How and Why did Women Try to Win the Vote?
- Created by: Conrad Will
- Created on: 18-04-14 15:00
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- How and Why did Women Try to Win the Vote?
- What was the Social, Political and Legal Position of Women in the 1890s?
- Social
- Many working-class women had jobs as well as running the home, e.g. in the textile industry
- These jobs tended to be low paid and in poor conditions
- Middle-class women were less likely to work outside the home - access to higher education and professional jobs was limited
- Queen's College, London was opened in 1848 to train female teachers
- Florence Nightingale established nursing as a respectable job
- She set up a nursing school where women could train to become nurses
- Many working-class women had jobs as well as running the home, e.g. in the textile industry
- Political
- Women were not allowed to vote in national elections
- After 1894 married women could vote in council elections and sit on the councils
- Legal
- 1857 - The Matrimonial Clauses Act
- Gave women the right to get a divorce (providing their husband had committed an offence such as adultery)
- 1870 - The Married Women's Property Act
- Gave women the right to keep their earnings when they got married, not straight to the husband
- Extended in 1882to allow women to keep their property in addition
- Gave women the right to keep their earnings when they got married, not straight to the husband
- 1886 - The Married Women (Maintenance in Case of Desertion) Act
- Meant that husbands had to pay for their ex-wives. The Guardianship of Children Act also meant that mothers could remain legal guardians of their children following divorce
- 1857 - The Matrimonial Clauses Act
- Social
- What were the Arguments For and Against Female Suffrage?
- For
- Women pay taxes just like men
- Women should able to influence MPs on how that money is spent
- Women already vote in local elections and serve on local government bodies - the vote is the next step forward
- Man uneducated working class men can vote while well-educated 'respectable' women can't
- Women have special skills and expertise - they can advise MPs on areas such as the home
- Women have increasing opportunities in education and work - the vote should come next
- Women are the spiritual spine of the nation - they are the churchgoers. MPs need to show Christian leadership
- There are many single women and widows who bear the same responsibilities = as men
- Parliament's decisions affect both men and women so surely its only fair for women to get to vote
- Women pay taxes just like men
- Against
- Giving respectable women the vote will cause them to neglect their family duties - only the undesirable classes will have children
- Giving the vote to women will mean giving it to all men, including layabouts and riffraff
- Why worry about the vote? there are much more pressing concerns such as Ireland and trade unions
- Women do fight in wars for their country, so they shouldn't have a say whether the country goes to war
- Women are pure and should be protected from the grubby world of politics
- Women are irrational - they are too emotional to be trusted with the vote
- It is mainly middle-class women campaigning for the vote - they will have little interest in helping the lower classes
- Women and men have different interests and responsibilities - it is the role of women to look after the family at home and the role of men to debate and make decisions
- For
- How Effective were the Activities of the Suffragists and the Suffragettes?
- The Suffragists
- National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
- Founded 1897
- Leader - Millicent Fawcett
- Tactics were persuasion, meetings and petitions to parliament
- Decided to support the Labour Party
- Organised a peaceful pilgrimage from Carlisle to London
- Lead a deputation to persuade the PM after the 1911 setback in Parliament
- National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
- The Suffragettes
- Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)
- Founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in in 1903, with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia
- They thought the Suffragists did things too slowly - they wanted results fast
- They didn't mind getting arrested - this gained them some respect and showed their sincerity
- Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney were put in prison for a week after heckling Sir Edward Grey who was speaking at a meeting in Manchester
- They hoped the Liberal Government after 1906 would be sympathetic, encouraged by the 1907 Qualification of Women Act
- This gave women the right to become county and borough councillors or mayors
- Chained themselves to railings outside Downing Street and Buckingham Palace
- Physically assaulted politicians - PM Asquith was near ***** on a golf course
- Destroyed paintings in the National Gallery and smashed shop windows
- Made arson attacks on post boxes, churches and railway stations
- In 1913, they bombed Lloyd-George's house
- 1913 - Emily Wilding Davison throws herself under the King's Horse at the Epsom Derby. She dies of her injuries
- Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)
- The Government sent many Suffragettes to prison, where they were often forced-fed following hunger strikes
- The Suffragettes
- Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)
- Founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in in 1903, with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia
- They thought the Suffragists did things too slowly - they wanted results fast
- They didn't mind getting arrested - this gained them some respect and showed their sincerity
- Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney were put in prison for a week after heckling Sir Edward Grey who was speaking at a meeting in Manchester
- They hoped the Liberal Government after 1906 would be sympathetic, encouraged by the 1907 Qualification of Women Act
- This gave women the right to become county and borough councillors or mayors
- Chained themselves to railings outside Downing Street and Buckingham Palace
- Physically assaulted politicians - PM Asquith was near ***** on a golf course
- Destroyed paintings in the National Gallery and smashed shop windows
- Made arson attacks on post boxes, churches and railway stations
- In 1913, they bombed Lloyd-George's house
- 1913 - Emily Wilding Davison throws herself under the King's Horse at the Epsom Derby. She dies of her injuries
- Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)
- The so called 'Cat and Mouse Act' was passed in 1913. Hunger strikers were now released and rearrested when fit again
- The Suffragettes
- The Suffragists
- How Did Women Contribute to the War Effort?
- In the absence of men, women took over many of their jobs
- Vital jobs which kept the country running: bus conductors, drivers, postal workers, farm labourers and coal deliverers
- They also worked in munitions factories and engineering workshops. This work was technical and directly related to the war effort
- Women joined female branches of the armed forces and worked as nurses in military hospitals
- In the absence of men, women took over many of their jobs
- What was the Social, Political and Legal Position of Women in the 1890s?
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