Women”s suffrage is the right of women to vote. The women”s suffrage movement was the struggle to gain the same right to vote as men. With a few exceptions, women today have the same voting rights as men.
However, this was not always the case. Women were only given the right to vote in 1918 after the government had been refusing in it for over 20 years. In 1918, after the end of the First World War women were given the right to vote, however we could ask why the government changed its mind after refusing for 21 years?A lot of things contributed to women getting the vote in Britain however it all started in 1879 when a group of middle-classed women formed the National Union of Women”s Suffrage Societies Suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett. The group campaigned peacefully and wanted women to get the right to vote.
The suffragists wanted to “gain reforms without violence, without killing people and blowing up buildings and doing other silly things that men have done when they wanted the laws altered”. They held meetings with politicians; these were held to argue women’s suffrage and to persuade politicians.The suffragists also distributed leaflets so people could know more about them and argued that some women e. g.
doctors and mayors were far better than some men e. g. convicts and lunatics who have the vote. .
They had petitions signed so they could show the parliament how many people wanted change. But these tactics were not producing results. Due to this the Women”s Social and Political Union Suffragettes were formed in 1903 and led by Emmeline Pankhurst. This group used direct action; this was the second stage in the emancipation of women getting the vote.
They set fire to post boxes and they went on hunger strike when imprisoned, they chained themselves to railings and produced clever posters. They fought police when they were arrested and also organised demonstrations. The government had to arrest women because of their violent actions. The suffragettes were treated roughly by men, the men found it difficult to deal with the women; they did not know how to handle them.
When the suffragettes were sent to prison they went on hunger strike, the women were treated brutally and were force fed. This led to the government passing the “cat and mouse” act.This said that the prisoners could release the hunger strikers if their health was in danger. This was because the government was frightened that if anything happened to the women they would get the blame for it.
On 4th June 1913, Emily Davison a suffragette ran out in front of the king’s horse during the Derby race at Epsom. She ran into the kings horse ‘Anmer’ and was badly injured. Emily Davison died 4 days later in hospital. The death of Emily Davison shocked the country throughout bringing the women’s right to vote into the spotlight.
Women around the country were inspired by her and renewed their fight with enthusiasm. The death and violent approach gained the suffragettes a lot of media attention which helped towards getting the vote but it did not get them the vote. The third stage of women getting the vote was when war broke out in 1914, and so far the women’s right to vote campaign was a failure. The women decided to stop the campaign and they decided to help out in the war.
They weren’t allowed at first by the government so the suffragettes organised a huge demonstration in London for the “right to serve”.The government was reluctant to let the women work at first because they were afraid that the women would prove that they are good at working. So after the demonstration the government had to give in and the women were allowed the right to serve. All the men went into the army and the women began to fill the jobs that the men had left.
There was an increase in women’s employment, women started to do industrial work and they began to help out in the transport and office work they even became teachers and lawyers. The employment of women in the munitions industry started to rise.The women did not have to rely on men anymore they had proved their point. They started to get their own wages and they started to go out on their own.
Women got their independence, however they hadn’t got the vote, yet. The final stage of women getting the vote was the war and the change in government. During the war women had been doing men’s jobs and had proven themselves. They had helped their country in a time of need and deserved the vote.
Another thing which helped the case for women was the new Prime Minister, Lloyd George.Lloyd George wanted women to get the vote so in 1918 the parliament passed the representation of the peoples act. This was an act that gave all men over the age of 21 have the vote and all women who were householders and over the age of 30 to have the vote. But this also changed in 1928 when all the women over the age of 21 were given the vote.
However some people think that the parliament didn’t want to give women the right to vote but the country was so weak from the war that they couldn’t afford to deal with the violent suffragettes.We could say that the women’s groups Suffragists and Suffragettes, along with the change in government had all contributed towards women getting the right to vote. Although the war also was beneficial as well because the country was weak and didn’t want to deal . This group was mostly lower class, it heckled politicians, held marches, members chained themselves to railings, attacked policemen, broke windows, slashed paintings, set fire to buildings, threw bombs and went on hunger strike when they were sent to prison.
Women in Britain had been campaigning since 1897 by forming organisations and making banners, leaflets ect. Other organisations tried to campaign violently by throwing bombs and strikes, although the government still refused. Women wanted to have equal rights because they paid taxes, voted in local elections and some women The government and most men however, believed the majority of women were too ignorant of politics to be able to use their vote properly and women did not fight in wars so they shouldn’t be allowed to decide if the country goes into wars. The government refused to give women the right to vote until 1918.
