Clara Barton spoke out for women's suffrage

After the war, in 1866, Barton began a multi-state lecture tour, sharing the stage with philosophers like Frederick Douglass and Ralph Waldo Emerson. She also got to know Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, two prominent figures in the women's rights movement who encouraged her interest in women's suffrage.

In a speech in support of women's right to vote, Barton stated, "I did not purchase my freedom with a price; I was born free; and when, as a younger lady I heard the subject addressed, it seemed plain ludicrous that any sensible, sane person might dispute it." "And when, later, the issue of women's right to vote came up, it seemed to me just to be a portion of the total, just as right, just as natural, and just as certain to occur." Clara Barton spoke out for women's suffrage. She urged veterans to support women's voting rights, not-so-subtly hinting that they should support women in obtaining that right just as she had assisted them in overcoming the scars of battle.