...Why had the vote not been won by 1914? Male attitude towards votes for women Male prejudice still existed despite the arguments put forward by women’s groups. A generally held view was that women in the later 19th century were considered to be second class citizens, physically, mentally and morally inferior to men and therefore incapable of voting. It was argued that women and men operated in different ‘spheres’ with their social roles being based on their differing abilities. While men were the protectors of family and the ‘breadwinners’ who had a role to play in government and professional life, woman by contrast, should focus on rearing the children and do ‘good deeds’ in charitable religious and educational work. As was said in a parliamentary debate in 1872, “we regard women as something to admire, to love . . . . she is the silver lining which lights the cloud of man’s existence.” Therefore, for many men there was no place for women in politics. Such attitudes of the majority MPs and working class men in British society delayed women’s suffrage as for it to occur they needed the support of the ‘dominant’ and powerful group in society i.e. Men. Female attitudes towards votes for women Very few women initially supported women’s fight for suffrage. In fact many women were strongly against giving women the vote or any form of education for women or rights. As Sarah Sewell, herself opposed to women’s suffrage said, “profoundly educated women rarely make good wives...
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...Alice Paul was major contributor to the Women’s suffrage movement. Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885 in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. She is the first born daughter to William and Tacie Paul, and has three other siblings named William, Helen and Parry. Her family followed the religious practice of Hicksite quakers. They also owned a large 264-acre farm that Alice and her siblings grew up on called Paulsdale. It was away from the town but not completely isolated from it. They all participated in some farm chores but mainly used farm hands to do the majority of the work. Alice remembering the advice of her mother said “When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.” Even though her family was relatively wealthy, they lived quite simply. Alice was raised to believe in gender equality which is said to have influenced her greatly throughout her life. Being a Quaker, one of...
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...Joshua Wu Equal in the Twentieth Century The late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century became the rising point of equality and social reform and protest. After many Nationalist movements of reform and revolts, this resulted in several unified countries. It then led to the next big social issue, equality. The female equality movement, especially the suffrage movement, gained traction throughout the world gaining massive support from many. Many female activists and authors were very vocal about the injustice they faced and how the societies they lived in needed to change. Some of these activists/authors were: Virginia Woolf, Alexandra Kollontai, Constance Markievicz, and Sylvia Pankhurst. Though in different forms and different pursuits these four authors pursued the same ultimate goal, equality. Virginia Woolf was an author during the turn of the century and in her piece, “A Room of One’s Own” she draws meaning from the injustice between the sexes in the time and in the industry of literature and art. In her piece, after referring to Shakespeare, she says, “A highly gifted girl who had tried to use her gift for poetry would have been so thwarted and hindered by other people…No girl could have walked to London and stood at a stage door and forced her way into the presence of actor-managers without doing herself a violence and suffering an anguish…for chastity may be a fetish invented…” (298). Prior to this quote Woolf spoke about the history of Shakespeare and how...
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...Scholastic, the beginning of the English women’s suffrage movement was in 1792 with the publication of The Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft. This was then followed by the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, which was when the request for the enfranchisement of women was officially conceived. There were two main groups campaigning for women’s enfranchisement: the suffragists, who campaigned peacefully through methods like lobbying, and the suffragettes, who campaigned through any means possible, including violence. Both parties, however, refused to stop fighting until all...
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... the Suffragette’s embodied an alternative female, one with the courage to confront the patriarchal society, and the resilience to endure the repercussions. In the radical pursuit for the parliamentary vote, the Suffragette Movement is often regarded as a single-issue campaign. However, the subversion of gender roles expedited by the use of militancy fuelled a revolution on a grander scale. One which moved beyond the exterior mask for the pursuit of the Vote, towards a dissipation of conventional Victorian ideals of femininity. The term ‘Suffragette’ was coined in 1903, as Emmeline Pankhurst led a movement that has often been interpreted as a ‘sex war’. Such can also be said for the divisive...
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...What was the short term significance of Emmeline Pankhurst in bringing about the vote for women between 1903 and 1918? Emmeline Pankhurst was a highly controversial figure throughout the suffrage movement, through her radical, militant methods of protests, ensuring that the cause was not to be ignored. However, in many ways the shocking violence somewhat hindered a movement that had been established by Millicent Fawcett in a more peaceful, law abiding manner. Although women (over the age of thirty) were eventually given the right to vote when the Representation of the People Act was amended in 1918, Pankhurst’s contribution to this can be considered minimal. Although Pankhurst’s methods generated a huge amount of media attention, alternate factors such as women’s role during World War One can be seen as being of more relevance to women being enfranchised. As well as this, Fawcett's contribution to the movement encouraged the support of thousands, and therefore cannot be ignored. Emmeline Pankhurst can be seen as being a significant figure in bringing about the vote for women, due to the mass media attention her methods generated. In 1903, Pankhurst founded the National Women’s Social and Political Union. This was a response to the slow moving, gradualist approach from Fawcett, leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. British politicians, press and the public were astonished by the of window smashing, arson, hunger strikes and violence against the police....
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...employed gardeners, workmen and labourers who could vote........but the women could not regardless of their wealth..... However, Fawcett's progress was very slow. She converted some of the members of the Labour Representation Committee (soon to be the Labour Party) but most men in Parliament believed that women simply would not understand how Parliament worked and therefore should not take part in the electoral process. This left many women angry and in 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. They wanted women to have the right to vote and they were not prepared to wait. The Union became better known as the Suffragettes. Members of the Suffragettes were prepared to use violence to get what they wanted. In fact, the Suffragettes started off relatively peacefully. It was only in 1905 that the organisation created a stir when Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted a political...
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...was no real organisation over the separate groups. This meant the NUWSS would have had little effect over them apart from their seemingly united front. The scale of parliamentary support may also have been a factor which contributed to the fact women did not have the vote by 1914. Women’s societies had lobbied, petitioned and supported MP’s in order to raise the question of women’s suffrage in parliament. Before the NUWSS became disillusioned with the liberal party they sought to persuade individual MP’s to submit a private members bill. After 1906 they tried to force liberal MP’s into conceding votes for women. Their petitions for women’s suffrage gained public and parliamentary attention to the women’s suffrage movement. Both the suffragists and the suffragettes had visited...
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...How important were the activities of the Women’s suffrage movement in the decision to grant women to vote. On February the 6th 1918 women over the age of 30 who were householders or married to a householder were granted the vote in Britain. This came after 60 years of suffrage campaigns. The women’s suffrage campaign was a powerful political force by 1914. There were 56 suffrage groups and two main bodies, whom of which were national - The suffragists (NUWSS) and The Suffragettes (WSPU). This essay will analyse how far the women’s suffrage movement was responsible for women being granted the vote by comparing it to other important factors such as the changing attitudes towards women in society, the part played by women in the war effort 1914-1918 and the changes in other countries. It can be argued that the activities of the suffrage movement in the decision to grant the vote for women was a big factor but their war work perhaps had just as big a part to play and the changes in other countries perhaps also just as big an influence. Therefore it can be argued the women’s suffrage movement was important in the decision to grant women the vote. It is undeniable that the activities of the women’s suffrage movement in the decision to grant them the vote was important as they were always being spoken about and they were known nationwide. The two different groups had two completely different approaches to their cause. The campaigning methods of the NUWSS were ‘peaceful’ tactics whereas...
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...fighting for many rights for women, including: equal pay, the right for abortion, the end of rape, the right for contraceptives, and many other important rights that men have ( or do not need to worry about). “The movement to end sexism, sexist exploitations, and oppression . . .” (Hooks 37) is known as feminism. Today people would call us feminist, but during the 19th and 20th century that term did not exist. These women and men were known as suffragettes or suffragists. The suffragettes who fought beginning in 1848, with Seneca Falls, all the way to 1920, when women achieved the right to vote, were labeled First Wave Feminist. Two key elements of the First Wave in U.S. Feminism were how different races and class divisions affected the feminist movement (Shaw & Lee). The movement of feminism was brought about by many: men, women, upper class women, African American men, and the divisions just keep going. Yet all these people believe in the same thing, so why cant they all stand together and profess it. If only it was that simple. Race was a key element of the first wave of U.S. feminism. Presented in the Documentary “Not for Ourselves Alone” viewed in class, a famous African American is introduced. He is a great African American male journalist who supported the movement for women’s suffrage and his name is Frederick Douglass. In the documentary Frederick Douglass stands and speaks at the Seneca Falls Convention supporting Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s’ petition for women’s right...
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...attitudes in Britain Society towards women was the major reason why some women received the vote in 1918". How accurate is this view? During the 1900s, many women were beginning to stand up for themselves and no longer wanted to be inferior to men. Prior to 1918, women were disrespected and under - valued in society. There was a change in attitudes towards women as the image of the "New Women" began to arise. They were becoming involved in various different jobs, having the ability to be better educated and get involved in politics. However, this view that the "New Women" was the only factor that contributed to women getting the vote is untrue. Women began their own campaigns in order to get the vote. This included the Suffragists and the Suffragettes as both organisations were tired of being ignored and seen as "undeserving"of the vote. Furthermore, another addition to the factors is the "Reward Theory". Women during World War 1 became greatly involved in helping Britain in the war (e.g taking up jobs which were dangerous and only men would have normally done them). Therefore, the views upon women had changed and had a great impact on the reason women got the vote, but this is not the only factor that aided their achievement. Due to the break-down of the "separate spheres" during the 1900s, women were able to become more ambitious and better themselves. Before hand, women were not allowed to earn their own wages and most were not allowed to work. However, more women became employees...
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...studied were: the oppression of women during the suffragette movement in the UK and the oppression of African Americans in the USA in the 1950s. Using explorative strategies and acted drama we brought these cases to the stage and appreciated for ourselves how fortunate we are that individual people have so bravely taken a stand against unacceptable social norms. The Suffragette Movement began in 1866 when the first campaigns for woman’s suffrage appeared; it began at this time because the Industrial revolution had lead to women’s full time employment, working together and being able to discuss political issues. Suffrage means the right to vote, and that is what the Suffragettes were campaigning and protesting for, they felt that they were being oppressed by the Government as they did not have the same rights as men. The Suffragettes protested in many ways; some of their protests were violent, and so when they were imprisoned they went on a hunger strike. Another form of getting public attention on the Suffrage movement than protesting was what Emily Davison did at The Derby. On 4th June 1913, the Epsom Derby, a horse race, was held. During the race, Emily Davison threw herself in front of the horse owned by King George V and died four days later in hospital. In my opinion, what Emily Davison did was a courageous act and made a statement in the name of what she believed in, the Suffrage movement. It drew attention to the movement and played a role in it’s succession in 1928....
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...members of the suffragette party, simply stopped supporting the liberal party. * Thought own tactics like pamphlets and peaceful protests would give them the vote Alternative- newly formed labour party however at this time the liberal party was in power- Asquith. * Labour party always got the vote because they looked dedicated in giving the vote. * 1912 committed themselves in given women the vote. However they were never going to gain power. So easy to promise people stuff. * Social welfare- womens interests are in this. * Therefore natural link between labour and women movements. From 1912 onwards- * The liberal party who were the elected majority needed labour to get things past. * Labour party and the suffragists decided to set up a election fighting fund (EFF) so raise money for elections * Target of 10,000£ * By the end of 1914 raised 45,000£ * This money was to help get labour mp elected * Not everyone in the women movement agreed with this link to the labour party * Some believed they shouldn’t be linked to a political party and should be independent. * However Millicent Forcet believed that the only way to get the vote was to work with a political party. As a result argued that the EFFs wasn’t really about the labour party was about the vote. We are manipulating them not the other way around. * Friends of women suffrage * Idea was to recruit all working class people into the movement. Media- ...
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...Women’s Rights In the 19th and the start of the 20th Women had no rights over themselves or their property and money. If they were to get married then all their property would go straight to their husbands. This would have left women no choice but to rely on their husbands because they would be homeless and helpless without one basically. During the 19th century women campaigned for improvements to many aspects of their lives. One of the most successful campaigns was for better education. By the early nineteenth century most middle-class girls received a basic education. However, girls from working-class families often received no education at all. It was impossible for girls to go to university or college even if they did it would have been a waste of time. Due to the fact that most profeesion would refused entry to women. In the 19th century upper class and middle class women were not expected to earn their money they would reply on their husband. But working class women had to work because they couldn’t afford not to if they didn’t their family would starve. Women still worked as hard as the men did, but they weren’t paid the same. Women were paid less than men were. Women weren’t too happy about the fact the men were seen as better. So groups like the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies were formed, They were led by a women called Millicent Fawcett. The aim of the NUWSS was to get the vote for middle class women first of all, they would use more of a peaceful...
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...In March 1916, conscription was introduced in Britain, which resulted in an even greater shortage of labour. Suffragist and suffragette leaders began to volunteer their members to fill in the gaps. At first, employers were reluctant to allow women to take on male jobs. They believed women weren’t skilled enough to take on these jobs. However, as the male population decreased, they had no other choice than to employ women. Hundreds of thousands of females gained access to a wide range of jobs, such as working in engineering industries, offices, working as postal workers, and bus drivers. In addition, some women are taking on jobs in the war itself. Are women the ‘weaker sex’? Women’s contribution to World War I has made a positive impact on politicians and the general public. British women started to earn the respect and admiration they all longed for. Women have been...
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