Question

excerpt from \is it a crime for a u.s. citizen to vote?\ by susan b. anthony
delivered in monroe county, ny, 1873
friends and fellow - citizens: i stand before you to - night, under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. it shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, i not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizens right, guaranteed to me and all united states citizens by the national constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny.
our democratic - republican government is based on the idea of the natural right of every individual member thereof to a voice and a vote in making and executing the laws. we assert the province of government to be to secure the people in the enjoyment of their unalienable rights. we throw to the winds the old dogma that governments can give rights. before governments were organized, no one denies that each individual possessed the right to protect his own life, liberty, and property. and when 100 or 1,000,000 people enter into a free government, they do not barter away their natural rights; they simply pledge themselves to protect each other in the enjoyment of them, through prescribed judicial and legislative tribunals. they agree to abandon the methods of brute force in the adjustment of their differences, and adopt those of civilization.
nor can you find a word in any of the grand documents left us by the fathers that assumes for government the power as create or to confer rights. the declaration of independence, the united states constitution, the constitutions of the several states and the organic
part a:
which statement best describes anthonys point of view about peoples rights?
people had to fight the government to gain their rights.
people earned their rights by participating in government.
people were given rights by democratic governments.
people already had rights before governments were formed.

Explanation:

Anthony emphasizes that people had natural rights before governments were formed. She mentions that governments are to secure these pre - existing rights, not create them. The text states “before governments were organized, no one denies that each individual possessed the right...” which supports this view.

Answer:

People already had rights before governments were formed.