History - Suffrage and Voting

Key words

- Suffragettes: Part of the 'Votes for Women' campaign that had long fought for the right of women
to vote in the UK, using heckle, debate, propaganda, and attack on property, (window smashing and
arson), to stand for female suffrage.
- Suffragists: The suffragists were members of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies who
fought for women's rights and equality. They use peaceful, respectful and gentle methods to gain
attention.
- Emmeline Pankhurst: Leader of the Suffragettes
- Millicent Fawcett: Leader of the Suffragists
- Women Suffrage - Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections.
- Reform - A change for the better
Key dates

1884: 57% increase in men’s voting

1887: Suffragists is formed
1903: Suffragettes is formed
1914: The outbreak of World War One brings a suspension to the WSPU’s and NUWSS’s campaigns.
1914: Women are urged to support the war effort, and they do, as during this period nearly 5 million
women remain or enter into employment
1918: February: The Representation of the People Bill is passed, allowing women over the age of 30 and
men over the age of 21 to vote.
1919: Nancy Astor becomes the first female MP
1928: The Representation of the People Act entitles everyone over the age of 21 to vote.
1929: Women over the age of 21 vote in their first general election.

Reasons for the Representation of People Act

ACTIONS OF SUFFRAGETTES:
- After the war, women still having to return to their old lives, although the government were
paranoid that the majority of women may perhaps join the suffrage groups, (particularly the
suffragettes), causing major damage to property
- The Suffragettes organised public demonstrations and civil disobedience to draw attention to the
need for women’s voting rights.
- They engaged in creative public relations efforts like forming communal meetings, where they would
heckle to prove points and to get everyone to relate to themselves.
- Sacrifices were made to benefit women's rights e.g: hunger strikes + protest in font of the King’s
horses

ACTIONS OF SUFFRAGISTS:
- By 1900, more than half of the MP’s said that they had wished for women to get the vote.
- Many say that the long-term methods of convincing, (formed since 1884,) had finally gotten them to
the verge of letting them vote
- Millicent Fawcett trained woman to speak at meetings, producing pamphlets and newspapers, to
gain publicity
- Supported candidates in the 1906 election for those in favour of women suffrage
PARLIAMENTARY REASONS:
- The war gave MPs a convenient excuse to allow votes for women without looking cowardly.
- The work of women during WW1, had eliminated their main arguments against women voting.
- Many male candidates of 1906, that took part in the NUWSS (suffragists), had broadly pointed out
the importance of women in society / their deserved right to vote, against the NLOWS, (National
League for Opposing Woman Suffrage

WW1 IMPACTS:
- A general assumption is that the right to vote was a ‘reward’ for the vital work done by women
during World War One
- The war Forced a change in the law because only those that had lived in the same place for the
same year could vote, meaning that the war heroes were not granted the right to vote. Through
their sympathy, many thought that this could get them one step closer to the women votes as well
- Women in France also did the same war labour as women in Britain, although the French did not
get women votes until 1947. The war distinguishes that the French did not try hard to receive votes,
and that the suffrage groups in UK were very passionate about their doings, (well-deserved)
- It was visible that woman could do the jobs that 3 years ago would be considered ‘men's jobs’, such
as engineering, handling munitions, (weapons,) and worked in surface jobs in coal mines, showing
their perseverance and resilience, in which they were accredited for.

COUNTERS:
SUFFRAGETTES:
COUNTER: THEIR DISTURBING, TORTUOUS ATTITUDE MIRRORED THE NLOWS THOUGHTS. THEY
WERE TOO EMOTIONAL TO HANDLE SERIOUS SITUATIONS.

SUFFRAGISTS
COUNTER: DUE TO THEIR SETTLING, UNBOTHERING BEHAVIOUR, UNTIL THE SUFFRAGETTES CAME
IN, THERE WAS A SLIM TO NONE CHANCE THAT THEY WOULD EARN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

WAR:
COUNTER: SOME SAY THAT THEY DID NOT ACTUALLY FIGHT, SO THEY
DID NOT CONTRIBUTE MUCH WORK
PARLIAMENT:
COUNTER: EVEN THOUGH THE SUFFRAGISTS HAD GOT MORE THAN
HALF OF THE 1906 CANDIDATES TO SIDE WITH THEM, IT WAS UP TO
THE FINAL PRIME MINISTER TO MAKE THE FINAL DECISION. ALSO
THEIR DECISION WITH THE WAR, MAY NOT MAKE UP FOR
UNTOLERABLE BEHAVIOUR.
 The Exam Question:

12 MARK QUESTION
Who made the biggest contribution to the women's suffrage movement?

(12 marks)

You may use 3 of the following 4 in your answer:

● Suffragettes
● Suffragists
● War Parliament

Use the PEECE structure:

Point
Evidence
Explanation
Counter
Evaluate

Setting up paragraphs

The PEECE Structure:

Point - what are you going to be talking about? Tell us your position on the reason. Eg. I
count that, (or ‘Another point to consider is…’) the suffragettes/suffragists/war’s
impacts/parliament have contributed the most partaking in the women’s suffrage movement.
Evidence - Back up your answer. Provide proof of your reasoning. (give a quote) Eg. This is
highlighted in/For instance, when the ________ had __________________ (use above to
help.) We can see this in the following quote, ______________. The part of the quote,
‘______’ indicates that, _____________. This also relates to another point _________ (then
repeat)
Explanation - Analyse your point. Show the long term and short term effects. Explain how
this will help. You could also break down the main parts and examine them bit by bit in
detail. Eg. This greatly impacted the Representation of people act in 1918 because ________
. Without this, _____________________. Furthermore, this secondary objective signifies
that ___________, benefiting the women’s right to vote.
Counter - On the contrary/On the other hand/In contradictory/However, some may think
that this statement is wrong, because
_______________________________________________. I agree/disagree with this
statement because _________________________________________________. If this
testimony is right/wrong it would have a domino effect as ______________________
_________________________________________________________________
Evaluation- Summarise the paragraph’s main point. Also, provide your opinion or verdict on
whether an argument, or set of research findings, is accurate.
Eg. Therefore, it is clear that ________________ have contributed a vast/standard/remote
amount of involvement during the women’s liberation move as they, (to conclude), did
______________ , ________________ , ________________ .