Votes for Women Flashcards
When did Emily Davidson kill herself at the derby?
June 1913
What jobs could women not have?
Lawyers, Bankers or Stockbrokers/ men paid more
By how much did the number of women working in an office from 1861 to 1911 increase by?
400%
Up to what date did most women not go school?
1870
In 1911 how much of married women were in employment?
10%
What was it like being married before 1890’s?
- Impossible to get divorce
- properties to their husbands
- Wife battering and martial rape was legal
How did marriage change in the 1890’s?
- women could file divorce on grounds of cruelty
- women allowed to keep their own property
- Women no longer had to stay in her husband’s home against her own will
What were the violent methods women used to gain vote?
- 1908/Edith New chained herself to Downing Street railings in response to parliament stalling on female suffrage bills.
- Refused to pay tax’s
- Emily Davidson bombed Lloyd George’s home in 1913
- Women went on hunger strikes
- Attacked people/ axe thrown at Prime Minister.
What were the Non-Violent ways women used to gain the vote?
- Held meetings and demonstrations held in places such as Trafalgar Square, not uncommon for 20,000 to show up
- Put pressure on parliament - in 1910 a petition contained 250,000 signatures
- Helped in elections
- Propaganda - had a newspaper called ‘votes for women’ which 40,000 people read
What happened on Black Friday?
- 300 WSPU women tried to run passed police
- Many reported being assaulted and manhandled by police
- Asquith’s car was vandalised in response to this
- 2 women died and 200 were arrested
Aftermath of Black Friday?
- Action of police was criticised
- a big part of the society still was not too keen on women’s rights
- Asquith stated if Liberals won he include a suffrage bill which would amend women the right to vote
Reason on why people thought women should be allowed to vote?
- Women started to prove themselves in political world
- All men who owned property were allowed to vote however women who had more property than men were not
- Countries like New Zeland already allowed women to vote and so did some states in America
Reasons on why women should not be allowed to vote?
- Britain became worlds most powerful nation without women voting(if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)
- Women were already represented by their husbands so no need to vote
- Women more suited to domestic chores of being housewives
Who was Mary Humphray and what did she do?
Was against women voting and collected 320,000 signature from people voting for women NOT to vote.
How did the Liberal Government react to the WSPU?
- found reasons to delay the subject of Womens Votes
- Women were banned from Liberal Meetings
Why did prisons have to force feed?
- authorities tried to humiliate women and treat them as normal criminals
- were only allowed to bath once a week
- Hunger strike was a reaction to the conditions and women also did this to try to get sympathy from the public
What was the Cat and Mouse act?
- Women were released from prison for health and then re-arrested when they were fine again
- Emmeline Pankhurst was in prison 13 times
Which newspaper was against women voting and why?
The Times
- saw women as lunatics and their behaviour being hysterical
- Told public about violent methods used by women
When did Emily Davidson try to kill herself(not the derby)?
Threw herself off a gallery floor to make authorities look bad and gain sympathy.
How did Emily Davidson killing herself at the derby help the cause?
- international publicity/was a huge event
- Funeral was very public and emotional which gained alot of sympathy
How did Emily Davidson killing herself at the Derby affect the cause?
- The violence upset the public
- Attack on kings horse was unpopular
- she was highly educated what would less intelligent women do?
How effective were NUWSS and WSPU campaigns?
NUWSS:
-Good at working with Liberals
-Had over 100,000 members and 500 branches
-Had marches with over 20,000 marchers each time
-had amazing propaganda - ‘votes for women’ had a circulation of 40,000
WSPU:
-Brutal force feeding and Cat and Mouse Act gained sympathy
-The 1913 derby gained public’s attention
-Bravery and commitment of women gave admiration to people
How were the NUWSS and WSPU not effective during campaigns?
NUWSS:
-persistent campaigning was not the driving force for the reform
-NUWSS was often foreshadowed for the WSPU
-opposing attitudes of the two groups worked against each other and proved to the government women should not be taken seriously
WSPU:
-Violence turned people against their campaign
-opposing attitudes of the two groups worked against each other and proved to the government women should not be taken seriously
Opposing attitudes of WSPU and NUWSS during the war?
WSPU:
-worked amazingly well with the government to encourage women to work
-Britain was short of 15 million workers/without workers Britain would grind to a halt
-Suffragette leaders became more patriotic than men
-1915 they organised a ‘right to serve’ march
NUWSS:
-set up the employment register to recruit women to work and replace the men who had gone to the front
-trained women to the new work
-organised hospital units for the front lines with all female unit of doctors nurses and ambulance drivers
