Susan B. Anthony and the 4th of July

“From the earliest history of our country, woman has shown equal devotion with man to the cause of freedom, and has stood firmly by his side in its defence. Together, they have made this country what it is. Woman’s wealth, thought and labor have cemented the stones of every monument man has reared to liberty.” From the “Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States,” a stirring document written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage.  Interrupting the all-male centennial celebration on July 4, 1876, SBA walked to the platform and read the document, to the astonishment of the audience. The day was oppressively hot but unbowed SBA in her clarion voice ended with this demand: “We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever.”  The image if from a cartoon titled “The Woman Who Dared.” It was published the week before SBA’s trial for voting began in 1873.

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