How did women gain the right to vote?

1. How did women gain the right to vote? Aim: To revise key details about the battle for women’s suffrage A revision presentation from http://www.mrallsophistory.com/

2. Votes for women?

3. Women’s Campaign Groups • Over the next few pages are statements about the two different women’s campaign groups. • See if you can remember whether the statement describes the suffragettes or the suffragists.

4. Women’s Campaign Groups • The Suffragists • The Suffragettes Also called the NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies)

5. Women’s Campaign Groups • The Suffragists • The Suffragettes Also called the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union)

6. Women’s Campaign Groups • The Suffragists • The Suffragettes Led by Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst

7. Women’s Campaign Groups • The Suffragists • The Suffragettes Led by Mrs Millicent Fawcett

8. Women’s Campaign Groups • The Suffragists • The Suffragettes Used peaceful campaigning

9. Women’s Campaign Groups • The Suffragists • The Suffragettes Used radical and militant methods

10. The Suffragettes Click here to watch the clip on YouTube

11. Reactions to the Suffragettes • The next slide shows a cartoon drawn in reaction to the suffragettes. • What does it show • What does it suggest about the artist’s opinion of suffragettes? • Who do you think drew it? • Why?

12. Reactions to the Suffragettes

13. 1911 Conciliation Bill • The government promised to “conciliate” (make peace) by introducing votes for women • It got an enormous majority… • …but was then dropped!

14. Suffragist response • Try to persuade the Prime Minister to change his mind • Support the Labour Party at the new election • Organise a march from Carlisle to London • Offer free membership to all women • All of the above

15. Suffragette response • Escalated their campaign of violence • Escalated their campaign of violence • Escalated their campaign of violence • Escalated their campaign of violence • All of the above

16. Suffragette response

17. s Drawing of a force-feeding published in the Suffragette magazine, 1909

18. The Temporary Discharge of Prisoner’s Act (1913) • This meant that prisoners who were weak from hunger striking could be released from prison • When they were stronger, they were re-arrested and brought back to prison to finish their sentence

19. Emily Davison • Wanted to publicise the suffragettes • Tried to pin a flag on the King’s horse at the Derby at Epsom racecourse • She was killed in the collision

20. Emily Davison • An extreme protest to martyr herself for the suffragettes? • A publicity stunt that went terribly wrong?

21. How effective were the suffragettes? • They had raised the public profile of the issue • The government only started taking the issue seriously after militancy started • Increasing violence reduced support • Supported the view that women were irrational • If the government gave in violence here, what other violence might happen • Would Ireland mount violent protests for Home Rule?

22. How effective were the suffragettes? • Vote on a scale of 1-10

23. Women in WW1 • When war broke out, both suffragettes and suffragists suspended their campaigns for the vote • They began actively trying to recruit men for the army • white feather, etc. • As more and more men went to war, industry began to suffer a shortage of workers

24. Women in WW1 • In which order did women enter “men’s” jobs? • Munitions factories • Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps • Women’s Land Army • Office jobs

25. Women in WW1 • In which order did women enter “men’s” jobs? D. Office jobs A. Munitions factories C. Women’s Land Army B. Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps

26. Women in WW1 • Women began working in offices • Industry was reluctant at first to take on women • Did they have the skills? • Unions feared that women would be cheaper, and so men would be too expensive when they returned

27. Women in WW1 • By 1916, the number of industrial workers was desperate • More and more munitions and supplies needed at the front • Less and less men working in factories, because they’d all joined the army

28. Women in WW1 • Women began working in munitions factories • By the end of the war almost 800,000 women were working in them • They proved they were just as skilled and capable as men

29. Women in WW1 • As the war went on, more women started to work in “men’s” jobs • Bus conductors, postal workers, etc. • Women’s Land Army • A kind of social revolution was taking place

30. (Some) women get the vote… • In 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed • Older and/or richer women were given the vote • Younger, working-class women may still have been too “radical” • All women got the vote in 1928