Women's Rights in the 19th Century
- Created by: SGriffin49
- Created on: 01-07-21 10:51
View mindmap
- Women's Rights in the 19th Century and the Rise of the Suffragettes
- Women's Rights
- Women were not allowed to vote and people were starting to see this was very unfair.
- It was assumed that women did not need to vote because their husbands made all the important decisions for them.
- A woman's role was in the home and looking after children.
- Women were almost treated as second class citizens even if they were married.
- Everything a woman owned had to be passed to her husband when they got married.
- A woman could be forced to stay in her husbands home against her will.
- A woman could only divorce her husband if he could prove he was cheating or being cruel.
- Women saw the right to vote as being extremely important to gain full equality with men. Many women were now in full time employment due to the industrial revolution which gave them the opportunity to meet in large groups and share ideas.
- Struggle for equality
- In 1870 and 1882 laws were passed which allowed women to keep their own income and possessions even after they got married.
- Women had to convince male members of Parliament to pass laws for them.
- Women still could not vote or become MPs.
- 'The Cause' described a movement for women's rights. It had no political focus.
- In 1872 the National Movement for Women's Suffrage was formed.
- By the end of the 19th century, getting the vote was the most important thing to women.
- The Suffragists- The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
- This group was formed in 1897 under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett.
- They wanted the vote for middle-class, property-owning women and believed the easiest way to achieve this would be through peaceful tactics and demonstration-s.
- Fawcett believed that if the group was viewed by Parliament as being intelligent, polite and law abiding that they would be more likely to achieve their goals.
- The leadership of the Suffragists were made up of middle-class women who understood that they needed the support of working-class women to have success.
- The issue of the vote pulled women together from all different backgrounds.
- Some women felt that peaceful demonstration-s were taking too long to create change.
- The Suffragettes- Women's Social and Political Union
- Founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia in 1903.
- Emmeline Pankhurst was a member of the Manchester Suffragist movement but was getting irritated at the lack of action and lack of change.
- They decided direct action was necessary as women had been waiting for the vote for too long.
- Believed it would take the action of young working-class women to get the vote.
- Their motto was 'Deeds not words' and from 1912 the campaign became more violent.
- Law-breaking, violence and hunger strikes were all considered acceptable forms of campaigning for the Suffragettes.
- Women's Rights
Comments
No comments have yet been made