Susan B. Anthony Essay -- Biography

Susan B. Anthony On February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts, a woman by the name of Susan Brownell Anthony was born to parents Daniel and Lucy (Read) Anthony. She was the second born of a strongly rooted Quaker family of eight (Hist.Bio.-1). Because they lived in a Quaker neighborhood, Susan was not heavily exposed to slavery. The family made anti-slavery talks an almost daily conversation over the dinner table. She also saw men and women on the same level (Stoddard 36). â€Å"A hard working father, who was not only a cotton manufacturer, but a Quaker Abolitionist also, prevented his children from what he called childish things such as toys, games and music. He felt that they would distract his children from reaching their peak of performance. â€Å"With a strong household influence like her father, Anthony became a very bright student. She knew how to read and write at the very tender age of three. She was put in a home school type school setting at the age of six because her teacher refused to teach her how to do long division. Because the school was run by a very strong-willed group of women, Anthony received a new image of womanhood by being taught not only arithmetic and grammar, but also manners and self-worth. Upon leaving this school, Susan B Anthony attended a boarding school in Philadelphia where she remained until two years before her father’s business was lost (Boynick 47). At the age of fifteen, Susan B. Anthony began teaching (Holland). At the age of nineteen she had already taught at the boarding school which she had attended, been a governess at in the home of a merchant in Fort Edward, New York, then helped her family move to Rochester. Once her family got settled she began doing work around the house. At the house, her father had daily conversations about the current issues of the day. She would shuffle back and forth between the kitchen and dining room to participate in these discussions which she so passionately loved. She was then appointed principal over the girls’ department Canajoharie Academy and would maintain at that stature until she reached the age of thirty (Holland). It was at her school where principal Anthony became exposed to the Daughters of temperance. This group of women went right along with Susan B. Anthony’s Quaker moral standards. They fought for prohibition. They fought to prevent abus... ...ing rights for women. Little did she know, that fourteen years after her death at the age of eighty-six, the nineteenth amendment would be passed. This amendment, also known as the â€Å"Anthony amendment†, gave women the right to vote. Susan Brownell Anthony has left many marks in the present day world we live in. If it were not for her, many minorities would not have the benefits that they have right now. If she had not lived the life she lived, women might still be fighting for the rights they have now. If it were not for her, we would have never had her printed on the silver dollar. The world would not be as good of a place. Works Cited Boynick, David K. Women Who Led the Way: Eight Pioneers for Equal Rights. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. 1959. Dorr, Rheta Louise. Susan B. Anthony, the Woman Who Changed the Mind of a Nation. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1928. Holland, Patricia G. â€Å"Anthony, Susan B(rownell)†. Encarta 97 Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1994. Stoddard, Hope. Famous American Women. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. 1970. â€Å"Untitled†. Online. Internet. www.history.rochester.edu/class/sba/bio.html.