Question

is it a crime for a citizen of the united states to
vote?
by susan b. anthony (excerpt)
she is urged the use of the masculine pronoun he, his and him, in all the
constitutions and laws, as proof that only men were meant to be included in their
provisions. if you insist, on this version of the letter of the law, we shall insist that
you be consistent, and adopt the other horn of the dilemma, which would
compel you to exempt women from taxation for the support of the government,
and from penalties for the violation of laws.
. the sense is one of all the criminal laws: no person shall be compelled to be
a witness against himself.
the same with the law of may 31st, 1870, the 19th section of which i am charged
with having violated, not only are all the pronouns in it masculine, but everybody
except that particular section was intended expressly to hinder the rebels
horn voting. it reads: if any person shall knowingly vote without having a
legal right, c. precisely so with all the papers served on me-the u.s. marshals
warrant, the bail-bond, the petition for habeas corpus, the bill of indictment-not
one of them had a feminine pronoun in it, but, to make them applicable to
me, the clerk of the court made a little oral at the left of the he and placed an s
on it-thus making she out of he. then the letters iss were scratched out, the
whole case under he over to make her out of his, and i insist if government
officials may thus interpolate the provisions to tax, fine, imprison and hang
women, women may take the same liberty with them to secure to themselves
this right as a vote to the government.
select the correct answer.
what argument is susan b. anthony making in the passage?
a. male citizens created the laws to secure the rights of men, so legal reform is required to secure womens rights.
b. women are often punished for committing criminal acts that are pardoned when committed by men.
c. women are judged under laws supposedly written only for males, so they are entitled to the same rights as males.
d. the court judge modified the original documents to arrest and try anthony unfairly.

Explanation:

The passage by Susan B. Anthony discusses the use of laws and how they are applied. She argues that if women are made to follow laws (like paying taxes, etc., as implied by the text), they should have the same rights as men. Option C aligns with this as it talks about women being under laws (which they are, as per the text's context of being subject to government - related laws like tax - related ones if they are citizens) and thus entitled to the same rights as males.

Answer:

C. Women are judged under laws supposedly written only for males, so they are entitled to the same rights as males.