Analysis Of On Women's Right To Vote By Susan B Anthony

In 1872, after being arrested for voting in the presidential election two weeks earlier, Susan B. Anthony delivers a speech where she defends her previous actions and argues for women’s right to vote in the United States. Susan B. Anthony emphasizes on an appeal to ethos in her speech, “On Women’s Right to Vote,” in order to create credibility and efficacy in her claims. Prior to the events leading up to her speech, Anthony already built a reputation for being a strong advocate of both the abolitionist movement and women’s rights. In 1869, Anthony created the National Woman Suffrage Association, another act that added to the credibility and respect of Anthony herself. In her speech, Anthony quotes the Preamble of the Federal Constitution, the supreme law of the land, as justification of her argument that women are citizens and therefore have the right to vote. As Susan B. Anthony was just arrested and currently fighting for women’s rights, it was necessary for her to establish and build upon ethos, so that her message translates clearly and seriously to the audience. …show more content…
She bases this critical argument on the sound logic that men should not look down on women for voting if they have been inhibiting them from doing so all along. Her reasoning further paints the current state of women’s suffrage in a negative vision that remains in the minds of the audience as she reaches the conclusion of her