has escalated to an all-time high. Hillary Clinton’s speech “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” targets this growing problem and by portraying a purpose, style and language, and different appeals to the audience effectively.
Women throughout the suffrage act were faced with many challenges that eventually led into the leading roles of women in the world today. Suffrage leaders adopted new arguments to gain new support. Rather than insisting on the justice of women’s suffrage, or emphasizing equal rights, they spoke of the special moral and material instincts women could bring to the table. Because of these women taking leaps and boundaries, they are now a large part of America’s government, and how our country operates.
Stanton argues many valid points with significant impact. Throughout her speech, she uses many examples of logical appeals. She states, “The question is now: how shall we get possession of what rightfully belongs to us?” In this quote, Stanton is agitating the question of when women are going to get not only the rights they deserve, but also the equality they demand. She is disgracing the rules that they live under, and questioning when things will be set right. She also argues, “All white men in this country have the same rights, however they may differ in mind, body, or estate.” All white men in America at this time had freedom no matter what they owned or what their background. They could be rich, wealthy businessmen or poor country farmers, and as much as they differed in society standards, they all shared one common thing: their rights. She is making an emotional appeal to the women of the country, and exposing the anger of the unfair situation the women are stuck in. One of the key phrases she repeats is, “The right is ours.” Stanton repeats this short, yet powerful, phrase in order to get her message through. She believes and fights that all free women should be just as equal as all free men. The use of repeating this phrase helps others understand how dearly ...
The pre-feminism concept of gender differences is captured by Harvey C. Mansfield: “Formerly society recognized the differences between the sexes, and with laws and customs accentuated those differences (435).” And indeed, accentuate them it did, as women were left without many opportunities enjoyed by their male counterparts. The absence of such opportunities, included voting rights, education, and property rights, is documented in Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments (411). Stanton does not speak to innate gender differences per se, but roundly testifies of the political injustice experienced by American women in the 1800’s. She shines the “equal station to which they [women] are entitled” through the prism of the Declaration of Independence, matching the inequality of women to men with the colonies to the English Crown, to reveal a sad portrait of female personhood (411-412, Italics mine).