In an attempt to win the support of women voters in upcoming elections, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned women suffrage movement activist Susan B Anthony who was arrested for voting in 1872.
Susan B Anthony was an American social reformer and a prominent anti-slavery rights activist but was best known for her role in the 19th century movement to secure voting rights for women. At the age of 52, she was arrested for voting in the 1872 elections held in Rochester, New York, in violation of laws permitting only men to vote.
Anthony refused to pay the fine and the authorities took no further action against her. Hundred years ago in 1920, her struggles bore fruit and the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution gave women the right to vote.
Anthony was an active participant in the abolitionist movement of the 1840s, temperance movement (against consumption of alcoholic beverages), and a founding member of National Woman Suffrage Association (1869).Trump’s pardon comes amid outcry over postal services disruptions that Democrats say could render people unable to vote if they opt for mail-in voting. As a result of the protest, the United States Postal Service (USPS) decided to suspend the proposed operational changes till after the 2020 elections.