...The campaign for suffrage - a historical background Today, all British citizens over the age of eighteen share a fundamental human right: the right to vote and to have a voice in the democratic process. But this right is only the result of a hard fought battle. The suffrage campaigners of the nineteenth and early twentieth century struggled against opposition from both parliament and the general public to eventually gain the vote for the entire British population in 1928. ------------------------------------------------- Who took part in the campaign? The first women's suffrage bill came before parliament in 1870. Soon after its defeat, in 1897, various local and national suffrage organisations came together under the banner of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) specifically to campaign for the vote for women on the same terms 'it is or may be granted to men'. The NUWSS was constitutional in its approach, preferring to lobby parliament with petitions and hold public meetings. In contrast, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), formed in 1903, took a more militant view. Almost immediately, it characterised its campaign with violent and disruptive actions and events. Together, these two organisations dominated the campaign for women's suffrage and were run by key figures such as the Pankhurstsand Millicent Fawcett. However, there were other organisations prominent in the campaign, including the Women's Freedom League (WFL). These groups were often...
Words: 16345 - Pages: 66
...Throughout history there has always been social gaps. These are seen by rural and urban populations, and the upper and lower classes. In France in the nineteenth century, this was prevalent throughout the country’s provinces. The people spoke different dialects of French and they did not really identify together as a whole. The people were separated by both class and location through oppression and progress. Hautefaye was a small village in France that was filled with agrarian peasants. It also had some aristocrats who mingled amongst the population without worry. This was controversial because the urban bourgeoisie did not socialize with the urban poor. The nobility that lived in Hautefaye had owned their property for generations. The rural village, like most villages in France, liked to host fairs where the peasants gathered in economic and social activity. The fairs were supervised by government supplied gendarmes. Fairs were known for their violence. Men took part in fairs and they drank alcohol, which was the main festive beverage. For this reason, the alcohol sometimes got the best of the men and fights were common throughout the fairgrounds. Young boys got to follow their fathers around and learn the ways of a man. The economic activity that went on at fairs was stimulating to the community and helpful to those who took part. Propaganda became a key source in swaying the masses. The bourgeoisie used it to portray the nobility as bad and arrogant. Our textbook says...
Words: 1314 - Pages: 6
...In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes became the first president to make a strong case for universally available public education. “Universal suffrage should rest upon universal education,” he said in his inaugural address, adding that “liberal and permanent provision should be made for the support of free schools.” Hayes, a Republican, didn’t worry that some poor kid might benefit from access to “free stuff,” nor did he believe that the children of wealthy elites should be excluded from the universal nature of the program. For him, education was the basis for full economic and political participation, and full participation was the basis for all prosperity. An education should be available to all regardless of anyone’s station. Today, there is universal...
Words: 844 - Pages: 4
...Backward (2000-1887) When Edward Bellamy wrote his book Looking Backward (1887), he wasn’t trying to be part of the political scene but to merely write a fantasy novel. What came after the publication of his novel was the creation of more than 160 Nationalist-clubs, most notably Clubs that were advocating women suffrage. Edward Bellamy was seen by some as a male feminist who exfoliated the capitalist industrial movement of that time and wanted to paint a picture of a socialist utopia where everything was state owned and equally distributed. His book was not intended to be a blueprint for a political movement. I have to note that I did not read the book but various essays on the book and its impact on women suffrage. I feel that the book was written at a crucial time and although it wasn’t asking questions, it sparked a new way of thinking how society should be run. I believe we are all made equal and that everyone has a role in the development, upkeep and sustainability of society. Edward Bellamy’s had the same idea in mind in terms of equal distribution of labor and benefits. I will discuss what women suffrage is and the impact the book had. Women’s suffrage movement was a key issue in the 19th century around the world. Women were confined to their homes with duties that were given to them by their biology. They were seen as fragile and emotional so their role in society was limited to child bearing, taking care of the home and not outside in the public eye where they could...
Words: 962 - Pages: 4
...It can be argued that British women had come a long way by August 1914 in terms of women’s suffrage and something that had been unimaginable to men and women alike only a few decades before had become a distinct possibility by August 1914. By the end of the 19th century, some progress had already been made towards women getting the vote. As early as 1865, John Stuart Mill, a man who was known to support women’s suffrage, was elected into the House of Commons as an MP. He continued to support the cause as an MP; presenting a petition that had been put together by Barbara Bodichon and accompanying it with a speech in support of female suffrage. It was him that also suggested that the 1867 Reform Act be amended so that it would allow suitably qualified women to vote on equal terms to men. Though this amendment was outvoted in the end, for the first time, female suffrage was on the parliamentary agenda and had been discussed seriously. In 1870, Richard Pankhurst introduced the first Women’s Suffrage Bill into the House of Commons in the form of a Private Members Bill. This passed its first two readings and was only defeated when the Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, made it clear that the Government would not support the Bill, let alone take action on it. More bills were introduced into The House of Commons throughout the 1870s and succeeded in gaining a majority on a few occasions but the government prevented them from passing into law each time. Real progress was...
Words: 1658 - Pages: 7
...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 or mothers.” She continued that such educated women, “seldom have much knowledge of pies and puddings . . . . nor do they enjoy the interesting work of attending to small children.” Therefore, in her and many other women’s eyes, many well off middle class women were not even capable to be a mother never mind have the vote. Queen Victoria was also greatly against women’s suffrage and...
Words: 2170 - Pages: 9
...the expansion of our nation’s borders, but also put into place a spoils system. Perhaps the largest policy of the Jacksonian Democracy was the expansion of voting rights to all white men over a period of time. This was set into place to reflect Andrew Jackson’s belief of including the common (white) man in the democratic process. This was completely against what the founding fathers had set in place, a complex electoral process that would avoid giving too much power to the commoner. The document Universal Suffrage, shows how the ideal of extending suffrage to all white men, excited the people about a universal suffrage, which would extend the right to vote to women and African Americans. In 1848, these activists would organize a convention in Seneca Falls and publish a Declaration of Sentiments, which proposed to more than double the suffrage put in place to include women. In the document Women’s Suffrage, shows that while this was an unprecedented extension of suffrage, it actually harmed women and African Americans in some areas that had enjoyed the right to vote. They would argue against the system of owning property as an effective means of giving people the right to vote. Women and African Americans would be excluded from the voting process at this time, but all white males were now included in the political system. Westward territorial expansion would prove to be a major part in the Jacksonian Democracy. Under President Polk, the United States annexed Texas in...
Words: 728 - Pages: 3
...extension of the franchise in Britain was a significant factor in securing democratic status. The Second Reform Act of 1867, known as the “Great leap in the dark” doubled the British electorate and gave one in three men living in towns the vote if they were property owners or paid an annual rent of over £10. This was a step towards democracy however, although a greater number of men were now liable to vote the electorate system was still dominated by middle classes and voting remained open to bribery and corruption. The 1884 Reform Act proposed further parliamentary reform, allowing working class men living in the countryside the same voting rights as those in towns; thus ensuring the electorate was further doubled to almost 5million. Universal suffrage was quickly evolving and political parties faced increasing pressure. The rapid extension of the franchise stimulated differentiating political ideology and this aided democracy as voters were given more choice, however not all adults held the right the right to vote. Historian TC Smout argued that “some 40%of the adult males in...
Words: 1066 - Pages: 5
...is sometimes called developmental democracy. Mill believed in individuality and fulfilling potential. A more modern liberal defence of democracy draws on pluralist ideas in arguing that democracy is the best means of maintaining equilibrium within complex and fluid modern societies. As democracy gives competing groups a political voice, it binds them to the political system and so maintains political stability. Democracy is rule by the people. Its ‘liberal’ features are reflected in a network of internal and external checks on government in order to protect citizens against the state and guarantee liberty. Therefore, democracy in most of the western countries takes place through a system of regular and competitive elections, universal suffrage and political equality. Classical liberals defended democracy on the basis that it was found on consent. John LOCKE developed a limited theory of protective democracy which argues that voting rights should be extended to the well educated, who could then defend their natural rights against government....
Words: 460 - Pages: 2
...The Suffrage Movement in the Bahamas had its origins in the emerging Black middle-class of the "over-the-hill" area of Nassau. Notable women such as Dame Doris Johnson, Mary Ingraham, Eugenia Lockhart, Mabel Walker and Georgianna Symonette has made countless triumphs toward the equal rights of all women in the Bahamas in The Women’s Suffrage Movement. This movement’s main purpose was to ensure that all women would have a right to practice the franchise. Sir Randol Fawkes described the struggle for the enfranchisement of women in his book, “The Faith That Moved the Mountain”. where he states, "More than half of the adult population of the Bahamas - the women - still remained voteless. In 1958, they lagged far behind their male counterparts in the field of human rights. The chief roadblocks to full citizenship for Bahamian women were the traditional attitudes of men and women towards their respective roles in society, the lack of equal training and education, vocational guidance and counseling in the school, the division of the labour market into traditionally male and female sectors, and lack of child-care facilities for working mothers". Sir Randol detailed other disadvantages women faced including the inheritance law of primogeniture and the inadequate maintenance laws for child support. However, this is not the only thing that resulted in the hard work of the women apart of this movement. In fact, even the amount of times you could have voted and the men’s vote was affected...
Words: 443 - Pages: 2
...HST 2100 DL01 QUIZ 4 CHAPTER 7 DUE APRIL 11, 2011 DR. DARLENE ANTEZANA 1. WOMEN’ PEACE PARTY- The WPP was founded in 1915 and was led by Jane Adams and other well-known reformers. The WPP dedicated itself to promoting pacifism and feminism. The WPP leaders maintained that women suffrage and women’s participation in government would stop this and future wars. To them, wars represented the failure of male leaders (pg. 320). 2. BESSIE COLEMAN- The first black woman to earn her pilot’s license in 1921. Coleman crashed and died while practicing for an air show in Orlando, Florida. After Coleman’s death, her friends and fans took up her dream of establishing a flying school black Americans, naming it the Bessie Coleman School (pg. 344). 3. ADELINA OTERO-WARREN- With an elite background and was bi-lingual, Warren proved to be active and influential in the woman suffrage movement. She managed to reach out to Hispanas of other classes, convincing many of them that the patriarchal system could change, and that women could and should have the right to vote. Otero-Warren served as president of New Mexico’s chapter of the NWP, until 1919, when she became chair of the women’s division if the Republican State Committee for Women (pg. 332-333). 4. NINETEENTH AMENDMENT- On August 26, 1920 the secretary of state proclaimed the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. American women could finally vote at last. Seventy-two years had passed since the...
Words: 800 - Pages: 4
...vGovernment Expansion History History 105 Unit 1 project There are numerous ways that the US Government has expanded its authority between the start of the Civil war through the Civil Rights era. This paper will focus on a couple of examples of the government expansion and the affects that these particular examples had in influencing the political, social and economic structures. The Civil War Reconstruction era necessitated an extraordinary expansion of the roles and responsibilities of the central government. The civil War resulted in the implementation of amendments Thirteenth, Fourteen, and Fifteen of the Constitution. These amendments created a new federal aspect of citizenship for all, and sought to guarantee universal male suffrage. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery for the entire nation (which, until then had been a state issue). The Fourteenth Amendment reversed the decision that black people could not be citizens, by declaring that any person born in the United States was a citizen. The Fifteenth Amendment carries on from the Fourteenth by saying that states can't deny citizens voting rights on the grounds of race or having once been a slave. Once the constitution had been amended, the United States had to make sure that the new laws were protected and enforced, supporting the new powers of the national government. Which was a daunting task because these amendments changed our nation’s entire social structure which in turn changed the political...
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...have strong, powerful women that fought for women’s rights for centuries. Women encouraged other women to fight for equality, fight for freedom, fight for the opportunity to be a strong independent woman in a nation of strong independent men. This paper will discuss several significant events that shaped the future for women in America. Events driven by women that wanted their voices to be heard through a sea of men, women that wanted men to realize that women had a lot to offer this world we live in. The first event this paper will discuss is the American Equal Rights Association started in 1866 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This association would shine a light on women’s suffrage in the nation and later inspire a more radical group called The National Woman Suffrage Association. World War I was another event that that the shaped the future for women in America and around the world. Women left their homes to become nurses that would care for wounded soldiers around the world. Another event is the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. The 19th amendment gave women a voice in elections throughout the country. Their votes would now count alongside the men’s to shape the nation. As years went by the issues women faced did not cease. Women fought for more and more rights and notoriety, such as Amelia Earhart. Ms. Earhart would be the first women to flight solo across the Atlantic and later would accomplish many other firsts as a woman, in and out of an...
Words: 3271 - Pages: 14
...Era Through The Great Depression Kaishonta Arnold Professor John Swann History 105 February 9, 2013 The Progressive Era was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States. From the Progressive Era through the Great Depression there were many significant turning points within this period. The Women’s Suffrage Movement was one major historical turning point of the Progressive Era. Another turning point in this period was the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Although “women were basically the main players in the Progressive Era reforms, there right to vote were still denied” (Schultz, 2012). Many pushed for the franchise for all women and through their efforts in the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution provided full women suffrage. There were two groups that pushed and furthered the cause of women’s suffrage. These two groups were formally called “The National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA), as well as The National Women’s Party (NWP)” (Schultz, 2012). The National American Women’s Suffrage Associations strategy was basically a way to push for suffrage at the state level, hoping that the federal government would pass the amendment. The National Women’s Party’s goal was of eliminating all discrimination against women. As stated by Brown, “In 1923 The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), was announced and launched what would be a life-long campaign to win full equality for women,” (2010). Even with the Progressive...
Words: 1339 - Pages: 6
