An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting by Anonymous
page 53 of 270 (19%)
page 53 of 270 (19%)
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synonymous terms, and mean the same thing; they describe the _political
body, who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty and hold the power, and conduct the government through their representatives_. They are what we familiarly call the sovereign people, and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent member of this sovereignty." Mr. Justice Daniel, in the same case, (p. 476), says: "Upon the principles of etymology alone, the term citizen, as derived from _civitas_, conveys the idea of connection or identification with the state or government, and a participation in its functions. But beyond this, there is not, it is believed, to be found in the theories of writers on government, or in any actual experiment heretofore tried, an exposition of the term citizen, which has not been understood as conferring the actual possession and enjoyment, or the perfect right of acquisition and enjoyment of _an entire equality of privileges, civil and political_." Similar references might be made to an indefinite extent, but enough has been said to show that the term citizen, in the language of Mr. Justice Daniel, conveys the idea "of identification with the state or government, and a participation in its functions." Beyond question, therefore, the first section of the fourteenth amendment, by placing the citizenship of women upon a par with that of men, and declaring that the "privileges and immunities" of the citizen shall not be abridged, has secured to women, equally with men, the right of suffrage, unless that conclusion is overthrown by some other provision of the constitution. |
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