The Suffragettes
- Created by: SGriffin49
- Created on: 02-07-21 19:01
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- The Suffragettes
- What did they do?
- In 1905, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted a meeting in Manchester between 2 politicians, Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey to ask if they believed women should get the vote. They were thrown out and arrested.
- In 1906, 30 members went to Downing Street and asked to see the Prime Minister. After demanding to be let in, 2 women tried to rush inside but they were arrested.
- In 1908 a protest rally took place in Hyde Park with between 250,000 and 500,000 people.
- In 1909, Marion Wallace Dunlop was sentenced to prison for defacing a wall of a church. She asked to be treated as a political prisoner. Her request was denied so she went on hunger strike.
- Cat and Mouse Act
- It was assumed that if a Suffragette went to prison they would go on hunger strike as it received the most attention.
- The Cat and Mouse Act allowed the women to go on hunger strike and let them get weaker and weaker.
- When the women were weakened by hunger strike they were released from prison.
- Because of how weak they were, they could not take part in any violence or protest. However, when they got stronger, they were arrested again and the process restarted.
- Hunger strikers were force fed by prison doctors using steel mouth clamps and tubes. It was very painful and brutal.
- Force feeding worked on the Suffragette's side as the public felt great sympathy for them.
- Using Violence
- In 1911, 200 women were arrested for violent acts, including smashing the windows of MPs houses.
- In 1912, Mary Leigh threw an axe into the Prime Minister's carriage. She also tried to burn down the Theatre Royal.
- In June 1913, Emily Wilding Davison jumped in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby and tried to attach a banner to it. She was killed in the accident.
- Emily Davison's funeral was a public spectacle and generated a lot of publicity. However, it did allow the government to suggest that women were not sensible enough to have the vote.
- Gaining the Vote
- During WWI women took on male roles in the factories and fields whilst the men were at war proving they could work just as hard as the men.
- The Suffragette's began to reduce their use of violence and focus on the war effort instead.
- The government had to introduce a new voting law to allow soldiers and sailors to vote whilst fighting in the war. The Suffragists argued women should also be included.
- In 1918, women over the age of 30 who owned property were given the vote.
- In 1928 the law was extended to include all women.
- What did they do?
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