Women’s Suffrage

Think of ten famous men from history.

Think of ten famous women from history,

(not famous because of their husbands).

Why study women’s history?

• Women are half the population.• There are not as many famous women as men in

history.• Women’s history tends to be hidden as they support

men and are in the background, therefore it is harder to find out about their lives.

• Until recently history was written by men.

• Throughout history men have been in control and in power.

Women’s work in the Middle Ages

• Women were thought to be weaker, not only physically, but also weaker rationally and morally.

• Women’s work was seen as unskilled• They were mainly responsible for child care

and managing the home.• This work was seen as less important than

men’s work.• The man was always the main earner in

the household. Women supplemented his earnings.

• Men did skilled work, while women did unskilled work.

Women’s legal status• Any money they earned was legally their

husbands.

• Within marriage all belongings were the husband’s property.

• If the husband died, as a widow, she may own the property, but only until the male heir came of age.

• She may be allowed to keep half once the heir is of age, but may have to live with a married son or daughter, so loses her independence.

Moving forward 500 years to the 19th century.

• Had women’s roles changed much?

Medieval PeriodMedieval Period

1066 to 15001066 to 1500

Victorian PeriodVictorian Period

1837 to 19011837 to 1901

• At the start of the nineteenth century women were not seen as individual citizens, but as the property of their husbands.

• Husbands were expected to keep their wives, and wives were expected to look after the house and children.

For middle class and wealthy women, apart from producing children and managing the servants, little was expected of them.

• Women had little control over their lives. Before marriage their husband was in command. After marriage their lives were controlled by their husband.

The Position of Women in 1800

• Women could not:– Vote,– Own property,– Sign contracts.

• Women had no rights:– Over their children,– Over their own bodies,– Over their earnings.

• Women had few rights.• Generally believed women were inferior to men• They were denied equality in education,

employment & civil rights.

During the 19th century women began to gain greater independence. Acts of Parliament

brought about changes or reforms:

• 1873 – Cambridge University took women students.Cambridge University took women students.

• 1880 – Married women could keep their own property.Married women could keep their own property.

• 1886 – On her husband’s death a woman became theOn her husband’s death a woman became the legal parent. legal parent.

• 1891 – Women could no longer be kept prisoner at Women could no longer be kept prisoner at home by their husbands. home by their husbands.

Suffragists (NUWSS)• National Union of Women’s Suffrage• Started in 1887 by Millicent Fawcett• Middle class & Law abiding• Campaign included pamphlets, letters, public

meetings, petitions, & peaceful demonstrations

Suffragettes (WSPU)• Women’s Social and Political Union• Started in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst & her daughters

Christabel & Sylvia• Motto “Deeds not Words”• More militant – determined to gain publicity

even if meant breaking to law• Campaign included demonstrations, breaking

windows, letter bombs, chaining themselves to railing, shouting in Parliament, being arrested & prison, (& hunger strike).

Suffragette campaign• 1906 election meeting in Manchester – Christabel & Annie Kenney

asked the Liberal politician “Will the Liberals give women the vote?” - they were thrown out.

• They continued to demonstrate outside & were arrested & sent to prison for refusing to pay the fine.

• Enormous publicity:– Men (& politicians) began to take suffragettes more seriously– Suffragettes realised direct tactics attacked more publicity– Many young women joined the WAPU

• Value of Suffragette campaign has led to much debate

• Suffragette demonstrations became larger & often involved clashes with the police

• Attacks on property:– Windows smashed– Famous paintings slashed– Telegraph wires cut– Post boxes set on fire or attacked with acid– Bowling green & golf courses attacked with acid– Arson

• 1909 – 1st militant demonstrations in Glasgow & Dundee• Whitekirk, a church in Edinburgh was burned down• Politicians targeted by Suffragettes• Winston Churchill assaulted• Suffragettes chained themselves to railings outside Downing Street

Conciliation Bill 1910

• Bill designed to reach a compromise between the government and the demands of the Suffragettes

• It failed

Hunger Strikes in prison• First women = Marion Wallace Dunlop

• Government worried about more & more Suffragettes following her idea.

• If a women died, she would become a martyr – embarrassing for government

• Force feeding

Cat & Mouse Act

• 1913 Temporary Discharge Act

– Protesting women would be released until gained their strength back, then they would be re-arrested

– Like a cat playing with a mouse – trapping & releasing

Emily Davison1872-1913

The Derby 1913• 4th June 1913 – Epson Racecourse• Emily Davison, a suffragette, rushed onto

the race course during the Derby• In front of the King’s Horse• She was badly injured & died

a few days later.• Became a martyr – funeral

attended by thousands

• Horse had to be put down.

Women & the First World War

• Struggle for the vote continued until August 1914• Adopted slogan “Right to Serve” instead of “Right to

Vote”• Jobs in munitions, land army, & generally taking over

men’s jobs

• During the war years women focused on the war effort & kept the home front going, making a huge contribution to winning the war.

Representation of the People Act 1918

• Women over the age of 30 who were households gained the right to vote

• All men over the age of 21 could vote (and aged 19 if the men had been on active service in the armed forces).

Representation of the People Act 1928

• Women over the age of 21 could vote• Women now on equal footing with men.

Other women’s rights

• 1919 – women allowed to enter professions such as law or architecture

• 1921 – contraception available to women for first time

• 1961 – The Pill first available

• 1970 – Equal Pay Act

• 1975 – Sex Discrimination Act

Why did women get the vote?

• Militant actions of suffragettes?

• Proved themselves during the war?

• Government nervous of happenings in Russia?

Source A

It is frequently said that women were given the vote ‘because of the war’…The war changed the situation in more ways than are obvious at first sight. The obvious effect was that women’s contribution to the war effort was seen and appreciated … Public opinion became overwhelmingly favourable towards women. I… the shared hardships created a more equal society.

There was a general desire that sacrifices should not be in vain and that a better world should come out of the war. Surely a land fit for heroes to live in might include a place for a few heroines as well?

The war also emphasised the participation of women in everyday life of the nation. It was obvious to all that women were driving vehicles, acting as bus conductors and filling many posts customarily help by men. … It would have been extremely embarrassing and probably unpopular as well to imprison women who had played such an important part in the war effort.

Constance Rover, Women’s Suffrage and Party Politics in Britain 1866-1914, published in 1967.

Source B

It would be naïve to believe that women received the vote solely for services rendered in the First World War. It must be remembered that only women over 30 were given the vote and the very women who had helped in the war effort – the young women of the munitions factories – were actually denied the vote. The significance of women’s war work in the achievement of the vote is therefore perhaps not as great as first assumed.

In reality, the women were greatly resented in both agriculture and industry…Men ‘froze out’ women workers, gave them no help and even sabotaged their work…

Several Suffragist MPs were promoted to the Cabinet. More importantly Lloyd George, who was sympathetic to women’s suffrage, replaced Asquith as Prime Minsiter in December 1916.

Finally, Britain was merely reflecting an international trend towards full democracy. Women in New Zealand, Australia, Finland and Denmark had already been enfranchised…It would have been an embarrassment if the mother of democracy, Britain, lagged behind other countries.

Paula Bartley, Votes for Women 1860-1928, published in 1998.

Source C

The first issue to stress is the desire of governments to offer rewards for services rendered during the war. But two further changes are also critical: the increased sense of their own capacity and increased self-confidence on the part of women themselves; and, on the other side, the total destruction of all the old arguments about about women’s proper place in the community.

In the political story what is most striking is the way in which one after another all the old leading opponents of the idea of votes for women recant, and declare that since women have played such a vital part in the national effort, of course they must be allowed to share in the politics of their country.

However, political rights are only one side of the story. Women also gained a new measure of economic independence. And, whatever the intentions of law-makers, they gained a new self-reliance and new social freedoms.

Arthur Marwick, War and Social Change in the Twentieth Century, published 1974.

Source D

It might even be that the war postponed (delayed) such a victory. What is definite is the importance of the Suffragists and Suffragettes own efforts, especially the democratic and peaceful Suffragists, in securing the strong position enjoyed by their cause in July 1914.

Women’s war work may have been important in converting some former opponents but even before this the political alliances the women had secured in support of their cause ensured that women would have been included in any future reform bill irrelevant of whether or not war broke out.

Sandra Stanley Holton, Feminism and Democracy, published in 1986

• Present the arguments to agree that the war gained women the vote

• Present to arguments which disagree that the war gained women the vote

• Present a conclusion “Did the War get women the vote?”

Did the war get women the vote?