Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, the second of eleven children (Susan B. Anthony: A Biography, by Kathleen Barry, page 10). Her parents were Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read. Daniel was a Quaker, while Lucy was raised a Baptist. Their unique union was formed against the wishes of the Quaker community in which Susan was raised. Her parents' defiance of the social norm set by the sedate Quaker community perhaps served as Susan's earliest inkling that sometimes what society said was normal was not always right (Barry, 6).

In 1845, Daniel moved his family to Rochester, NY, center of the anti-slavery movement. Every Sunday, a group of abolitionists, including the famous Frederick Douglass, would meet at the family's farm to discuss the latest news and ideas about how to end slavery. Susan participated actively in these discussions, and eventually became an engineer in the Underground Railroad that ran near their farm (Sherr, xx). In a time when most abolitionists thought the solution was to send the slaves back to Africa, Susan wrote privately in her diary of her dream of an egalitarian world, when all people, black, white, male, and female, would be equal (Barry, 42). On one occasion, however, she discovered that just because people claim to believe in abolition does not mean that they are ready to confront its results. A freedman attended a Quaker meeting one day, and some of the members left in protest. Susan was quite indignant, writing a letter to a friend stated:

After a debate among the men, they agreed to let Susan speak. This was her comment:

ned off the gas to the meeting to strike terror into the abolitionists. But Susan reacted as she did in every situation: she stood her ground. She refused to leave the platform until the lights were turned back on. Only then did she adjourn the meeting (Barry, 147).

"It seems to me you fail to comprehend the cause of the disrespect of which you complain. Do you not see that so long as society says woman has not brains enough to be a doctor, lawyer or minister, but has plenty to be a teacher, every man of you who condescends to teach, tacitly admits before all Israel and the sun that he has no more brains that a woman?"

In addition to her increasing involvement in abolitionism, Susan became an ardent member of the temperance movement. Public drunkenness was a large problem in the early 19th century, much more than it is today (Sherr, xx).

Susan B. Anthony was a remarkable woman. Her tenacity and determination shone from her, and were reflected in the thousands of women who were inspired by her words to reach for higher heights. Without Susan, the suffrage movement no doubt would have come about eventually, and women eventually would have won the right to vote. But Susan B. Anthony's courage and determination to the Cause enabled its goals to be realized sooner than any could have hoped. Her life was dedicated to making the world an equal place for all humans, no matter what their race or gender. On her deathbed, her last words were to a young woman who Susan wanted to be her successor. The woman protested that maybe she would not be permitted to take Susan's place. Susan grasped her hand and looked into her eyes, and with the same resolute determination with which she had faced her entire life, said: "Make them" (Barry, 355).

Sherr, Lynn. Failure is Impossible. Times Books, Random House. 1995

"The Friends raised quite a fuss. . . about a colored man sitting in the meeting house and some left the meeting on the account. The man was . . . very polite, but still the pretended meek followers of Christ could not worship their God and have this sable companion with them what a lack of Christianity is this."

Then she sat down (Barry, 77). For the next nine years, Susan would attend every state teachers' convention, insisting that women should speak, hold offices, serve on committees, and get equal pay. She was also a strong advocate for coeducation in higher learning. Opposed by men and women alike, she kept going, forcefully delivering the speeches written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Fifty years later, in 1900, the University of Rochester agreed to let women be educated alongside men. Susan's diary entry was short and to the point:

Susan also attended a teacher's conference in New York City, in which she had to fight for her right to speak among the men. They were complaining about the lack of respect for teachers

Some common words found in the essay are:
Africa Susan, Susan Anthony, Quaker Lucy, York City, Cady Stanton, Travels Reform, Lynn Sherr, Susan Elizabeth, University Rochester, Civil War, women's rights, susan anthony, elizabeth cady, elizabeth cady stanton, cady stanton, susan elizabeth, civil war, susan attended, women's rights' movement, anthony biography, movement abolitionists, susan anthony remarkable, anthony born, susan anthony biography, civil war abolitionists,
Approximate Word count = 2640
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)