Getty US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for the signing ceremony of a proclamation on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment during an event in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC on August 18, 2020. - The 19th Amendment was created giving women in the United States the constitutional right to vote. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Susan B. Anthony never lived to see women get the vote, but she is credited with being one of the biggest influencers in women attaining that right.
Anthony never married and dedicated her life to working toward a more equal playing field for women, saying, “There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers,” according to History’s website. Yet she died fourteen years before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed allowing women 21 and over to vote.
On Aug. 18, 2020, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of that amendment, President Donald Trump announced he would pardon Anthony for illegally voting in 1872, roughly fifty years before women were afforded that right.
His daughter Ivanka shared the news on her Twitter page.
To mark the 100th anniversary of 19th amendment, President Trump pardons Susan B. Anthony, one of the founding mothers of the U. S. Women’s Suffrage Movement, who was found guilty by an all-male jury of illegal voting in 1872 presidential election. 🇺🇸
According to NBC, Trump said, “She was never pardoned — for voting. She was guilty for voting. And we are going to be signing a full and complete pardon, and I think that’s really fantastic.”
Anthony was arrested for “voting in the front parlor of 7 Madison Street (now 17 Madison) on November 18,” when she was 52 years old, according to the Susan B. Anthony Museum and House, who report Anthony was “tried and fined $100 with costs after the judge ordered the jury to find her guilty.”
Anthony refused to pay the fine but she was not imprisoned over it.
At her trial, she said, “Your denial of my citizen’s right to vote is the denial of my right of consent as one of the governed … the denial of my sacred rights to life, liberty, property,” NBC reported.
Anthony Was Very Progressive & Trump Is Known For Insulting Women He Doesn’t Like or Agree With
Gettycirca 1890: Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906), American feminist leader and campaigner of women’s rights.
It’s easy to wonder what Anthony would’ve thought of Trump, a president known for inciting passionate fervor from both his supporters and his detractors.
Anthony was a seeker of change in areas where there was blatant inequality, whereas the Trump administration has run on a platform of making America “Great Again.” That may mean different things to different people, but in the nineteenth century when Anthony was dedicating her life to working toward rights for women and people of color, she most definitely worked toward making America something different than it was during her lifetime.
Anthony knew she wouldn’t live to see all the change she hoped for, saying in 1902 while in her 84th year:
If I could live another century! I do so want to see the fruition of the work for women in the past century. There is so much yet to be done, I see so many things I would like to do and say, but I must leave it for the younger generation. We old fighters have prepared the way, and it is easier than it was fifty years ago when I first got into the harness. The young blood, fresh with enthusiasm and with all the enlightenment of the twentieth century, must carry on the work.
President Trump has a reputation for verbally attacking women but he also says he has “done more for women than just about any President in history.”
His track record with women is spotty due to so many insults or degrading words hurled at them, yet Forbes points out the Trump administration has appointed hundreds of women in leadership roles.
I have done more for WOMEN than just about any President in HISTORY! As we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of women’s voting rights, we should build a BEAUTIFUL STATUE in Washington D.C. to honor the many brave women who made this possible for our GREAT COUNTRY…
Today There are More Women Voters Than Men Voters Making Them An Important Demographic to Securing a Win
GettyAn American suffragist with an umbrella stands next to a baby carriage and wears a sign proclaiming ‘Women! Use your vote,’ circa 1920.
Marketwatch reports that 54% of the people in the U.S are women, and more of those women turn out to vote than men. That means women’s votes are a big boost to helping win an election. Yet polls have shown that Trump is lagging behind Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden where women voters are concerned.
According to Forbes, “In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted last month, Trump trailed Joe Biden among suburban women 39% to 56%. According to the survey, only 40% of suburban women approved of Trump’s job performance, while 59% disapproved.”
Some say that Trump’s posthumous pardoning of the long-dead suffragette is a move to win favor with women voters. Others say that Anthony wouldn’t want his pardon.
Democratic New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that Trump should rescind Anthony’s pardon, Tweeting, “She was proud of her arrest to draw attention to the cause for women’s rights, and never paid her fine. Let her Rest In Peace.”
As highest ranking woman elected official in New York and on behalf of Susan B. Anthony’s legacy we demand Trump rescind his pardon.
She was proud of her arrest to draw attention to the cause for women’s rights, and never paid her fine. Let her Rest In Peace, @realDonaldTrump.
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