Strong Beliefs In Equal Rights example essay topic

Susan B. Anthony Thank you Mr. President for inviting all of us here to tea. It is a great honor for me to sit in the company of all these important and significant people of this century. My name is Susan B. Anthony and I have dedicated my life to fight for women's rights in the workforce and in society. I believe I was invited to this gathering because I have strong beliefs in equal rights and pay for both men and women. Also, I play an important role in women's suffrage and in many organizations including the National Women's Suffrage Association. Throughout the years, I have been campaigning for women's rights through education, labor unions and suffrage movements.

I was once an abolitionist, fighting for emancipation of slaves before the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. I was active in the anti-slavery movement and campaigned for black and women's full citizenship. However, I was disappointed when blacks were given the right to vote in the Fifteenth Amendment in the Constitution and women were not. Education for all races and genders was also one of the things I have fought for. I called for women to be admitted as teachers, which were once only male occupations, and asked for a better pay for women teachers, for the salary of the men were much higher than those of the female. I also argued for coeducation, for there is no difference between the minds of men and women, therefore should not be separated.

Organizations that I had founded called for schools to open their doors to women and ex-slaves and that all children should be able to attend public schools regardless of race. The Preamble of the Constitution supports this belief of mine because it states that to form a more perfect union, we must establish justice, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare. Having equal pay for women and coeducation in schools is a form of establishing justice and insuring equality for all. To insure women their equal place in society, I persuaded women to form labor unions. I advocated an eight-hour day and equal pay for equal work for the wages for women were barely enough to live on and conditions in the factories were brutal. Women who were excluded from men's trade unions formed their own called the Workingwomen's Associations.

We drew up reports on working conditions and pay to present to employers. When printers in factories went on strike, I urged employers to hire women instead to show that we could do the work as good as a man could, therefore, deserved equal pay. Women's suffrage is the main thing I have fought for in society. To participate in public affairs, women needed the ability to vote.

Though disappointed that the Constitution did not give the right to vote to women, I still campaigned vigorously for women's suffrage on speaking tours and at protests. I founded the American Equal Rights Association for women who wanted aim for "justice for all". We adopted a strategy for women of getting the right to vote on a state-by-state basis and collected signatures for a petition to send to congress. The Bill of Rights supports my beliefs because in the Fifth Amendment, it states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property. Voting is part of public life, so no individual, including women, should be denied the right to vote.

My views on America are simple. I wish that all people could be treated with equality and that rights are given to all the people in the country. I want women to achieve an equal place in society and have shared and equal access to work, education and public affairs with men. I hope that soon America can see the justice in what I am fighting for and fulfill those wishes in the next turn of the century. I hope all of you are enjoying this gathering as much as I am, and I thank you once again Mr. President for inviting me to tea.