On Women's Right to Vote - Susan B. Anthony (1873) - Analysis of the author's message

Extract

[...] Indeed, she wants to show how illogical the Constitution is. There is a huge gap between theory and practice. In theory, the Constitution speaks about the people of the United States". That means it is addressed to every people and no just a few of them. However, in practice, the quotes in the Constitution, only refers to a small cast that she designates as an oligarchy. Power is in the hands of a small number of people. It is downsized to white Anglo-Saxon men who benefit from unfounded superior rights. [...]

[...] On Women's Right to Vote - Susan B. Anthony (1873) - Analysis of the author's message This speech, given in 1872 by Susan B. Anthony occurs in an unequal and segregationist America. In fact, the United States of America was dominated by an Anglo-Saxon men's oligarchy. Others categories of people, that's is to say, women, black people, poor and uneducated people were left behind. They didn't have the right to vote. This emanates from the British legal system of which The United States of America was the heir, due to colonization. [...]

[...] Man works outside and woman is at home, she's a homemaker. However, Susan B. Anthony's speech doesn't mention the question of autochthones, though it is a sensitive one. They became citizens of America in 1924, with the Snyder law but they only obtained the right of vote in 1948, that is to say four years later after the women's right to vote in France. Although, The United States of America has been a pioneer concerning the gender inequality, inequalities still remain: women are less payed than men for example. [...]

[...] In order to captivate her audience, she uses the repetition of the woman and man's lexical fields. It allows to accentuate the actual situation and make people reacting. Moreover, beyond her fight for women's rights, it is a fight spreads out to the whole of left behind: the poor, uneducated and black people. This reference to black people is full of meanings. In fact, the American Civil war goes back up to 1865. In 1970, the 15th amendment was ratified but in reality, black people were blocked from the way to ballot. [...]

[...] Moreover, she underlines another inconsistency between fact and theory. The Constitution explains that citizens have the duty to secure the blessings of liberty, yet women can't assume this role because they do not have the right to vote. According to Susan B. Anthony, voting is a way to "secure the blessings of liberty" to people. So, women should and must have the right to vote. At last, she gives an argument by referring to three dictionary makers- Webster, Worcester and Bouvier. [...]