Advocates of women’s suffrage used many different tactics to call attention to their cause. One that was employed by Anthony and other radical supporters of women’s suffrage was to argue that women actually had the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, all they needed to do was to register to vote and cast their ballots.

Led by the example of Anthony, 150 women across the United States attempted to test this theory by registering and then voting in the 1872 presidential elections. Three women, one in New Hampshire and two in Michigan, actually had their votes counted in the 1872 elections. Most, however, were stopped by officials who refused to register them to vote since there were state laws against women voting.

Anthony was indicted when she voted in November 1872. She was taken to court, under the threat of...