british: women and the vote Flashcards
how may men and women could vote in 1900?
6/10 WC men could vote in national elections denied still to women
what was passed enabled some women the right to vote?
representation of the people act 1918
what requirements must you have met to be a women and vote from the RPA?
30+,
married
own property or a uni graduate
What reasons did women get the vote and most important factor?
changing attitudes
war work MOST IMPORTANT
suffragettes
suffragists
influence of other countries
KU for changing attitudes: education and married women’s property act.
E: increasing for boys and girls on 1870. colleges like girton in cambridge opened for girls to attend. women = ^£££ jobs
PA: 1882-93 previously if women had inherited property whilst married or after marriage could be taken away by husbands. this act =full legal control for women over all property owned and earned whilst married.
why did changing attitudes help women get the vote? (A)
status in society was improving as gained more rights and they were becoming more educated meaning outdated to argue they were unaware of politics. prejudice attitudes towards them lessening making them more suited to vote.
changing attitudes A+ : slow progress…
progress wasn’t fast enough for changing attitudes to be the reason for giving women the vote, since attitudes changed around 1870-93 highlighting that it never had a huge impact as the vote wasn’t granted to women until 1918, over 20 years later.
changing attitudes EV municipal electorate & lofa…
changing attitudes was important war more important as involved more women.
in 1890s municipal electorate comprised of only 13.7% women whilst war work included millions more filling mens occupations.
shows WW more important as great number involved.
KU for war work: munitions & elsie inglis
60% women worked in the munition factories and 12,000 worked in devils porridge at gretna making bullets and bombs etc…
elsie inglis sent 1000 female doctors, nurses, orderlies to the frontlines to help in the war.
why did war work help women get the vote? (A)
women gained respect from politicians and the public due to their hard work during the war. women deserved to be rewarded with the vote meaning it had a much greater chance of passing now compared to in 1914
war work A+: failed due to age…
women whom were given the right to vote had to be over 30, yet those who worked during the war, risking their lives were in their twenties, limiting that the argument that war work was why they were given the vote.
war work EV (new fact) and lofa
WW most important reason for some women achieving the vote by 1918 because around 23,000 women were involved in the land army which made crops and timber and were essential for keeping the country running, previously jobs completed by men and this made such a great contribution to the war efforts by females so deserved the vote
KU for the suffragettes: motto, tactics
they believed in violent tactics like chaining themselves to parliament, heckling MPs, disrupting meetings and hunger strikes e.g. committed arson attacks on ayr and kelso racecourse.
they also would go on hunger strikes in prison then make propaganda posters from the prison staff force feeding them, to make people feel sorry for them.
why did the suffragettes help to gain women the vote? (A)
their stunts got masses of attention from the media and from the public as they were also rife in the news, essentially unescapable, meaning their campaign was always kept in spotlight.
suffragettes failed to get women the vote… (A+)
their methods were viewed as acts of terrorism so the government could not give into them until the violence ended, which caused them to actually hold back any progress being made towards extending he franchise for women.
suffragettes (EV) white feather
not as important as WW since they stopped campaigning when war broke out and women were granted the vote a few years later, after they had stopped campaigning. suggests that when women helped out in the white feather campaign to enlist men it was more important in gaining women the vote rather than using violent tactics suggesting WW was more important as suffragettes essentially deterred the government to extending the franchise.
KU for the suffragists: petitions, 1907…
believed in using peaceful methods petitions, marches, talking with MP’s e.g. in 1910 a petition was handed the parliament with 250,000 signatures in favour of votes for women.
1907 mud march (due to weather) was a protest organised by the suffragists and consisted of around 3000 people
why did the suffragists help to get women the vote? (A)
large number of supporters and participants in their campaigning proved that women wanted the vote and their support from other nations abroad backed up that they were trustworthy and capable of voting.
suffragists failed to get women the vote because… (A+)
progress was too slow as they had 4 previously failed attempts of passing a female suffrage bill and they were also easily ignored by politicians as their campaigning methods weren’t powerful like the suffragettes were!
suffragists (EV) white no gains, decades…
WW was more important as it only took a handful of womens war work contribution compared to around 2 decades of suffragists activity to extend the franchise.
the suffragists had no major gains to show from their many years of campaigning in voting terms, showing that WW was more important in gaining women the right to vote by 1918.
KU for the influence of other countries: NZ, US…
Britian was falling behind other countries in terms of female suffrage since many countries like NZ had already granted women the vote in 1893 and Britain was still to.
Also some states in the US had also given women the right to vote: in washingston in 1910, california 1911 and in arizona in 1912.
why did the influence of other countries help to get women the vote? (A)
as women had been enfranchised abroad it pressurised British MPs and politicians to give women the vote. it also reinforced enthusiasm in the campaigning methods of the suffragettes.
the influence of other countries failed to get women the vote because… (A+)
no evidence to show that it played any part in the governments decision to extend the franchise and it may not have even been discussed by MP’s in parliament either.
