Who Knew Draco Was So Draconian

Etymology is something I've always found highly interesting--or pretty dang interesting, if you will. Do you ever stop and wonder where some of these words we use come from? That's etymology.

In reading Beacon Lights of History, Vol. 3, by John Lord, I came across the etymology of the word "draconian." Of course, the definition of the word is "rigorous; unusually severe or cruel."

Well, turns out that in ancient Greece there was a fellow named . . . drum roll . . . Draco. And Draco was appointed to compile an unstructured collection of court rulings into a coherent set of laws. Draco did as he was asked but, as Lord explains:

Draco's laws were extraordinarily severe, punishing small thefts and even laziness with death.

Wow--punish laziness with death! It kind of makes you wonder how many Athenian teenagers managed to live to adulthood!

Lord adds that:

The formulation of any system of justice would have, as Draco's did, a beneficial influence on the growth of the State; but the severity of these bloody laws caused them to be hated and in practice neglected.

It was not until Solon several decades later, that an acceptable code of laws was assembled.

So there you go: draconian.

Don't Trouble Me With Legalities: the Susan B. Anthony Trial

Susan B. Anthony was tried and convicted in 1872 because, as the court made a point to stipulate, "at that time she was a woman" and she had cast a ballot in the recent election. Of course, women were not allowed to vote at that time. The story of the trial is found in An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony. (Note: this is the third in a series of posts. You may want to start at the beginning.)

As I discussed earlier, her attorney made the argument that, adhering to the wording of the U.S. Constitution, women were eligible to vote. What's more, in another portion of the book, an address by Matilda Joslyn Gage, the speaker noted that at the U.S. Constitutional Convention, "its delegates were partially elected by women's votes, as at that date women were exercising their right of self-government through voting, certainly in the States of Massachusetts and New Jersey, if not in Georgia and Delaware."

After her indictment, but before the trail, Susan Anthony spoke at a number of gatherings to explain her actions and the thinking behind them. Her remarks included the following.

But, it is urged, the use of the masculine pronouns he, his, and him, in all the constitutions and laws, is 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 accept 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.

She then offered examples where this principle had been put into practice, among them this one.

Miss Sarah E. Wall of Worcester, Mass., twenty years ago, took this position. For several years, the officers of the law distrained her property, and sold it to meet the necessary amount; still she persisted, and would not yield an iota, though every foot of her lands should be struck off under the hammer. And now, for several years, the assessor has left her name off the tax list, and the collector passed her by without a call.

These cases were, however, the exception. Women were taxed and were held to penalties for violation of laws.

Returning to Matilda Joslyn Gage's speech, she argued that:

We brand this prosecution of Miss Anthony by United States officials, under claim of provisions in this act, as an illegal prosecution--an infamous prosecution, in direct defiance of national law, dangerous in its principles, tending to subvert a republican form of government, and a direct step, whether so designed or not, to the establishment of a monarchy in this country. Where the right of one individual is attacked, the rights of all are menaced. A blow against one citizen is a blow against every citizen.

Clearly, at least from our 21st Century perspective, these were compelling arguments. It would seem they would have been just as compelling in the 19th Century. How is it then that Susan Anthony and the three election inspectors were found guilty?

It was a very simple matter. The judge in both cases, one Ward Hunt, threw out the legal arguments as rubbish, leaving only the question of whether Anthony had knowingly cast a vote she had no right to cast.

Considering that she had consulted beforehand with some of the leading legal thinkers in the country, and that they had agreed that the Constitution did ensure women's right to vote, this would seem to have been a real issue.

But not in Judge Hunt's opinion. He took the extraordinary step of informing the jury that rather than allowing them to deliberate on this issue, he was ordering them to return a guilty verdict. And without any of the jurors saying one word, that verdict was entered.

Was there an appeal? Absolutely. However, under the laws in effect at that time (I have no idea if they are still in effect today, but I doubt it), the only appeal allowed was to the same court that decided the matter. Surprise, surprise, Judge Hunt did not reverse himself.

And thus it was another 48 years before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed and women finally were accepted as voting members of the nation. Now that is a story I consider to be pretty dang interesting.