The Mist That Falls At Night

3

I not only filled the soul of Clara but also the woman who fought for colored and women rights, for girls and boys to work and learn together and founded the National Women's Suffrage Association (NWSA) to accomplish her goals of peace for all.

When Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams Massachusetts women weren't allowed to vote. Little did the young quaker know that she would take part in changing that. She was born in a family with seven children, Guelma, Hannah, Mary, Daniel, and Jacob who was called Merritt. As the second oldest child and one out of four girls (her younger sister died at the age of two) Susan was often a leader for her siblings. She began her life learning with her brothers and therefore understood the unfairness of women rights.

At the age of 6 Susan moved to Battenville MA away from her quaker lifestyle even though her quaker beliefs would be carried throughout her lifetime through her work and struggles. In Battenville Susan's father opened a mill to support his family while Susan attended a local school. She learned there until one day when she was told that only boys could learn long division. At this time her father founded a home school for her and some other children. Susan's father was only half for equal rights. He believed that some jobs were only meant for males but that women should get the same learning opportunities as men. In fact he wouldn't let women run the mill because it was "too much work" for a woman.

At the age 15 she began working at her dad's school as a teacher. After that Susan moved to Easton to live with a family for a while. There she taught kids and did chores around the house.

Soon after returning home Susan's dad enrolled her into Deborah Moulson's Female Seminary in Hamilton Penn. Susan was not happy there. She missed her family and wished to go home. During the Panic of 1837 she had the chance to. Her father's mill fell with jobs and finance as well as all of their money. In fact, they ended up selling all their clothes, supplies, and even underwear for money. Susan only had the choice to move away to support her family. She got a job as a teacher and kept in touch with her family as much as possible. Even staying in touch with her married sister was hard due to the fact that her husband believed that sisters caused a untrustworthy relationship and also because women didn't have a say on anything and weren't even able to divorce their husbands.

Susan decided to move to Canajoharie, New York to accept a teaching job offer and to live with her Uncle Joshua and her Cousin Margaret. At this point of time Susan was beginning to leave some of her quaker ideas and beliefs and her family was doing better financially. Even though she was leaving some of her quaker heritage she still kept the ideas against slavery and for temperance.

On March 1, 1849 Susan gave her first public speech to 200 people about the Daughters for Temperance, a group of women that were against alcohol usage and helped women who were married to drunkards. Due to her amazing speaking and ideas she was oftenly called the smartest woman in Canajoharie.

Devastation struck as Susan's cousin Margaret died after having a baby. In fact she was so sad that she returned to Rochester New York. There she attended a convention in which the women spoke in front of the men. Before this point in time Susan had never thought of fighting for her rights, but now she was determined to.

In 1850 Susan started working on the Underground Railroad helping to free slaves. She also began attending more conventions and speeches to hear some famous and well-known people speak. During this time she even met Elizabeth Cady Stanton and they created a friendship that would last a lifetime.

In January of 1854 Susan made a life changing decision. She decided to go to the meeting for the Sons of Temperance in Albany New York. Some women attended it to protest. The women were told they were not allowed to speak and that they were there just to listen. This made Susan so angry that she decided to take her own measures. With help from Elizabeth, Susan founded the Women's New York State Temperance Society. With Elizabeth as their president they started to speak up about alcohol misusage. Slowly, Susan began to realise the unfairness of men's rights versus women's rights. To show how much she cared about gender equality she even allowed a men's temperance society join her's. Almost immediately the new members vote Elizabeth out of presidency, turned down all of the rights they wanted, and even changed the name to the People's League!