Trial of Susan B. Anthony

Anonymous

In 1872, after the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, the women’s suffrage movement in the United States adopted a new strategy. Arguing that the right to vote was one of the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed to every citizen by that amendment, the women were inspired to put this interpretation to the test in practice by attempting to register and vote in the November election. In Rochester, NY, fourteen women, including Susan B. Anthony, were successful. Within days after having cast their votes, however, they were arrested, as were the three election inspectors who had received their votes. Suspecting that a Rochester jury might be sympathetic to Miss Anthony, the prosecution requested a change of venue to the nearby city of Canandaigua, where trials were held in June 1873. Intense public interest in the proceedings led the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle to publish this pamphlet in 1874. Here is the transcript of Miss Anthony’s trial, including (in section 9) her justly famous remarks at her sentencing. Here also is the transcript of the election inspectors’ trial, as well as addresses given by Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage, and an analysis by John Hooker critical of the trial’s irregularities.

Genre(s): Modern (19th C)

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Preface; Indictment Maria Kasper
00:12:24
Play 02 Anthony Trial: Examination of Witnesses Maria Kasper
00:21:11
Play 03 Anthony Trial: Argument for the Defense, Part 1 Maria Kasper
00:23:16
Play 04 Anthony Trial: Argument for the Defense, Part 2 Maria Kasper
00:23:20
Play 05 Anthony Trial: Argument for the Defense, Part 3 Maria Kasper
00:20:49
Play 06 Anthony Trial: Argument for the Defense, Part 4 Maria Kasper
00:27:17
Play 07 Anthony Trial: Instructions to Jury; Verdict Maria Kasper
00:21:28
Play 08 Anthony Trial: Motion for New Trial Maria Kasper
00:30:34
Play 09 Anthony Trial: Sentencing, With Remarks by Defendant Maria Kasper
00:07:39
Play 10 Election Inspectors Trial: Indictment Maria Kasper
00:18:23
Play 11 Election Inspectors Trial: Remarks by Defense Attorney Maria Kasper
00:18:27
Play 12 Election Inspectors Trial: Examination of Witnesses, Part 1 Maria Kasper
00:27:44
Play 13 Election Inspectors Trial: Examination of Witnesses, Part 2 Maria Kasper
00:18:19
Play 14 Election Inspectors Trial: Argument for Defense Maria Kasper
00:31:35
Play 15 Election Inspectors Trial: Verdict; Motion for New Trial; Sentence Maria Kasper
00:17:53
Play 16 Address by Susan B. Anthony, Part 1 Maria Kasper
00:22:17
Play 17 Address by Susan B. Anthony, Part 2 Maria Kasper
00:25:18
Play 18 Address by Susan B. Anthony, Part 3 Maria Kasper
00:24:09
Play 19 Speech by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Part 1 Maria Kasper
00:25:32
Play 20 Speech by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Part 2 Maria Kasper
00:23:37
Play 21 Speech by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Part 3 Maria Kasper
00:24:28
Play 22 Judge Hunt and the Right of Trial by Jury - by John Hooker Maria Kasper
00:20:07