What did Susan B. Anthony do?

Why This Matters

This question asks what Susan B. Anthony did. The answer is that she fought for women's rights or fought for civil rights. Either answer is accepted by USCIS.

Susan B. Anthony was born in 1820 and became one of the most important leaders in the fight for women's equality in the United States. During her lifetime, women could not vote, had limited property rights, and were largely excluded from public life. Anthony dedicated her life to changing this. She traveled across the country giving speeches, organizing meetings, and demanding that women be treated as equal citizens under the law.

Anthony is most famous for her work in the women's suffrage movement, the campaign to win women the right to vote. In 1872, she was actually arrested for voting in the presidential election, because it was illegal for women to vote at the time. She was put on trial and fined, but she refused to pay. This act of civil disobedience drew national attention to the cause. Anthony also fought for other civil rights, including the abolition of slavery. She worked alongside other activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass.

Sadly, Anthony died in 1906, fourteen years before her dream was realized. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote. This amendment is sometimes called the "Susan B. Anthony Amendment" in her honor. Her face was also placed on the U.S. dollar coin. Anthony's courage and determination helped transform American democracy by expanding rights to all citizens, regardless of gender.

Key Facts

• Susan B. Anthony fought for women's rights, especially the right to vote
• She was arrested in 1872 for voting illegally as a woman
• She worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the suffrage movement
• The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
• The Nineteenth Amendment is sometimes called the "Susan B. Anthony Amendment"

Common Mistakes

• Saying "she was the first woman to vote", she voted illegally and was arrested; women did not gain the legal right to vote until 1920
• Confusing Susan B. Anthony with Harriet Tubman, Tubman helped enslaved people escape through the Underground Railroad
• Saying "she was President", Anthony was an activist, not a political officeholder

Study Tip

Link Susan B. Anthony to the word "vote." Her biggest fight was for women's right to vote. If you remember "Anthony equals vote," you can connect her to women's rights and civil rights. Also remember the Nineteenth Amendment, it granted what Anthony spent her life fighting for.