Susan B. Anthony’s trial, social
justice, and Common Core connections
Department
of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education
Mississippi
State University
The adoption of Common Core State
Standards presents the social studies with an opportunity and a challenge. Common
Core State Standards focus on
college and career readiness. In the informational reading standards and
reading standards for literacy in history/ social studies 6-12 the focus is on
literacy skills:
The
Standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and
language be a shared responsibility within the school. The K-5 standards
include expectations for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language
applicable to a range of subjects including but not limited to ELA. The grades
6-12 standards are divided into two sections, one for ELA and the other for
history/ social studies, science, and technical subjects. This division
reflects the unique, time-honored place of ELA teachers in developing students’
literacy skills while at the same time recognizing that teachers in other areas
must have a role in this development as well.
(CCSS, 2010, p. 4)
The focus on college and career readiness
is a challenge because the civic education goal of social studies may be lost
or overlooked. The opportunity is that social studies is one of those other
areas that must be used to help develop literacy. The goal of this paper is to
discuss how to use social studies texts, specifically primary sources, to meet
both literacy and social studies goals.
College and career readiness is a
very important goal and all teachers should be included in reaching these
goals, but as social studies teachers, we need to focus on and protect our
primary mission: citizenship education. The National Council for the Social
Studies identifies the aim of social studies as developing and promoting citizenship
(NCSS, 2010). The challenge is that social studies aims can be lost or
subordinated to literacy goals during the implementation of CCSS. Our task as
social studies teachers is to promote civic competence, while supporting
overall literacy goals with quality social studies instruction.
Primary Sources and CCSS
Our goals as social studies
teachers and the CCSS have the potential to improve instruction that develops
historical thinking, which will make social studies instruction more rigorous,
more student focused, and more authentic. Using primary sources to reach some
of the literacy goals of CCSS and the civic education goal of social studies is
an excellent way to successfully wed the two aims. In this paper, I discuss how
to use primary sources from the trial of Susan B. Anthony for illegally voting
in the 1872 Presidential election to meet both literacy and social studies
goals using the CCSS.
Many
teachers are wary of incorporating primary sources into their instructional
practice. They feel they lack the experience, knowledge, and support to find,
plan for, and use primary sources in the classroom. The Library of Congress
Teaching with Primary Sources website http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/ has many resources to help
teachers and students find and analyze primary sources. On the website, there
are collections of primary sources, as well as analysis sheets teachers can use
with their students.
So
what is a primary source? According
to the Library of Congress: “Primary sources are the raw materials of history —
original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They
are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events
created by someone without firsthand experience. Students will most often work
with primary sources that have been digitized.” (Library of Congress) http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2011/10/what-makes-a-primary-source-a-primary-source/
Why
use primary sources? “Primary
sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the record of
artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the
specific period under study, produced by people who lived during that period.
(Library of Congress)” Primary sources also 1) Engage students, 2) Develop
critical thinking skills, and 3) Construct knowledge. (Library of Congress)http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/whyuse.htmlTo help teachers and students use
primary sources in the classroom, there are a variety of tools for analyzing
primary sources on the Library of Congress website http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/guides.html.
In history and social studies
textbooks many topics and events are glossed over, omitted, or barely
mentioned. We can use primary sources in conjunction with the CCSS to
supplement and expand textbook-based instruction. I base my argument on
Clausewitz’s (1832/1989) four uses for historical events as examples. He wrote
that people use historical examples (he was focusing on military events and the
art of war, but his ideas apply to all of history) for four main reasons:
a.
Explanation
of an idea- to make an abstract idea concrete
b.
Application
of an idea- used for proof of the efficacy of an idea
c.
To
support of statement- prove the possibility of some phenomena or effect
d.
To
support a doctrine or theory- “detailed presentation of a historical event” to
prove a theory through deduction.
Textbooks
generally focus on the first two reasons, which only touch lightly on a
historical event and thus cause problems when an event is new to students.
Because students do not know enough about the subject, they will accept poorly
formulated or weakly supported ideas, develop erroneous understandings or fail
to grasp the significance of an event. Clausewitz advocated the detailed study
of an event because it is “more instructive than ten that are only touched
on.” In other words, to get value from
historical examples and events teachers must teach a “detailed presentation of
a historical event” (Clausewitz, 1832/1989, p. 170-174). One way for us to do
this is through primary sources.
Using the Trial of
Susan B. Anthony
One
event that is rarely mentioned in United States history texts is the trial of
Susan B. Anthony for illegally voting in the 1872 Presidential election. A
review of five eighth grade United States history textbooks showed that none
mentioned this event. The most recent textbook reviewed America: History of our Nation (Davidson, 2014) included 173 words
in the passage about Anthony:
With seven children to care for,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton still found time to try to change the world. She began
her long political partnership with Susan B. Anthony in 1851. For much of the
next 50 years, the two women pooled their talents to try to win women the right
to vote. “(I am) a fine writer, Stanton noted. “Miss Anthony is a thorough
manager."
In the years after the Seneca
Falls Convention, Susan B. Anthony became a close ally of Stanton. The two made
a dynamic team. As an unmarried woman, Anthony was free to travel and devote
herself to reform work. Stanton, the mother of a growing family, more often
wrote speeches from her home. Together, they founded the National Woman
Suffrage Association in 1869.
The fight for women’s suffrage
made little progress at first. Yet the women’s rights movement won some
victories. In 1860, Stanton and Anthony convinced New York to pass a law
protecting women’s property rights. Many other states followed. Some states
revised their laws to allow married women to keep their wages. (p. 428-429)
The
others included 33 words (Davidson & Underwood, 1992), 50 words (Davidson,
2005), 272 words (Stuckey & Salvucci, 2005), and 137 words (Appleby,
Brinkley, Broussard, McPherson, & Ritchie, 2005). The argument is not that
there should be more or less about Susan B. Anthony in these texts; the point
is that like most topics in a US history text, the topic is not covered in
detail. However, this is not a problem; rather, this is an opportunity to use
primary sources to help students develop a more detailed understanding of an
event.
Because
the illegal vote was not mentioned in any of the eighth grade texts reviewed, we
will use an excerpt from a college text, The
Enduring Vision (Boyer et al., 2011), as our prompt. In a discussion of the
suffrage movement in the 1870s, the text mentions, “When Susan B. Anthony
mobilized about seventy women to vote nationwide in 1872, she was indicted,
convicted, and fined” (p. 476). This is a factual statement, but a “detailed
presentation” of the entire event provides a multitude of opportunities for our
students to go beyond the light touches of history and simple memorization of
the fact that Anthony voted illegally in the 1872 election to do what Thornton
(2005) emphasized was the main goal of social studies to “the cultivation of good
citizenship” (p. 22). Our students can do this by tangling with primary sources
about Anthony’s trial.
How do
we create a situation in which our students tangle with primary sources? First,
students could be provided or encouraged to find documents related to the trial
of Susan B. Anthony for voting illegally in the 1872 election. Using the CCSS and
focusing on social studies objectives from the appropriate state social studies
frameworks, a teacher can help her students create their own detailed presentation
of the event and learn important knowledge, skills, or dispositions that
contribute to effective citizenship.
The
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law has a website of Famous Trials
at http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm (Linder, 2013). Included are secondary accounts with
supporting primary sources of many famous trials from the trial of Socrates to
the trial of Charles Manson. This website is a valuable tool for social studies
teachers. Students and teachers can find trials that interest them from a
variety of places and historical periods. One of the trials is the trial of
Susan B. Anthony in 1873. On the website is information about Susan B.
Anthony’s life, her career as a suffragette, speeches and letters written by
Anthony about her vote and other issues, and the complete trial record. Additionally,
there are cartoons from contemporary newspapers that criticize Susan B. Anthony
and the idea of woman’s suffrage.
For the
purposes of this paper, we are going to focus on three specific documents found
on the site that are related to the trial: “Susan B. Anthony’s letter to
Elizabeth Cady Stanton about the vote,” “Arguments over the Court’s directing a
verdict in the Case of United States vs.
Susan B. Anthony & Jury Verdict,”
and “Sentencing in the Case of United
States vs. Susan B. Anthony.”
Tangling
with primary sources will quickly move students beyond merely creating a detailed
presentation of the event. There are important social studies concepts that
students can learn including:
a. The concept of a trial by jury
and where it is guaranteed in our Constitution;
b. Who should determine the guilt or
innocence of a defendant;
c. The immediate historical and
societal context of the documents;
d.
The basic American philosophical and political ideas and ideals when the
documents were written;
e. State versus federal authority
under the Constitution;
f. The role of the political parties
in running elections;
g. The conduct of a criminal trial
and the roles of the participants;
h. The 14th Amendment;
i. Concept of polling the jury;
j. The sentencing process;
k. Civil disobedience;
l. Concepts of civil rights,
political rights, and judicial rights;
m. Citizenship;
n. Consent of the governed;
o. Concept of peers as used by
Anthony.
Additionally,
students can identify and evaluate the validity of the arguments made by both
sides in the trial, including the supporting evidence provided. The documents
contain domain specific vocabulary and concepts, and students can study these
in context. Students can analyze the geography
of woman’s suffrage (women tended to get the right to vote in the western
states first). In addition, students can identify and explain the significance
of people mentioned in the documents, as well as link the trial to related
events.
While
using these documents to address social studies ideas, students can also
address literacy goals. When students consider the context of the documents,
they will first need to determine the main idea of the text, which the second
reading standard for grades 6-8 in literacy in history/social studies addresses
(CCSS, 2010). In order for students to understand how the document fits into a
larger historical context, they will need to determine each document’s “central
idea” so that they have an understanding of the particular historical event
(CCSS, 2010, p. 61). In addition, as students analyze the documents more
closely, they can “delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims” of
the texts about women’s suffrage (CCSS, 2010, p. 39). Furthermore, the
informational reading standards for eighth grade outline that students should
not only evaluate the argument presented in a text, but also students should
ensure that the reasoning and evidence of the argument is logical (CCSS, 2010).
Additionally,
during the students’ analyses of these primary sources, they will need to
define the domain specific vocabulary words and concepts that they encounter so
that they have a deeper understanding of the document, which meets standard
four of the 6-8 grade literacy in history/social studies standards (CCSS,
2010). Furthermore, as the students examine these documents, they may develop
questions for further research on women’s suffrage. If students extend their
study and engage in a research project, they will meet standard six of the 6-8
grade writing standards for literacy in history/social studies (CCSS, 2010).
Moreover, once students obtain more information on this topic, they will be
poised to write an argument about the suffrage movement. Students could make a
claim about this topic and argue for their position with “logical reasoning and
relevant, accurate data and evidence” (WHST. 6-8. 1a., b. CCSS, 2010, p. 64).
These are just a few examples of how teacher can use primary sources to meet
the Common Core State Standards.
Lesson ideas
Background knowledge
So what
might a lesson using these primary sources look like? The teacher could ask
students what they know about the women’s suffrage movement after the Civil
War. It would be easy to link the suffrage movement to the abolitionist
movement since many of the women who were involved in abolition were involved
in the suffrage movement. This would lead to a discussion of how the
suffragists felt that the 14th and 15th Amendments
undermined women’s suffrage as the 14th Amendment wrote the word,
“male” into the Constitution, and the 15th Amendment ignored women
as a group whose right to vote could be denied or abridged. This would help lay
the foundation of the arguments made by both sides in the court case. Students
could be asked to read the letter from Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady
Stanton about her vote in 1872. As a class, the teacher could model the steps
to analyzing a primary source using the primary source analysis tools on the
Teaching with Primary Sources website. During the analysis, the class could
identify domain specific concepts and vocabulary words that are unfamiliar. The
teacher and students could then define these concepts and terms. Next, the
teacher could ask students to write a short summary of the letter, identifying
the main points made by Anthony. Additionally, the teacher could conduct a
class discussion in an effort to place the letter into a broader historical
context (i.e. who were the candidates for president, what were the major issues
in the election, etc.). Questions the teacher might use to guide the initial
discussion include: 1) What event is this document related to? 2) What do you
know about this event? 3) What do you need to know about this event? 4) What is
your reaction to this document?
Primary source analysis
The next
step would be to let the students work in small groups to read and analyze the
“Argument over the court’s directing a verdict of guilty” document. They would
be told to identify any domain specific concepts or vocabulary that they are
unfamiliar with and to attempt to define them in their groups. The teacher could
move between the groups to support this effort. Once each group has read the
document and addressed unfamiliar terms and concepts, the next step would be to
analyze the document using the primary sources analysis tools from the Teaching
with Primary Sources website. Once the analysis is complete, each group could
share the results of their analysis with the class. The discussion would help
address many of the major issues listed above. Many students would question the
idea that the judge was telling the jury what verdict to return. One concept
that the teacher would have to address is who is arguing for the defense. In
the document, Judge Selden is Anthony’s defense counsel. This might be
confusing because of the term judge.
Since he had been a trial judge in the past, he is referred to as “Judge
Selden” in the transcript of the case. The presiding judge is referred to as
“The Court.” From the analysis of this document, students should have developed
some further questions that can be answered through individual or group
research. The results of this research might be a large or small project with
information presented in a format chosen by the students.
Finally,
students can individually read and analyze the sentencing document. They could
go through a similar process from the earlier two documents, but this time they
would conduct the analysis on their own. This would provide the teacher an
opportunity to evaluate individual students’ ability to read and analyze a
primary document. The focus of the discussion for this document would be on how
Anthony used her sentencing as an opportunity to speak out for social justice
and change. Important would be a study of the nature of the argument that she
makes about her rights, the way she contrasts political sovereigns and the
concept of jury of her peers, the links between abolition of slavery and
suffrage, and her refusal to pay the fine. To extend the idea about the fine,
students can read other documents on the trial website about attempts to
collect the fine and her continued refusal to pay. A discussion could also
center on how Anthony’s actions in the court compare with descriptions of her
in a variety of textbooks.
Writing and research connections
Once the
students had read, analyzed, and discussed the documents related to the trial,
they could then be given the assignment to write a detailed account of the
event. The three documents provided would serve as the basis of their account,
but they could be required to find additional primary sources, as well as find
secondary accounts of the event. Students could use newspaper articles and
editorials about the trial and historical accounts to help incorporate
additional perspectives. Once students had completed their detailed account,
they could choose a venue and medium to share their findings with both a school
and out-of-school audience. Finally, students would be encouraged to find a
related topic and conduct their own research using primary and secondary
sources. This process would help guide students in using primary sources and
help prepare them for more independent research.
Dramatic strategies, speakers,
and literature connections
To
increase student involvement, teachers can incorporate a variety of teaching
strategies to support the analysis and evaluation described in the preceding
paragraphs. Teachers could use dramatic strategies (reader’s theater, skits,
dramatic play) to act out parts of the trial. Teachers could bring in lawyers
and judges to answer student questions about how trials operate properly, or teachers
could interview individuals in the community who have been or are involved in
protecting civil and political rights. Teachers could also identify high
quality non-fiction and historical fiction books that are related to Susan B.
Anthony, the vote, and the suffrage movement in general. One book teachers
might consider is Heart on Fire: Susan B.
Anthony Votes for President by Ann Malaspina. Pairing non-fiction and
historical fiction with primary sources helps students find the “story” in the
history they are studying. Used after students have analyzed and evaluated
primary sources, it can also validate the intellectual work they have done as
authentic. Students see that they have conducted valuable research that is
mirrored elsewhere and that they may have actually added to the understanding
of the topic through their work with the primary sources.
Conclusion
CCSS are
here, and they provide an opportunity for social studies teachers to improve
social studies instruction by teaching historical thinking through the use of primary
sources. We must ensure that the primary goal in our lessons is a social
studies goal focused on increasing civic competence, understanding we can do
this while supporting literacy goals. Using
primary sources to help students develop a detailed presentation of an event
helps teachers meet both social studies and literacy goals. The trial of Susan
B. Anthony in 1873 is just one event that can be studied in depth using primary
sources. Teachers can review their curriculum frameworks, history textbooks,
and the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources website to identify
other topics that can be studied in greater detail using similar strategies as
those outlined in this paper.
References
Appleby,
J., Brinkley, A., Broussard, A.S., McPherson, J.M., & Ritchie, D.A. (2005).
The American Republic to 1877. New York: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.
Boyer, P., Clark, Jr., C., Halttunen, K., Kett, J., Salisbury, N.,
Sitkoff, H., Woloch, N. (2011). The
Enduring Vision: A History of the American People (Volume II: Since 1865).
International Edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Clausewitz, C. (1989). On
War (M. Howard & P. Paret Ed. and Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press. (Original published 1832).
Davidson,
W.D. & Underwood, K. (1992). American
Journey: The Quest for Liberty to 1877. Englewoods,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Davidson,
W.D. (2005). The American Nation:
Beginnings through 1877. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Davidson,
J.W. (2014). America: History of our
Nation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Library of Congress. (n.d.). “Teaching with Primary Sources.”
Library of Congress Website. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/
Linder, D.O. (2013). Famous Trials. University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
Malaspina, A. (2012). Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President. Park Ridge,
IL: Albert Whitman & Company.
National
Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School
Officers. (2010). Common Core State
Standards for English, Language Arts, and Literacy for Technical Subjects.
Washington D.C.: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices,
Council of Chief State School Officers.
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. (2010). Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies.
Stuckey,
S. & Salvucci, L.K. (2005). Call to
Freedom: Beginnings to 1877. Autin, TX: Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston.
Thornton, S. (2005). Teaching Social Studies that Matters:
Curriculum for Active Learning. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Appendix:
Text of primary sources mentioned in the paper
From Linder, D.O. (2013). Famous Trials. University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
Permission granted to reprint text of these documents
was given by Douglas Linder.
SBA letter to her close friend, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Rochester Nov 5th 1872
Dear Mrs Stanton
Well I have been & gone & done it!!--positively voted the Republican ticket--strait this a.m. at 7 Oclock--& swore my vote in at that--was registered on Friday & 15 other women followed suit in this ward--then on Sunday others some 20 or thirty other women tried to register, but all save two were refused--all my three sisters voted--Roda De Garmo too--Amy Post was rejected & she will immediately bring action for that--similar to the Washington action--& Hon Henry R. Selden will be our Counsel--he has read up the law & all of our arguments & is satisfied that we our right & ditto the Old Judge Selden--his elder brother. so we are in for a fine agitation in Rochester on the question--I hope the morning's telegrams will tell of many women all over the country trying to vote--It is splendid that without any concert of action so many should have moved here so impromptu-- ....Haven't we wedged ourselves into the work pretty fairly & fully--& now that the Repubs have taken our votes--for it is the Republican members of the Board--The Democratic paper is out against us strong & that scared the Dem's on the registry board--How I wish you were here to write up the funny things said & done--Rhoda De Garmo told them that she wouldn't swear of affirm--"but would tell the truth"--& they accepted that When the Democrat said my vote should not go in the box--one Republican said to the other--What do you say Marsh!--I say put it in!--So do I said Jones--and "we'll fight it out on this line if it takes all winter"....If only now--all the women suffrage women would work to this end of enforcing the existing constitution--supremacy of national law over state law--what strides we might make this winter--But I'm awful tired--for five days I have been on the constant run--but to splendid purpose--So all right--I hope you voted too.
Affectionately,
Susan B. Anthony
Argument Over the Court's
Directing a Verdict of Guilty in the Case of
United States vs Susan B. Anthony & Jury Verdict
United States vs Susan B. Anthony & Jury Verdict
The
Court: ....Upon
this evidence I suppose there is no question for the jury and that the jury
should be directed to find a verdict of guilty.
Judge
Selden: I
submit that on the view which your Honor has taken, that the right to vote and
the regulation of it is solely a State matter. That this whole law is out
of the jurisdiction of the United States Courts and of Congress. The whole law
upon that basis, as I understand it, is not within the constitutional
power of the general Government, but is one which applies to the States.
I suppose that it is for the jury to determine whether the defendant is
guilty of a crime or not. And I therefore ask your Honor to submit to the
jury these propositions:
First-If the defendant, at the time of voting, believed that she had a right to vote and voted in good faith in that belief, she is not guilty of the offense charged.
Second-In determining the question whether she did or did not believe that she had a right to vote, the jury may take into consideration, as bearing upon that question, the advice which she received from the counsel to whom she applied.
Third-That they may also take into consideration, as bearing upon the same question, the fact that the inspectors considered the question and came to the conclusion that she had a right to vote.
Fourth-That the jury have a right to find a general verdict of guilty or not guilty as they shall believe that she has or has not committed the offense described in the Statute.
First-If the defendant, at the time of voting, believed that she had a right to vote and voted in good faith in that belief, she is not guilty of the offense charged.
Second-In determining the question whether she did or did not believe that she had a right to vote, the jury may take into consideration, as bearing upon that question, the advice which she received from the counsel to whom she applied.
Third-That they may also take into consideration, as bearing upon the same question, the fact that the inspectors considered the question and came to the conclusion that she had a right to vote.
Fourth-That the jury have a right to find a general verdict of guilty or not guilty as they shall believe that she has or has not committed the offense described in the Statute.
A
professional friend sitting by has made this suggestion which I take leave to
avail myself of as bearing upon this question: "The Court has
listened for many hours to an argument in order to decide whether the defendant
has a right to vote. The arguments show the same question has engaged the
best minds of the country as an open question. Can it be possible that the
defendant is to be convicted for acting upon such advice as she could
obtain while the question is an open and undecided one?
The
Court: You
have made a much better argument than that, sir.
Judge
Selden: As
long as it is an open question I submit that she has not been guilty of an
offense. At all events it is for the jury.
The
Court: I
cannot charge these propositions of course. The question, gentlemen of the
jury, in the form it finally takes, is wholly a question or questions of
law, and I have decided as a question of law, in the first place, that under
the 14th Amendment, which
Miss Anthony claims protects her, she was not protected in a right to vote. And I have decided also that her belief and the advice which she took does not protect her in the act which she committed. If I am right in this, the result must be a verdict on your part of guilty, and I therefore direct that you find a verdict of guilty.
Miss Anthony claims protects her, she was not protected in a right to vote. And I have decided also that her belief and the advice which she took does not protect her in the act which she committed. If I am right in this, the result must be a verdict on your part of guilty, and I therefore direct that you find a verdict of guilty.
Judge
Selden: That
is a direction no Court has power to make in a criminal case.
The
Clerk: Gentlemen
of the jury, hearken to your verdict as the Court has recorded it. You say you
find the defendant guilty of the offense whereof she stands indicted, and
so say you all?
Judge
Selden: I
don't know whether an exception is available, but I certainly must except to
the refusal of the Court to submit those propositions, and especially to
the direction of the Court that the jury should find a verdict of guilty. I
claim that it is a power
that is not given to any Court in a criminal case.
that is not given to any Court in a criminal case.
Will the
Clerk poll the jury?
The
Clerk: No.
Gentlemen of the jury, you are discharged.
Sentencing in the Case of United
States vs Susan B. Anthony
Judge
Hunt -(Ordering
the defendant to stand up), "Has the prisoner anything to say why sentence
shall not be pronounced?"
Miss
Anthony- Yes,
your honor, I have many things to say; for in your ordered verdict of guilty,
you have trampled under foot every vital principle of our government. My
natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are
all alike ignored. Robbed of the fundamental privilege of citizenship, I
am degraded from the status of a citizen to that of a subject; and not only
myself individually, but all of my sex, are, by your honor's verdict, doomed to
political subjection under this, so-called, form of government.
Judge
Hunt- The
Court cannot listen to a rehearsal of arguments the prisoner's counsel has
already consumed three hours in presenting.
Miss
Anthony- May
it please your honor, I am not arguing the question, but simply stating the
reasons why sentence cannot, in justice, be pronounced against me. Your
denial of my citizen's right to vote, is the denial of my right of consent as
one of the governed, the denial of my right of representation as one of
the taxed, the denial of my right to a trial by a jury of my peers as
an offender against law, therefore, the denial of my sacred rights to life, liberty, property and-
an offender against law, therefore, the denial of my sacred rights to life, liberty, property and-
Judge
Hunt- The
Court cannot allow the prisoner to go on.
Miss
Anthony- But
your honor will not deny me this one and only poor privilege of protest against
this high-handed outrage upon my citizen's rights. May it please the Court
to remember that since the day of my arrest last November, this is the first
time that either myself or any person of my disfranchised class has been
allowed a word of defense before judge or jury-
Judge
Hunt- The
prisoner must sit down-the Court cannot allow it.
Miss
Anthony- All
of my prosecutors, from the 8th ward corner grocery politician, who entered the
compliant, to the United States Marshal, Commissioner, District Attorney,
District Judge, your honor on the bench, not one is my peer, but each and
all are my political sovereigns; and had your honor submitted my case to
the jury, as was clearly your duty, even then I should
have had just cause of protest, for not one of those men was my peer; but, native or foreign born, white or black, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, awake or asleep, sober or drunk, each and every man of them was my political superior; hence, in no sense, my peer. Even, under such circumstances, a commoner of England, tried before a jury of Lords, would have far less
cause to complain than should I, a woman, tried before a jury of men. Even my counsel, the Hon. Henry R. Selden, who has argued my cause so ably, so earnestly, so unanswerably before your honor, is my political sovereign. Precisely as no disfranchised person is entitled to sit upon a jury, and no woman is entitled to the franchise, so, none but a regularly admitted lawyer is allowed to practice in the courts, and no woman can gain admission to the bar-hence, jury, judge, counsel, must all be of the superior class.
have had just cause of protest, for not one of those men was my peer; but, native or foreign born, white or black, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, awake or asleep, sober or drunk, each and every man of them was my political superior; hence, in no sense, my peer. Even, under such circumstances, a commoner of England, tried before a jury of Lords, would have far less
cause to complain than should I, a woman, tried before a jury of men. Even my counsel, the Hon. Henry R. Selden, who has argued my cause so ably, so earnestly, so unanswerably before your honor, is my political sovereign. Precisely as no disfranchised person is entitled to sit upon a jury, and no woman is entitled to the franchise, so, none but a regularly admitted lawyer is allowed to practice in the courts, and no woman can gain admission to the bar-hence, jury, judge, counsel, must all be of the superior class.
Judged
Hunt- The
Court must insist-the prisoner has been tried according to the established
forms of law.
Miss
Anthony- 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; and hence, your
honor's ordered verdict of guilty; against a United States citizen for the
exercise of "that citizen's right to vote," simply because that
citizen was a woman and not a man. But, yesterday, the same man made
forms of law, declared it a crime punishable with $1,000 fine and six months imprisonment, for you, or me, or you of us, to give a cup of cold water, a crust of bread, or a night's shelter to a panting fugitive as he was tracking his way to Canada. And every man or woman in whose veins coursed a drop of human sympathy violated that wicked law, reckless of consequences, and was justified in so doing. As then, the slaves who got their freedom must take it over, or under, or through the unjust forms of law, precisely so, now, must women, to get their right to a voice in this government, take it; and I have taken mine, and mean to take it at every possible opportunity.
forms of law, declared it a crime punishable with $1,000 fine and six months imprisonment, for you, or me, or you of us, to give a cup of cold water, a crust of bread, or a night's shelter to a panting fugitive as he was tracking his way to Canada. And every man or woman in whose veins coursed a drop of human sympathy violated that wicked law, reckless of consequences, and was justified in so doing. As then, the slaves who got their freedom must take it over, or under, or through the unjust forms of law, precisely so, now, must women, to get their right to a voice in this government, take it; and I have taken mine, and mean to take it at every possible opportunity.
Judge
Hunt- The
Court orders the prisoner to sit down. It will not allow another word.
Miss
Anthony- When
I was brought before your honor for trial, I hoped for a broad and liberal
interpretation of the Constitution and its recent amendments, that should
declare all United States citizens under its protecting gis-that should
declare equality of rights the national guarantee to all persons born or
naturalized in the United States. But failing to get this justice-failing,
even, to get a trial by a jury not of my peers-I ask not leniency at your
hands-but rather the full rigors of the law:
Judge
Hunt- The
Court must insist-
(Here
the prisoner sat down.)
Judge
Hunt- The
prisoner will stand up.
(Here
Miss Anthony arose again.)
The
sentence of the Court is that you pay a fine of one hundred dollars and the
costs of the prosecution.
Miss
Anthony- May
it please your honor, I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty. All
the stock in trade I possess is a $10,000 debt, incurred by publishing my
paper- The Revolution -four years ago, the sole object of
which was to educate all women to do precisely as I have done, rebel
against your manmade, unjust, unconstitutional forms of law, that tax, fine,
imprison and hang women, while they deny them the right of representation in
the government; and I shall work on with might and main to pay every dollar of
that honest debt, but not a penny shall go to this unjust claim. And I shall
earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to the practical
recognition of the old revolutionary maxim, that "Resistance to tyranny is
obedience to God."
Judge
Hunt- Madam,
the Court will not order you committed until the fine is paid.
