Susan anthony biography

Early Life and Abolitionist Movement

Born Susan Brownell Anthony on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Daniel Anthony, a cotton mill owner, and his wife, Lucy Read Anthony. She grew up in a politically active family who, as part of the abolitionist movement, worked to end slavery.

When they moved to Rochester, New York, in 1845, the Anthony’s social circle included anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass, who would later join Anthony in the fight for women’s rights, and journalist William Lloyd Garrison.

The Anthonys were also part of the temperance movement, which attempted to cease the production and sale of alcohol in the United States.

When Susan B. Anthony was denied a chance to speak at a temperance convention because of her gender, she was inspired to shift her focus to the fight for women’s rights.

She realized that no one would take women in politics seriously unless they had the right to vote, writing: “There never will be complete equ