As fireworks light up the sky and flags ripple in the breeze this July 4th, Americans celebrate independence—the hard-won freedom to shape our own destinies. But amid the picnics and parades, it’s worth asking: Whose freedom was truly secured in 1776? And what would a revolutionary like Susan B. Anthony say about the state of women’s liberty today?

Susan devoted her life to expanding the very ideals proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—to include women. If she were alive this Fourth of July, she’d find many reasons to cheer.

Women now vote, hold office, own businesses, and influence national conversations. She would surely be gratified to see so many women participating in the democracy she once fought to enter.

Voting Rights: A Dream Realized, But Work Remains

Susan wouldn’t stop at celebration. In her famously forthright style, she’d ask tough questions: Is equality real, or just a word we recite on holidays?

She would likely begin with the right she held most dear: the vote. After being arrested in 1872 for casting a ballot, she spent the rest of her life fighting for women’s suffrage—a battle not won until 14 years after her death. She’d marvel at today’s female voters, lawmakers, and activists, but she’d still urge women to step further into leadership, shape policy, and hold the nation to its founding promises.

I explored her campaign for women’s suffrage at length in my easy-reading biography Susan B. Anthony and Justice For All.

It’s intended for those wanting a quick snapshot of Susan’s life, students writing book reports, and even immigrants studying to become citizens. For those of you following my Dauntless Series,  it gives an overview of what Susan was doing during Daniel and Annie Anthony’s life together.

The Modern Workforce: Breaking Barriers, But Not Ceilings

She’d also scrutinize the workplace. Susan spent her early career fighting for equal pay for female teachers and believed that financial independence was key to true freedom. Today, she’d find women in nearly every profession—doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, professors, pilots, police officers, judges, military generals, and tech executives. Fields once completely closed to women are now filled with female leaders, inventors, and visionaries.

Still, she’d be quick to point out that wage gaps remain, and the highest echelons of power still tilt male. To her, this persistent inequality would signal unfinished business in the march toward liberty.

She would also observe that pay gaps still persist. As someone who spent her early career demanding equal wages for women teachers, she’d be disappointed to see that, more than a century later, women—especially women of color—are often paid less for the same work. She would see this not merely as a labor issue, but as a moral one. Fair wages, after all, were central to her vision of independence.

Education: A Victory Susan Would Celebrate

Education would be another point of pride. A fierce advocate for girls’ learning, Susan would be pleased to see women not only attending college but outpacing men in graduation rates.

Still, she might ask why so few are in positions of power in STEM fields or the highest levels of academia and leadership. In her view, equal opportunity must also lead to equal influence.

Fashion and Freedom: From Corsets to Confidence

And then there’s clothing—a seemingly small issue that Susan treated as symbolic. She once adopted the bloomer costume to protest the restrictive fashions of her time, believing that corsets and hoop skirts reinforced women’s social confinement. Today, she would applaud the freedom of movement offered by modern dress, from sneakers to pantsuits.

But she might raise an eyebrow at skimpy, body-hugging trends, not out of prudishness, but from a concern that such styles prioritize appearance over substance. She would ask, “Are you dressing to express your dignity—or to meet someone else’s expectations?” For Susan, the deepest kind of independence was always about making choices that reflect inner worth, not external pressures.

Equality Beyond Borders: A Global View

Finally, this tireless crusader for justice would turn her gaze globally. As a woman whose activism eventually took on international dimensions, Susan would call attention to the millions of women around the world who still lack basic rights. Freedom, she believed, is a universal birthright—not a privilege of geography.

This July 4th: Let’s Celebrate—and Continue the Work

So this July 4th, as we celebrate national independence, let’s also reflect on personal independence. Susan B. Anthony’s legacy invites us to ask not just what our country can do for women—but what each of us can do to ensure liberty and justice for all.

Because if Susan were here today, she wouldn’t be satisfied with fireworks.
She’d want to see progress.
And she’d remind us, with her signature clarity:
“Failure is impossible.”

Secrets to the Wind Wins Two Awards

In the midst of naming and editing Born of This Fire, I got some unexpected good news—Secrets to the Wind has won not one, but two awards! I’m honored, a little stunned, and deeply grateful.

Secrets was a semifinalist for the Chanticleer Laramie Award for Western fiction, highlighting its setting in the Wild West. And it was a finalist for The American Legacy Book Award in the Family Saga category. I can hardly wait to continue the saga with my next book.

Writing historical fiction is often a quiet, solitary process, so moments like this are extra meaningful. So are your encouraging emails and phone calls. Sometimes they come just when I need them most! Thank you to everyone who’s cheered on Annie’s story—you’ve been with me every step of the way.

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Want to get started on the Dauntless series for free? Check out the short story Songbird in the Marsh, about a life-changing encounter Annie Osborn Anthony has on Martha’s Vineyard at only thirteen years old that shapes the course of her life.