Suffragettes' Tactics Flashcards
What was their newspaper called and what was the circulation?
It was called ‘votes for women’ and it has a circulation of 40,000
What were their colours?
White, green and purple
What did each colour stand for?
Purple - dignity
White - purity
Green - fertility
What did the use the colours to sell?
Clothes, jewellery, dolls and belts - they had 20 shops in London
Why did they start increasing their violence?
Because they grew sick of the government not listening
Why were the hunger strikes an effective tactic ?
- government didn’t want dead women on their hands
- it shows it was a serious cause
Why was it more effective as it was women starving themselves?
Because of the sexist age, women dying was far more effective than men dying
What happened during force feeding?
They shoved tubes down their mouths
What did the government introduce in 1913?
Cat and mouse act
What was the ‘cat and mouse act?’
When women were about to die, they were allowed out to recover and were then later arrested
What did Emily Davison do in 1913?
She ran in front of a horse and was run over by the kings horse. She tried to put a scarf in the horse
In June 1911, how many marched in peaceful protest in London?
60,000
When the king visited Nottingham what the suffragettes try to do?
They tried to bomb him
What other tactics did the suffragettes use?
Attacked postboxes and took out telephone wires
Attacked railway carriages
Attacked golf courses
At which famous places did they hold meetings?
Royal Albert hall and Trafalgar Square
What was a usual number for the meetings?
20,000
How did the newspapers report about the women’s pilgrimage and why?
They reported very favourably because of the peaceful way it was carried out
How many signatures did the petition in 1910 have in support of the conciliation bill?
Over 250,000
What did women do to MPs who supported the cause?
They were helped in elections by women who canvassed for them
Why did many women refuse to pay taxes?
Because you couldn’t vote if you didn’t pay taxes
Why did some boycott the 1911 census?
They said that if they couldn’t vote they wouldn’t be part of the official record of the day
When did the hunger strikes start and why?
In 1909,to force the authorities to recognise them as political criminals not actual criminals
What did some women do in their cells and how were their protests stopped?
They barricaded themselves into their cells and hosepipes of cold water were used to end their protests
What was one of first types of violence the suffragettes used?
Window smashing
How did the tactic of window smashing evolve over the campaign?
It started as a spontaneous tact not in reaction to failure of suffrage bills but later leadership used it as a deliberate tactic
Which kind of windows did they specifically target?
Windows of government offices were their favourite, buildings of newspapers and gentleman’s clubs and shops also suffered
When did arson start in a big way?
After Emily Davison planted a bomb at DLGs house in Surrey
What did suffragettes do to letterboxes?
They would pour chemicals inside,destroying all the letters inside
What did they do in galleries?
They attacked valuable works of art in galleries
What did they do to a prison doctor?
They attacked him on his way home with a rhino whip
What did Christabel Pankhurst do to a police officer?
She spat and hit a police officer
What was thrown at the PM?
An axe was thrown and only narrowly missed him
What did they do to politicians?
The heckled politicians and disrupted their meetings
What happened to the suffragettes when they disturbed these meetings ?
They were often thrown out of meetings and put into prison. But every time this happened they gained more publicity
How many suffragettes went to prison?
Over 1000
