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In the 1800s, women in the United States had few legal rights and did not have the right to vote. In 1872, Susan B. Anthony, served on the business committee of the National Women’s Rights Convention and spoke on the necessity of the dissemination of the matter on women’s rights and was arrested for illegally voting. Although, after her arrest and before her trial she got the chance to address her speech in more than 20 places in Ontario and all 29 of the towns and villages in Monroe County, where her trial was held. The purpose of her speech was to fight for women’s voting rights as she herself had voted but was arrested and fined. Anthony’s speech on Women’s Right To Vote is a perfect example of what a good persuasion speech should be. She displays ethos, pathos, and logos in her speech with an intriguing, clearly written introduction, a body that is well put and thought provoking, and a conclusion that beautifully wraps up her ideas and which leaves her audience feeling the importance of her words.
Anthony has her audience in her hand from the beginning of her speech itself. She starts by stating her so called “crime” and adding that she is innocent which is visible in the lines, “I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime…” By contradicting her opponents in the beginning itself, Susan not only grabs her audience’s attention but also puts herself in a strong position. She then builds on her statement by quoting the preamble of the Federal Constitution, a source that can be definitely determined as a credible one. She uses the quote to secure her point that the country was founded on equality, including the equality of women. She then very smartly moves on to use the quote as a base to prove ...

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Although Anthony’s speech was not credited at the time she delivered it, it gained its praise and is remembered till today. Her speech is symbolic of her life struggle against society, government, and rules as a woman and how she chose to fight back. Due to Susan, women were granted many of their deserving rights. Even though, the main message and aim of her speech is based on women’s rights to vote in The States, it also helped in fighting for other women rights. Also by stating the global disparities, Susan made her audience and everyone else who were impacted by her speech, aware of these disparities and their level of urgency. Overall, I would like to say that the speech by Susan B. Anthony, on the voting rights of women in America, was a speech of great depth and impact which not only affected America then, but also even the whole world now.

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