Deaver 1

Lindsey Deaver
12/28/18
Niki Carroll
English 111

Inalienable Rights

Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech and Susan B. Anthony took action to fight for their
inalienable rights. Anthony voted illegally in 1872 to stand up for women whose right of suffrage
was taken away. Over a century later, Martin Luther King Jr. was still fighting for all mean to be
treated equally. The United States were not as united as the founding fathers planned for it to be.
Races were segregated and women were treated unfairly. Luckily, Martin Luther King Jr. and
Susan B. Anthony stood up for what they believed in to make the difference they wished to see
in the world.
Susan B. Anthony did what all other women couldn’t; She voted. After her arrest
Anthony wrote up a speech and let several counties hear what she had to say. Anthony was
determined to get to the bottom of how it was a “crime” for citizens of the United States to vote.
“It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the
whole people, who formed this Union” (Susan B. Anthony). Anthony was clearly a citizen of the
United States, therefore; she was part of the people who formed the union and just wanted equal
rights so she felt like a part of it. "Under every view of the subject, it seems indispensable that
the mass of the citizens should not be without a voice in making the laws which they are to obey,
and in choosing the magistrate who are to administer them” (James Madison). Anthony just
fought for the answer of why her right that the founding fathers gave her had been taken away
and used what they said as proof that “all men are created equal.”
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. He dreamed that segregation would end. Over one
hundred years later after Anthony stood up for women’s rights, he is still fighting for the fact that
“all men are created equal.” Martin Luther King Jr. wished that negros would be free and live
equivalent to those surrounding them. Many negroes were slaves, and many white men were
slave owners. That is not the dream King Jr. had in mind. He had a dream for the future. “I have
a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character” (Martin Luther King Jr.). He believed
that freedom should ring and he wished that the future would be better off than his time. “I am
happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for
freedom in the history of our nation” (Martin Luther King Jr.). King Jr. reached and did what he
could to make the change he wished to see. He was not the only one. He did not just do it for
himself, or by himself. He stood up and made his speech with everyone who agreed with him
their to support him and he did it for their good as well. “King himself would be the first person
to acknowledge that he did not make the movement; instead, the patient local labors of thousands
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and thousands of black southerners lifted him up among the rulers of the world” (Timothy B.
Tyson). Tyson wrote an article on Martin Luther King Jr. to prove that he did not give a speech
to just go down in history, but he gave a speech to see others who were suffering happy.
In comparison, Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony had two different
arguments but they shared the same view. They simply believed that all United States citizens
should be treated equally and be able to uphold their inalienable rights. Anthony got herself
locked in jail for standing up for her rights and sadly Martin Luther King Jr. was shot shortly
after making his speech to stand up for what he believed in. Both civil rights speakers used
words placed in the constitution to back up what they were fighting for. Although Susan B.
Anthony was not killed as soon as she started her movement, neither Martin Luther King Jr. or
Anthony lived to see the results of their work. However, both have been honored and are looked
up upon the change in history they made. Martin Luther King Jr. now has a national holiday in
his name. For Susan, “In 1979, Americans honored Susan by putting her image on the new dollar
coin” (Kiki Mosher). Both civil rights activist changed history.
In contrast, King Jr. and Anthony had two different issues to fight for. Anthony fought
for Women’s suffrage and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the end of segregation. Sadly, one
main difference was the immediate outcome after they gave their speeches. Anthony was
arrested after voting illegally, which King Jr. did not not have to face after giving his “I Have a
Dream” speech. One man, and one women, wished to change the unfair treatment in their time.
Anthony started her movement in 1872 and it wasn’t until 1920 that women were given the right
to vote. King Jr. gave his speech in 1963 and only one year later did congress pass a law to end
segregation. Both would be very pleased to see that they got exactly what they wanted. Women
can now vote and work in the same industry as a man can today. All of the children now can play
together and go to school together no matter their race.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor and Susan B. Anthony was a teacher. Together they
helped make the world what it is today. However, they did not do it alone. They were not the
only ones who wished for these changes, they are just the ones who went down in history
because of the stands they made in front of hundreds of people to get their point across. They
used the help of our founding fathers and the words that are documented in the constitution and
emancipation proclamation. They helped others see that what was happening then was not what
the fathers of this country wished for and it was only right that there was a change.
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Works Cited

Anthony, Susan B. “Susan B. Anthony Speech: Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to
Vote?” ​Famous Trials by Professor Douglas O. Linder​, UMKC School of Law, 1995,
law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/anthonyaddress.html.

King, Martin Luther. “‘I Have a Dream," Address Delivered at the March on Washington for
Jobs and Freedom.” ​Birmingham Campaign | The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and
Education Institute,​ Stanford University, 28 Aug. 1963,
kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-dream-address-delivered-march-
washington-jobs-and-freedom.

Mosher, Kiki, and Inc NetLibrary. Learning about Fairness from the Life of Susan B. Anthony.
PowerKids Press, New York, 1996.

TYSON, TIMOTHY B. "Martin Luther King and the Southern Dream of Freedom." Southern
Cultures, vol. 11, no. 4, 2005, pp. 96-107.