Suffrage

Question 1

Define franchise/suffrage

Answer 1

The ability/right to vote in elections

Question 2

Why did the British government begin to extend the franchise throughout the 19th century?

Answer 2

They feared a simulation of the violence of the French Revolution

Question 3

Why was the voting age lowered in 1969?

Answer 3

To reflect the changing expectations of adulthood in Britain

Question 4

What was the 1832 Great Reform Act?

Answer 4

Franchise extended to shopkeepers, farmers and anyone whose property attracted an annual rent of at least £10. The proportion of the adult population able to vote increased from 4% to 6%. It was a limited but symbolically important development

Question 5

What was the 1867 Second Reform Act?

Answer 5

Doubled the electorate to around 2 million. Women the propertyless and tenants of very cheap properties were still unable to vote

Question 6

What was the 1872 Ballot Act?

Answer 6

Introduced the secret ballot, meaning votes could no longer be bought by corrupt candidates and voters were free to make up their own minds

Question 7

What was the 1884 Third Reform Act?

Answer 7

The franchise was extended to most working men; about 60% of adult men could now vote

Question 8

What was the 1918 Representation of the people Act?

Answer 8

Most adult men given the right to vote. Women over 30 who were married, a property owner or a graduate could now vote

Question 9

What was the 1928 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 9

Franchise extended to everyone over 21

Question 10

What was the 1948 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 10

Removed university MPs to firmly establish the principle of ‘one person, one vote’

Question 11

What was the 1969 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 11

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Question 12

What was the 2016 Scottish Elections Act

Answer 12

Everyone over the age of 16 could vote in Scottish elections, but not in UK general elections or referendums

Question 13

When was the first petition for female suffrage presented to parliament?

Answer 13

1866; it was largely ignored

Question 14

Who were the NUWSS?

Answer 14

National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, also known as the suffragists

Question 15

Who was the leader of the NUWSS?

Answer 15

Millicent Fawcett

Question 16

How did the NUWSS view membership?

Answer 16

They were open to all and internally democratic

Question 17

How did the NUWSS put pressure on those in power?

Answer 17

• Peaceful campaigning
• Letter writing
• Producing material for publication
• Organising petitions
• Holding peaceful marches and protests

Question 18

How many members did the NUWSS have by 2014?

Answer 18

100,000 across 400 branches

Question 19

What did the NUWSS do after the 1918 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 19

Renamed as the Fawcett Society, they continued to campaign for equal voting rights, which was achieved in 1928

Question 20

What led to the creation of the WSPU?

Answer 20

Some felt that the NUWSS were too slow

Question 21

Who were the WSPU?

Answer 21

The Women’s Social and Political Union, also known as the suffragets

Question 22

When was the WSPU created?

Answer 22

1903

Question 23

Who created the WSPU?

Answer 23

Emmaline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia

Question 24

Where was the NUWSS based?

Answer 24

Initially Manchester, before moving to London in 1906

Question 25

What was the view of the WSPU on membership?

Answer 25

Open only to women and was not internally democratic

Question 26

How did the WSPU publicise the issue of female suffrage?

Answer 26

By using violence and illegal methods

Question 27

What type of pressure did the WSPU exert on the government?

Answer 27

External

Question 28

List the different methods of civil disobedience the WSPU would use

Answer 28

• Disrupting political party meetings
• Chaining themselves to railways
• Attempting to blow up buildings
• Destroying letters in post boxes
• Going on hunger strike while in prison

Question 29

What did the WSPU sell to draw attention to their cause?

Answer 29

Badges, games and posters

Question 30

What three colours did the WSPU adopt as an early form of branding for the movement?

Answer 30

Green, white and purple

Question 31

What was the benefit of WSPU violence?

Answer 31

• Drew attention to the cause and made many talk about the issue
• The government attempts to suppress them garnered some public sympathy

Question 32

What was the downside to WSPU violence?

Answer 32

• Made some believe that the government shouldn’t grant women suffrage, as this would be giving in to terrorists
• Some thought the violence proved women were incapable of sensible thought
• Alienated many moderate supporters

Question 33

What ultimately persuaded parliament to give some women the right to vote in 1918?

Answer 33

The work of the women during the war and the potential for the resumption of WSPU violence

Question 34

What happened to the WSPU after the 1918 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 34

The Pankhursts saw this as enough and so disbanded the movement