“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” It is a statement that molded this country and the rights it has. Although, thanks to the efforts of Susan B. Anthony, a leader, the face of the movement, and a woman, these rights have been extended to both sexes.

Anthony, born in 1820, was raised in a time when women were not treated as equals to men and were taught to depend on the opposite gender; however, Anthony fought for equality. Anthony believed, “that [a] woman must not depend upon the protection of [a] man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.”

After multiple years of attending many conventions for anti-slavery and women’s rights and being denied the right to speak because of her gender, Anthony decided to do what she could to make a change. In 1869 Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Staton, a famous women’s rights activist, called the first Women’s Suffrage Convention in Washington DC.

This convention, in turn, led the pair of women to found The National Woman Suffrage Association which fought against the passing of the 15th amendment. This amendment would guarantee the right for African American men to vote, but still excluded women. The motto of the movement was: “Justice, not Favors.—Men, their Rights and Nothing More; Women, their Rights and Nothing Less.”

50 years after the 15th amendment was passed, after thousands of women followed her example, the 19th amendment, or “Susan B. Anthony amendment” was passed, allowing women the right to vote.

Although she never lived to exercise her right to vote it was because of her efforts that women are given this fundamental right.