Suffragettes and suffragists

• In Britain during the 19th century, women were not allowed to

  vote and many women believed this was unfair.

  It was assumed that women did not need the vote because

  their husbands made all the important decisions. A woman's

  role was seen as taking care of the children and the home.
• Women were often treated as second-class citizens, even if they

  were married. Examples of rules women had to live by include:

  Everything a woman owned passed to her husband when

  she married.

  A woman could be forced to stay in a husband's home against her will.

  A woman could only divorce her husband if she could prove two

  of the following: adultery, cruelty or desertion.
• Women saw the right to vote as an important step towards

  gaining full equality with men. As a result of the Industrial

  Revolution and the growth of factories and heavy industry,

  many women were in full-time employment. This meant they

  now had opportunities to meet in large organised groups to

  discuss political and social issues.
• In 1867, John Stuart Mill tried to amend the Second Reform Act

  to allow women to vote. Every year from 1870, an MP tried to

  make a law giving women the vote.
• In 1870 a law was passed that allowed married women to keep

  their own earnings and in 1882 a further law allowed them

  to own property.
• In 1903, the women's movement was divided about the best way to protest. Although there were different opinions about methods, they were generally united in the desire to gain the vote.
• The Women's Social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline

  Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia in 1903.
• The motto of the Suffragettes was 'Deeds not words' and from

  1912 onwards their campaigning became more violent.

  Law-breaking, violence and hunger strikes were all considered

  acceptable campaign tactics.
• When a Suffragette was sent to prison, it was assumed that she

  would go on hunger strike as this gained maximum publicity.

  The Cat and Mouse Act allowed the Suffragettes to go on a

  hunger strike and get weaker and weaker. When they were

  very weak they were released. Those who were released were

  SO Weak that they could take no part in any violence. When

  they had regained their strength, they were re-arrested and the whole process started again.
• Hunger strikers were force fed by prison doctors using steel

  mouth clamps and tubes. This was a painful and brutal process.

  Force feeding shocked the public and gained a lot of sympathy

  for the Suffragettes and their cause.
• in June 1913, Emily Wilding Davison attended the Epsom

  Derby horse race. As the King's horse was racing past, Emily

  ran onto the race track and was knocked down by the horse.

  She suffered a fractured skull and died without regaining

  consciousness. Her funeral was a huge public spectacle and

  generated lots of publicity for the Suffragette movement.
• When the First World War broke out many women took on the

  jobs that had been left by men going off to fight. They proved

  they could do these jobs just as well as men.

  The Suffragettes used this to publicise the important role that

  women were playing, even though they disagreed with the war.

  They began to reduce their more violent activities due to the

  war and its effect on the nation.
• In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave women over

  the age of 30 who owned property the right to vote, and in 1928

  the Equal Franchise Act extended this right to include all women.
• What changed for women as a result of the law that was passed in 1870?

  The 1870 Act allowed women to legally own the money that they earned and to be able to inherit property.