'Jailed for Freedom' Summary

Stevens begins her account praising one of the main founders of NAWSA, Susan B. Anthony. She praises Anthony as a hero, who led women in dramatic militant protests, forcing the public to notice the injustices women were facing. Stevens recounts a time when Susan B. Anthony refused to conform to patriarchal societies' laws, by actually breaking the law. Anthony illegally voted in a presidential election in 1872. She was brought to trial and charged a fine of $100 for her crime which she refused to pay. Stevens and NAWSA later use this tactic of relentless determination to refuse bail and serve time in the Occoquan Workhouse. When Susan B. Anthony died in 1906, Stevens recounts that the militant movement died with her. 

The revival of the militant movement was sparked with Alice Paul, a quaker who joined NAWSA in 1912. Stevens worked closely with Alice Paul whom she described as quiet, but having a fierce determination like Susan B. Anthony. Stevens recounts how Alice Paul had a quality to her which allowed her to recruit women and men to the Suffrage Movement without an argument. She could win arguments without saying a single word and compelled confidence and self-respect in women. She was the perfect leader as she was extremely calm and knew everything that was coming before it did. Alice Paul, one of the leaders of the Silent Sentinels, got the 19th Amendment passed in 1919.