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Abigail Stephens

Mrs. Retana

English

30 October 2019

Analysis of an Argument

“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people” (Marie Shear). Susan B.

Anthony opened the eyes of women everywhere, when she showed everyone that she was not

afraid to get arrested and put on trial for her beliefs. From a young age, her parents knew she was

destined to be an advocate in the feminism community. They led her to fight for the equality of

women in America. This was discussed in Doris Twichell’s writing. She wanted to document

how Anthony was brought up and what her home life was like before she became well-known.

While Augusto Zimmermann wanted to focus more on her beliefs in his writing, “Feminism and

Gendercide.” One of the main topics of discussion was abortion, which is something that

Anthony wanted no part of. While she did believe that women should have the power to do

whatever men can do, she also believed that abortions hurt the mother more than the baby, and

that we need to protect our women as much as we can. Susan B. Anthony had contributed a

substantial amount of her time and energy to supporting females so that women could have the

rights that they do today, and although some topics may still seem controversial, she was willing

to go to prison for what she believed in, in order to ensure the safety and comfort of the female

youth. Anthony wrote “Women’s Right to Suffrage” to push people to see that if men are able to

vote, then women should be as well. She mentions the constitution to show that even then, they

were mentioning the people of America, not just the men. Susan B. Anthony wrote her argument
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and took a stand against the government to make America an equal nation, giving everyone the

chance to step up, not just men.

During the 1800s, women did not have the right to vote and were denied many other

rights held by men. Susan B. Anthony was a prominent leader in the women’s rights movement.

She, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association,

which advocated for giving women the right to vote. In November 1872, Anthony voted in the

presidential election. Two weeks later, she was arrested. After her indictment, Anthony gave her

famous On Women’s Right to Vote speech. In the speech, Anthony invoked the preamble to the

U.S. Constitution, pointing out that it addresses We, the people, and not We, the male citizens.

She argued that those countries that denied women the right to vote were oligarchies. At the end,

she challenged her detractors to answer this question: Are women persons? The trial allowed

Anthony to disseminate her arguments in support of women’s suffrage to a much larger

audience. Her speech and her continued advocacy for women’s rights paved the way for

Congress eventual ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which finally gave women the

right to vote.

Ethos is creditability in anyone’s speech, how they presented themselves, their reasons,

and how people viewed them. Anthony presented herself strongly. She stood up in front of men

after committing a crime and said “It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus

voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights,

guaranteed to me and all United States citizens.” (Anthony, On Women’s Right to Vote). She

showed that other people said that to be a citizen you need to live in the United States and have

the right to vote. This showed that if women do not have the right to vote then they were not
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considered citizens at the time. She showed that men cannot deny that women are not people and

therefore should be allowed to vote.

Pathos is emotion that any speaker has. Anthony does not show much emotion because

she is fighting to show she had done nothing wrong. She showed she was anger and bravery

because she was strong for going up against the law. She was brave for breaking the law because

she believed it was not wrong. She also had stood up to speak with them about why she had not

committed a crime. She showed she was angry when she says, “To them this government is not

a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy.” (Anthony, On Women’s Right to

Vote). One reason she had that women should be allowed to vote is because the constitution

says women can. After she said the beginning of the constitution she says “It was we, the people;

not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who

formed the Union. […] women as well as men.” (Anthony, On Women’s Right to Vote) She

showed everyone that our forefathers had said ‘We the people’ they never said just men because

they knew that the women had helped with making a perfect union and would continue. She did

not want men talking about how they could vote and how the laws were good ones to women

when they could not perform them themselves.

Susan B. Anthony had many points that proved women should have had the right to vote.

She stood up to the government to show that she did nothing wrong when she tried to vote. She

had many reasons to prove she was right. The constitution had never said only men can make a

prefect union. She showed women were, and still are, people. She was very strong and brave to

come up and talk openly about how the government has been doing wrong. She shows that the

law allows men to show they are better than women. After her speech many people began to join

and demand women’s right which eventually did get the law that women can vote. Overall,
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Susan B. Anthony uses many kinds of elements of argument and rhetorical devices to support her

claim: Women should get equal rights as men and have the right to vote.