Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874 Gerrit Smith to Susan B. Anthony

GLC04717.55

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GLC#
GLC04717.55-View header record
Type
Letters
Date
February 5, 1873
Author/Creator
Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Title
Gerrit Smith to Susan B. Anthony
Place Written
Peterboro, New York
Pagination
1 p. : Height: 33.1 cm, Width: 20.4 cm
Primary time period
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
Sub-Era
Reconstruction

Smith writes to Anthony, the legendary activist and reformer: "Why men have the ballot and women hav'nt it, and why they have so much else in which they refuse to let women share, originates in the simple fact, that the superior physical strength is on the side of man. I confess that such things go somewhat toward making me ashamed of being a man. Nevertheless, I am consoled by the thought that when men shall have become wiser and better, and exchanged their barbaric pride in their stronger and rougher sex for a sense of what they owe to the weaker and gentler one, they will be glad to do justice to women..." Discusses women's right to vote in relation to the Constitution of the United States.

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