Women And The Vote Flashcards
What did some women gain the right to do and what had they been elected in early 1900s
Some women gained the right to vote and in early 1900s had even been elected as local mayors (Elizabeth Anderson in Suffolk)
In 1800s and early 1900s numerous democratic changes took place in Britain, what are some examples?
More men gaining the vote, secret ballots and the payment of MPs
What were previous arguments against women and the vote?
They could not be trusted with the responsibility of voting or they could exercise their opinion, through their husbands (if they had the vote)
How was society’s view of women changing?
They were playing a bigger role in society, including working in many of the key industries at the time e.g. Factories
What rights were women gaining?
More legal rights:
•Infant Custody Act 1873
(allowed women custody of children after divorce)
•Local Government Act 1894
(Gave some women the vote in local elections)
What does changing social attitudes to women link to?
The responsibility shown by suffragists in their general campaigns, and the suffragettes in suspending their campaign at the start of WW1 helped improve women’s image
How did changing social attitudes to women influence women and the vote?
- Increasing the role of women in local elections undermined claims that they could not be trusted
- Women were often the main earner in their houses e.g. Mill workers in Dundee. This made it hard to argue that they could not also vote
How didn’t changing social attitudes to women influence women and the vote
- Working women were not all a new phenomenon - they had been at the heart of the industrial revolution
- Many working women did not get the vote in 1918: under 30s and poorer women (one of the main groups of workers) were not included
Who took part in peaceful campaigns
The National Union of Women’s Sufferage Societies (suffragists led by Millicent)
What were the peaceful methods used?
Public meetings, petitions and parliamentary bills
Also worked with new Labour Party to campaign for “Votes for all”
What do peaceful preassure groups link to?
By working with the Labour Party the suffragists caused the Liberals to fear that they would lose women’s votes, leading to them supporting women’s right to vote
How did peaceful preassure groups influence women and the vote?
•The responsible campaigning methods used by the suffragists undermined the claims that women were not responsible or educated enough to vote
How didn’t peaceful preassure groups influence women and the vote?
- Women had been campaigning since at least 1800s without success
- A peaceful approach was easy for the polititions to ignore, meaning many women turned to direct action
What were the extreme methods the suffragettes used?
Hunger strikes, arson (burning churches) and vandalism
What was the most famous act to do with the suffragettes
Emily Davidson died at the 1913 Derby race when she ran out in front of and was hit by the Kings horse
What can violent preassure groups be linked to?
Can be argued to have undermined the suffragists peaceful methods because their extreme actions showed that women were too irresponsible to vote
How did violent preassure groups influence women and the vote?
The suffragettes gained huge publicity because of their actions which brought attention to women’s plight and increased preassure on the government
How didn’t violent preassure groups influence women and the vote
- The government could not be seen to give in to extreme and terrorist actions, especially given Irish situation
- The suffragettes refused to support Labours “Votes for all” campaign showing less of a concern for working class women
What happened to all men aged 18-41 from the year 1916
They were conscripted (forced) to join Brittains millitary and fight in the war. This left many jobs unfolded
What did women do to help with the war effort?
- Worked in traditional male jobs (bus conductors, police officers etc)
- Worked in factories e.g. munition factories, to build weapons and amp
What does World War One link to?
Suspension of the suffragettes campaign at the start of the war showed that women were responsible enough to be given the vote
How did World War One influence women and the vote
- Argued that women gained the vote as a ‘thank you’ for their wartime effort
- Men also gained the right to vote as a ‘thank you’ for fighting, leaving it impossible for rich educated women to be unable to vote, whilst all men could
How didn’t World War One influence women and the vote?
- In 1918 only women over 30 who were property owners or married to property owners gained the vote
- Many of the women who worked in munitions factories were poor, single women under 30, the very women who didn’t get the right to vote in 1918
When were Liberals in government and what did they resist?
Prior to World War One and resisted giving vote to women
Why did the liberals introduce controversial laws such as the ‘cat and mouse Act’
To undermine the violent campaign to get women the vote
What were the Liberals worried about?
Rise of the Labour Party feared they could loose votes to the new party from their working class supporters
What does political advantage link to?
The support that the suffragettes have to the Labour Party’s ‘Votes for all’ campaign suggests that the Liberals would have been worried by these links
How did political advantage influence women and the vote?
- Liberals had previously been undermined by a rival party (the conservatives) by 1867 and would not want to repeat this
- Liberals feared that if they did not give the vote to women then either Labour or the conservatives might do this
How didn’t political advantage influence women and the vote?
- Votes for women became more likely simply because of David Lloyd George became prime minister in 1916 and he was more open to the idea
- There were also numerous other social reforms happening at the time (pensions etc) so women voting was just an extension of this change
