Susan B Anthony

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It was we, people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens, but we, the whole people who formed the union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them. Not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people, women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of these blessings of liberty while they are denied the only means of securing them provided by this Democratic-Republican government... the ballot.

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Anthony notes that all three dictionaries agree on the definition of a citizen, and uses them to further justify her point by suggesting that women technically cannot be citizens if they cannot hold office or vote. Here, Anthony continues to address purpose, by saying that no state can belittle women by stripping them of their rights, and that to do so goes against the Constitution by not "establishing justice" or "securing blessings of liberty". If a citizen is a person entitled to these rights, then Anthony raises the sarcastic and rhetorical question, are women persons? This question, equipped with an obvious answer, goes to show even more clearly the level of unjustifiable prejudice shown in the government. It is apparent that Anthony's goal was to show women's side of things: that it is impossible to enjoy these blessings of liberty while unable to fully use them; that women experience a hateful prejudice based on gender rather than work ability or skill; and that ultimately, as United States citizens, women should not be denied the right to vote, because it is defined in the very word. And there can be no doubt that Anthony achieved this goal. Not only is her speech extraordinary, but she was the first woman to be pictured on a United States coin, and is known to this day as one of the most influential people of the Progressive Era. She raised awareness of this injustice through her speeches, inspiring others to protest. She died ten years before the law was changed, but her words and actions continue to affect present-day America. Ultimately, the beliefs she fought for far outweighed the $100 fine she was given for voting in 1872, which she never paid. (HA) Anthony concludes,

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For any state to make sex a qualification that ever must result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people is to pass a bill of attainder or am ex-post facto law and is therefore a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it, the blessings of liberty are forever withheld from women and their female posterity. To them, this government has no just powers, derived from the consent of the governed. To them, this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy, a hateful oligarchy of sex, the most hateful aristocracy ever established on the face of the globe. An oligarchy of wealth, where the rich govern the poor, an oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Saxon rules the African might be endured. But this oligarchy of sex—which makes father, brother, husband, son, the oligarchs over the mother and sister, the wife and daughter of every household, which ordains all men sovereigns and all women subjects—carries dissension, discord, and rebellion into every home of the nation.

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Friends and fellow citizens, I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. 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 citizens' rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny. The preamble to the Federal Constitution states, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several states today is null and void, precisely as is every one against Negroes. Being persons, women are citizens, and no state has the right to make any law, or to enforce any old law, that shall abridge their privileges or immunities.

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In June of 1873, Susan B. Anthony delivered this speech, titled "On Women's Right to Vote", after voting illegally in the presidential election the year before. This speech repeatedly emphasized the gap between rights given to males versus females, and fits Burke's Pentad because of its historical context. Burke's Pentad of Dramatism was created by Kenneth Burke, and may be used to find the motive of the speaker. The pentad consists of five parts: act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. These five components may be used to explain Anthony's speech. The first and second components of the pentad, act and scene, may be found in the delivery of Anthony's speech, which asserted the absurdity of the law that barred women from voting. At the time, Anthony was traveling across the nation, speaking out against this injustice. She gave variations of this speech over twenty times in Ontario County, then went to trial. Throughout her speech, Anthony spoke of how voting is not a privilege, but a right. In this introduction, she uses the rhetorical device of allusion when she references the Preamble to the Constitution to show the liberties granted to all citizens... or, rather how some liberties only apply to certain kinds of citizens.

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In this passage, Anthony uses a variety of tools to convey the message that although prejudice and oligarchy exist everywhere, this domination of the sexes is the most despicable. She uses tools such as that of contest of rich and poor, educated and ignorant, and Saxon and African, and asyndeton, an absence of conjunctions, when speaking of the fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, giving the appearance of the list of males to be ongoing, and that of females to be finite. She also uses bdeligmia, or a string of insults, when repeatedly referring to the government as an odious aristocracy. She also addresses the last section in the pentad, purpose, explaining why she is acting. Susan B. Anthony spoke out to act against the hateful oligarchy of sex that women faced at this time. She spoke out against the image of the male sovereign, stating that women are more than subjects (and once again, using contrast). Anthony even began to hint that women are not seem as people or true citizens in government, which she further explains the next part of her speech.

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In this section of her speech, Anthony first addresses the component of agent from Burke's Pentad. She speaks of who the Preamble refers to: not only the male half of the United States, but all of it, including male and female citizens. The comparison of half to whole is a rhetorical technique known as juxtaposition: two things closely compared, with a contrasting effect. Using comparisons like half to whole and male to female, Anthony shows the extent of the Constitution's liberties, which are for all people regardless of gender. She also repeatedly uses the word we, the most famous part of the Preamble, in a technique called repetition, or reiterating things to create a constant effect. This technique is effective because it reminds the listeners that the law prohibiting women fro, voting contradicts the Preamble to the Constitution. Anthony continues to address agent, referring to who is involved and how. In 1852, Susan B. Anthony joined the women's rights movement, and discussed her views with other suffragettes (other agents, according to Burke) such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton was already campaigning for women's rights, and inspired Anthony to fight for a change. In 1869, the two founded the National Women Suffrage Association. These ambitious women, accompanied by other strong female leaders like Louisa May Alcott and Sojourner Truth, paved the way to what would eventually become the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Anthony continues,

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Webster, Worcester, and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. The only question left to be settled now is, are women persons? And I hardly believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not.