When Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)refused to support the Fifteenth Amendment,which gave voting rights to black men but not to women,she argued that the Amendment had the logical flaw known as "false dilemma."

False Dilemma

Responses to complex issues are reduced to an either/or choice.

Fifteenth Amendment

An amendment to the United States Constitution that prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A leading figure of the early women's rights movement in the United States, known for her advocacy for women's suffrage and equality.