10. New York: Susan B. Anthony Breaks the Law

New York

By Becky Brown

In this election week in the U.S. we can remember a few unruly women in Rochester in 1872 with a block named New York, published in Hearth and Home magazine about 1910.

Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906)

About the time she voted

Susan B. Anthony and 13 other women voted in the Presidential election in Rochester, New York. Under the terms of the 14th Amendment, passed four years earlier, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States..." The Grant/Greeley election was the first national election to be held after its passage.  Susan and her sisters were among those who read the words "all persons" as meaning women too.

 

She went home and wrote to Elizabeth Cady 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...."

The Vote and her Trial Received Much Press

Three of the four election inspectors accepted their votes, but one saw the importance of their symbolic action and created a counter action with a formal complaint. Fourteen women were arrested and charged with the offense of "knowingly voting without having a lawful right to vote." The cooperative inspectors were also arrested.

The trial was moved from Rochester to

 Canandaigua's Ontario County Courthouse

Susan Anthony was the only one who actually went to trial where (to the surprise of few) she was convicted. She refused to pay the fine but did not go to jail. The men in charge wanted to avoid any appeals which would legally test the meaning of the words "All persons."

A caricature of "The Woman Who Dared"

 during her trial

Susan B. Anthony realized that another Constitutional amendment with more specific wording would be necessary. Six years after her vote Anthony and Stanton introduced the amendment with the words: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Forty-one years later it became the law.

Grant Campaign Calico

Susan voted for President U.S. Grant's second term. She might have voted for Victoria Woodhull, who had declared herself a candidate in the Equal Rights Party, but Woodhull's name didn't appear on ballots in New York or any place else.  The 1872 election was the only time Susan voted in a Presidential election. She died before her amendment passed in 1920.

New York

By Georgann Eglinski

Dots make a good substitute for stars.

 (BlockBase #1383)

 

The Hearth & Home pattern featured a pieced star in the corner. Here we are using star fabric for the field for an 8" block and the lower stripes are long pieces.

New York

By Dustin Cecil

 

Cutting an 8" Finished Block

The red numbers, more generous measurements, derived from EQ set to 1/16th" default. The black numbers are a 1/8" inch default.

A - From a star print cut a square 4-1/2", focusing on a single large star if you like. (4-1/2")

B - Cut 2 light and 1 dark rectangles 1-7/8" x 4-1/2" (1-13/16" x 4-1/2")

C - Cut 1 light and 2 dark rectangles 1-7/8" x 8-1/2" (1-13/16" x 8-1/2")

Cutting a 12" Finished Block

A 1 square 6-1/2"
B - 3 Rectangles 2-1/2" x 6-1/2"
C - 3 Rectangles 2-1/2" x 12-1/2"

 

Watch a film by Ken Burns and Paul Barnes, "Not For Ourselves Alone, The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony."

http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/index.html

Read a period account of the trial here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZX0EAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

And a summary of the Famous Trial here:

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/sbaaccount.html

New York

By Becky Brown