Susan B. Anthony was a leading U.S. women’s rights activist who spent her life fighting for women’s right to vote and for the abolition of slavery.

What did Susan B. Anthony do?

Quick Scoop

Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) was a pioneer of the women’s suffrage movement and a major civil rights reformer in 19th‑century America. She never lived to see women win the vote, but her work helped make the Nineteenth Amendment possible in 1920.

Her biggest contributions

  • Fought for women’s right to vote (women’s suffrage) across the United States.
  • Campaigned against slavery and supported abolition before and during the Civil War.
  • Helped organize national women’s rights groups and led campaigns, conventions, and petitions for legal equality.
  • Publicly challenged voting laws by illegally voting in 1872 and being tried in federal court, turning her case into a public statement about women’s rights.

Key things she actually did

  • Worked as an abolitionist in the 1850s, speaking and organizing for the American Anti‑Slavery Society and helping with petition drives and Underground Railroad activity.
  • Co‑founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869 with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to push for a constitutional amendment for women’s suffrage.
  • Co‑edited and managed the women’s rights newspaper The Revolution , which argued for equal pay, property rights, and voting rights for women.
  • Organized the Women’s Loyal National League during the Civil War, which collected nearly 400,000 signatures to support the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery.
  • Traveled constantly, giving 75–100 speeches a year for decades to build support for women’s suffrage at the local, state, national, and even international level.
  • Helped form the International Council of Women and other organizations to connect women’s rights activists globally.
  • Later helped lead the merged National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), shaping national strategy for getting women the vote.

Famous moment: voting “illegally” in 1872

  • In the 1872 U.S. presidential election, Anthony went to the polls in Rochester, New York, and cast a ballot even though women were not legally allowed to vote.
  • She was arrested, put on trial in federal court, and found guilty; the judge ordered her to pay a $100 fine, which she refused to pay, calling it an “unjust penalty.”
  • Her speech after the verdict became one of her most quoted statements and helped draw nationwide attention to the injustice of denying women the vote.

Why she matters today

  • Her decades of organizing, fundraising, lobbying, and speaking laid much of the groundwork for the Nineteenth Amendment, which finally gave women in the U.S. the right to vote in 1920, fourteen years after her death.
  • She also pushed for women’s property rights, educational opportunities, labor reforms, and broader legal equality, not just voting.
  • In recognition, she later appeared on a U.S. dollar coin and has museums, historic sites, and schools named after her.

At a glance (HTML table)

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Area What she did Why it mattered
Women’s suffrage Co‑founded NWSA, led NAWSA, gave hundreds of speeches, organized state and national campaigns.Built the movement that won the Nineteenth Amendment and women’s right to vote.
Abolition Spoke for the American Anti‑Slavery Society, helped petition for the Thirteenth Amendment, supported fugitives from slavery.Linked women’s rights to the broader fight for human freedom and helped push the end of slavery.
Public protest Voted illegally in 1872, accepted arrest and trial, refused to pay the fine.Turned her case into a national symbol of how unjust it was to deny women the vote.
Organizing & media Published *The Revolution*, helped form the Women’s Loyal National League and International Council of Women.Gave women a platform to speak, coordinate, and shape public opinion.
**TL;DR:** Susan B. Anthony devoted her life to fighting slavery and winning women the right to vote, building the organizations, campaigns, and public pressure that eventually changed the U.S. Constitution.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.