When Susan B. Anthony attended primary school in New York in the 1820s, her instructor refused to teach her long division. Like most people of the day, he believed too much knowledge would cloud a woman's mind and make her less fit for homemaking and motherhood.

That experience was one of many that would lead Anthony to devote her life to fighting for suffrage (voting) and other rights for women. Shy, terrified of public speaking and embarrassed about her plain looks, Anthony was a reluctant rebel. But she would mature into an outspoken advocate of women's rights, traveling worldwide for nearly a half century campaigning for equal rights.

Anthony Comes to Washington Territory

Anthony visited Washington Territory in 1871 and embarked on a two-month tour to help train and educate local suffragists. She spoke before the legislature in October and succeeded in getting a suffrage bill introduced, although it failed.

Her visit drew extensive comment from the local press. One newspaper called Anthony "a woman of more than ordinary ability," whose appearance before the legislature should be "ample warning" to take the cause seriously. Another paper tried to use her appearance and marital status (she was single) against her, calling her "an old maid who had never kissed a man over two years old." A Seattle paper perhaps best captured Anthony's impact, labeling her a revolutionary, "aiming at nothing less than the breaking up of the very foundations of society."

In 1872, Anthony was at the center of public debate over the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" the privileges of citizenship, including the right to vote. Women, however, were not granted that right. Suffragists campaigned hard to include mention of women in the amendment, but their demands were disregarded.

Arrested for Voting

In protest, Anthony and several other suffragists illegally cast votes in the 1872 presidential election (she voted Republican). Anthony was arrested and charged with violating election laws. Her trial in New York is testimony to Anthony's courage and determination. Judge Ward Hunt ordered the all-male jury to find Anthony guilty. Before passing sentence, he asked Anthony if she had anything to say. When Anthony lectured at length about how the court "trampled under foot every vital principle of government," Judge Hunt ordered her to sit.

"Your denial of my rights to vote is a denial of my right of consent as one of the governed," Anthony said.

"The Court must insist. The prisoner has been tried according to the established forms of law," Hunt replied.

Anthony interrupted him. "Yes, your honor, but by forms of law all made by men, interpreted by men, administered by men, in favor of men, and against women. . ."

"The Court orders the prisoner to sit down. It will not allow another word."

Who Got the Last Word?

The judge may have gotten the last word, but the opponents of suffrage had not heard the last of Anthony. She refused to pay the $100 fine, hoping her disobedience would lead to further prosecution and the opportunity to file an appeal and appear before the U.S. Supreme Court. When the state of New York failed to enforce its verdict, hopes of an appeal were lost. The fine was paid by Anthony's counsel.

Anthony would campaign for her cause for another three decades, traveling the globe, making 75 to 100 speeches a year.

Like many of the early suffragists, she would not live to see her life goal achieved. Anthony died in 1906 at age 86 at her home in New York. At her funeral services, the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw said it was impossible to separate the woman from the cause. "To her, the cause was everything; she knew no existence apart from it." It was "part of her being. . . It was the first and last thought of each day; it was the last word upon her faltering lips."