Jailed for Freedom

             Woman suffrage is the right of women to vote. Today, women in nearly all countries have the same voting rights as men. But they did not begin to gain such rights until the early 1900's, and they had to overcome strong opposition to get them. Reading Jailed for Freedom has been like peeking into a window of history while this struggle raged. Doris Stevens wrote this book in 1920, after she had been a participant in the struggle for women's rights.
             Susan B. Anthony was the first women's rights advocate. Stevens comments that Ms. Anthony's reputation often overshadowed the fact that she defied the law in a time when this was a very unusual occurrence. She literally placed her life and reputation on the line to bring attention to the situation which existed in the lives of women in the late 18th century.
             Susan B. Anthony was a militant. She literally dedicated her life to the battle of securing right equal to those which men had. Anthony began her fight for rights before the U.S. Civil War. She almost single-handedly kept the issue of women's suffrage in the mind of the government and the public. During the Civil War, Ms. Anthony held her ground in her belief that no national problem was great enough to endanger the abandonment of the fight for the rights of more than 50% of the population. Anthony was also an ardent abolitionist and continued to be a champion for racial rights until the day she died. When she died, she was the symbol of woman's rights in the United States. .
             In my mind the image I see when I hear the words, "militant general" is everything but the impression that Ms. Paul presents. She was a frail-looking, young Quaker woman whose weather-worn hands showed the signs of much manual labor. The atmosphere she projected was on of quiet strength and just. It has been said that when she moved her actions were as quick and graceful as a fox and as swift as a panther. Paul called forth strong emotions from those who knew her.