suffrage campaign

Question 1

main groups fighting for suffrage

Answer 1

• NUWSS
• WSPU

Question 2

NUWSS

Answer 2

• often called suffragists
• founded in 1897
• led by Millicent Fawcett
• focused on moderate activity to draw attention to female suffragist movement
• campaigned to give men and women over 21 the vote
• openly supported labour- these were committed to electoral reform, Keir Hardie was a feminist
• peaceful posters and campaigning

Question 3

WSPU

Answer 3

• led by Emmeline Pankhurst
• founded in 1903
• known as the suffragettes
• 1911- led to an increase in violence after the failure of the conciliation bill
• 1909- 1st hunger strike after Marion Wallace Dunlop was arrested but wanted to be viewed as a political prisoner
• example is emily wilding davidson- martyr for suffragette cause
• links to lancashire and cheshire textile and other workers representative committee- involved w/c women
• radical protest such as chaining themselves to railing, smashing windows and heckling cabinet ministers. attacks on property

Question 4

WSPU members

Answer 4

• mainly middle-class, well-educated women who campaigned
• some working class- Annie Kenney
• some upper class- Lady Constance Lytton

Question 5

WSPU attack on DLG

Answer 5

• february 1913
• WSPU committed an arson attack on his property

Question 6

overall summary of factors of why suffrage increased

Answer 6

• increasing agitation politically- trade unions (taff vale reversed) and irish home rule party adopted disruption which influenced movement.
• asquiths personal objection stopped 1908 bill
• liberal landslide
• govs refusal to accept petitions and unrelenting hostility of asquith to granting women vote was a source of anger
• WSPU militant actions make suffrage a public discussion, more people involved, upsurge in ppt and discussion for female franchise.
• coercive response of gov- force feeding, removal of demonstrators by force etc

Question 7

factors affecting why suffrage movement increased

Answer 7

• 1906- liberal landslide- these were thought to be the party of political reform- seen as friendlier to idea of womens suffrage. raised hopes and sign of political change.
• however- still opposition to suffrage within the liberals - asquith opposed- refused to give time to a 1908 bill which had passed reading- which meant women were not granted the right to vote. his own personal objection to the extension of the franchise meant that it caused anger amongst suffragettes
• women saw other movements achieving their ends– trade unions get taff vale reversed, miners strike etc.
• movement influenced by the tactics of parliamentary disruption adopted by the irish home rule party in 1880s.
• wspu militant actions brought suffrage campaign to the forefront of public discussion- leading to an upsurge in the campaugn for female franchise.
• coercive response of the gov led to more women campaigning- cat and mouse act was seen as disproportionate punishment

Question 8

stance of political parties

Answer 8

• conservatives= deeply suspicious of female suffrage as believed in strong, traditional gender paradigm. did not want w/c women voting- sp opposition is both political and moral.
• liberals= splits- will lead to working class votes being over represented in the electorate- so benefit labour party. may follow conservative husband and vote for conservatives instead
• labour= wanted the overall idea of universal suffrage

Question 9

why did women need to agitate

Answer 9

no real political party which fully supports them, so women had to agitate to force the reform on their own backs

Question 10

suffragist approach

Answer 10

• traditional, peaceful approach
• did not necesarily want to create a larger feminist objective.
• did not want to be dismissed as a radical so stuck within the traditional gender roles- moderate approach
• NUWSS- by 1900 there was 400 branches all over the country, appeared to be united as a forceful pressure group.
• success was arguably about providing a long term assumption that there should be some idea of female suffrage.
• additionally, once the suffragettes were viewed with disdain, the suffragists would appear to be less radical and more favourable as a politcal ideology

Question 11

relationship between WSPU and ILP

Answer 11

• emmeline pankhurst had broken ties with the liberals in favour of the ILP- thought them to be a better vehicle for social and economic mobility
• ILP divided over issue- Keir Hardie supported and was sympathetic tp demands for immediate suffrasge
• others such as Philip Snowden wanted to wait for complete adult suffrage.
• 1905- Keir Hardie intro’d a private members bill to extend the vote to women on the existing franchise, but there was a lack of real enthusiasm for this within the ILP.

Question 12

impact of the suffragettes

Answer 12

• helps to get attention so focuses on the debate, but did not increase the amount of support.
• counterproductive in that what they achieve is a profound anger towards them which then in turn leads to them being fundamentally unsupported by the majority of men
• largely negative attention
• brought to public consciousness, more willing to listen to moderate demands of the suffragists
• militant actiosn challenged gender roles, made them seem more able to be trusted with the vote.

Question 13

actions of the liberal gov

Answer 13

• asquiths personal prejudice stopped 1908 bill.

Question 14

conciliation bill

Answer 14

• 1st- proposed the enfranchisement of women- on the basis of either occupation or an occupation franchise.
• doomed to fail- asquith opposed it from the start, not a supporter of suffrage and had been angered by the militancy of the recent campaigns.
• loss of conciliation bill ended the truce of the WSPU, mass demonstrations.

Question 15

cat and mouse act

Answer 15

• in response to the hunger strikes
• Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill- Health) Act.
• allowed hunger striking suffragettes to be released again from prison when they were weakned on ‘license’
• prisoners would then be released back into prison when their health had improved to serve the rest of their sentence.

Question 16

how well did the liberal government seem to have handled the issue of women’s suffrage, 1906-1918

Answer 16

did as best
* drafted a conciliation bill- but didn’t have any intention of passing it.
* did not give into violence- would spark violence from the trade unions and ireland

handled it badly
* force fed women aggressively
* cat and mouse act viewed with disdain, popular opinion against government- barbaric treatment