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Birth of Susan B Anthony
Susan B Anthony was born in Adams, Massachussetts to parents Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read Anthony -
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Susan B Anthony, Champion of Women's Suffrage
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Missouri Compromise
The nation, early in its statehood, was already embroiled in a national debate. The first major compromise in this debate was the Missouri Compromise, an agreement that any new states would come in 2 at a time, one free and one slave owning, to preserve the voting balance in the Senate. -
Hard time for the Anthony family
In 1838, as a result of the severe recession known as the panic of 1837, the family business owned by Susan's father failed, and they were forced to sell their family home in Battenville, New York -
The indignity of being a teacher as a woman
From 1839 to 1849, Susan received various teaching positions. Despite being universally regarded as excellent at her job and often being hired to replace men who had been of much less competence, she always received roughly a quarter of their salary, a fact she resented nearly all of her life. -
Anthony family moves to Rochester, NY
In 1845, the family moved into a farm home in Rochester, NY. Rochester is the later site of one of the most important moments in Susan's life and in her fight for women's suffrage. -
Compromise of 1850 and Kansas Nebraska Acts 1854
The nation made two final attempts at compromise to avoid what would prove to be an inevitable Civil War. While this avoided the war for now, it did nothing to quell the turmoil in the nation between those who were for and against slavery. Anthony herself was an avid abolitionist. -
Introduction to Elizabeth Cady Stanton
In May of 1851, after attending the Anti Slavery Anniversary in Syracuse, Susan was introduced to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an already well known figure in the fight for women's suffrage. They would become close friends and partners in the battle for equality. -
Founding of the Women's State Temperance Society
Susan wrote letters to the unions all over the state of New York to organize a Women's Temperance Convention. This was in response to laws that at that time held no provisions protecting women from domestic abuse by their husbands, even in cases of extreme drunkenness. Her goal was to rectify this and fight for women's right to have legal recourse against drunken and violent men and husbands and to eventually prohibit the consumption of Alcohol entirely. -
Women's Rights Convention
Susan attended her first women's rights convention. Though this may have been her first convention, she had no reservations about making her opinions known. The next morning, she was made a secretary at a committee meeting. -
Dred Scott decision
The Supreme Court decided the Dred Scott case, which determined that under current laws, slaves were not persons, but property. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown, along with other abolitionists, led a slave revolt in Harper's Ferry and took over a US arsenal. He was later executed for it in December. This had a profound impact on abolitionists everywhere and set the stage for the presidential election of the next year. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected, despite not receiving a single southern electoral vote. Throughout his campaign, he had been a staunch abolitionist. His election left a war between north and south a certainty. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
South Carolina attacked Fort Sumter. Though the entirety of the South would not secede until later, this essentially marked the beginning of the Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln declares that slaves in all states currently rebelling from the Union are freed. While this still allowed slavery in the few slave states that did not secede, this act was a precursor to eventual nationwide abolition. -
The Confederacy Surrenders
At Appomattox Courthouse, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the army of Northern Virginia. While this did not officially end the confederacy, it did for all intents and purposes end the Civil War. -
The Reconstruction Amendments
Following the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed. Those amendments ended slavery, gave citizenship to all persons born in the United States regardless of race, and gave all citizens the right to vote. Curiously, this did not result in women receiving the right to vote. -
Susan B Anthony casts her vote
In an effort to test the legality of not allowing women the right to vote, Susan and several other women swear in their votes in the 1872 election in Rochester, NY. She is later tried for this and convicted, but she refused to pay the fine. The judge in the case directed the verdict to the jury, refusing to allow them to decide the matter and additionally suspended any jail sentence until after she paid the fine to avoid her using it for publicity. She never paid the fine. -
Minor v Happersett
The Supreme Court decided that the 15th amendment did not give women the right to vote, arguing that disenfranchisement on the basis of race was now illegal, but on the basis of gender was not. -
Susan B Anthony dies
After the Supreme Court decision in 1875, Susan continued to lecture and promote women's suffrage for the rest of her life. She unfortunately died with women still not having yet achieved the right to vote. -
The 19th amendment
Though Susan B. Anthony died more than a decade earlier, women's suffrage finally became a reality. She may not have lived to see it, but her lifelong efforts and the efforts of others over the course of nearly a century were not in vain.
