Question

Why does Susan B. Anthony refer to her opposition as an "odious aristocracy" in her " Speech After Being Convicted of Voting"

Answer 1

She shows how the disenfranchising of women, based solely on their sex, negates the very basis of American republican and democratic identity. It resembles the old, outdated aristocratic values which were founded in the supremacy of wealthy people over the poor. In Anthony's time, the American Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and other documents guaranteed human rights to all people, whatever their color or social standing may be. The only people who were still denied the right to vote, and prosecuted if they dared to oppose the law, were women.

Answer 2

She shows how the disenfranchising of women, based solely on their sex, negates the very basis of American republican and democratic identity. It resembles the old, outdated aristocratic values which were founded in the supremacy of wealthy people over the poor. In Anthony's time, the American Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and other documents guaranteed human rights to all people, whatever their color or social standing may be. The only people who were still denied the right to vote, and prosecuted if they dared to oppose the law, were women. Her opposition is "odious" because it is inhumane; it is "aristocracy" because it defies the progress of civilization, which had declared all people equal.