Question

Which sentence in this excerpt from Susan B. Anthony’s “On Women’s Right to Vote” reveals the purpose of the speech? Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny. The preamble of the Federal Constitution says: "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people - women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the ballot.

Answer 1

Answer:

And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the ballot.

Explanation:

Susan B. Anthony's speech "On Women's Right To Vote" invokes the Preamble of the Consitution of the United States about the inclusion of women in its statement "We, the people". She reiterates that the "we" in the Preamble means not only the men but also the women, and the equality of all genders.

In the given excerpt from her speech, she declares her intention to prove that "voting" is not a crime but a simple "[exercising] of her citizen's rights" guaranteed by the National Constitution. So, it is upon her now to show that she has committed no crime as such as simply doing right by the very rights that the nation has given to everyone.

Thus, the sentence that reveals the purpose of her speech is seen in the last line

And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the ballot.