Women And The Vote

Question 1

What did some women gain the right to do and what had they been elected in early 1900s

Answer 1

Some women gained the right to vote and in early 1900s had even been elected as local mayors (Elizabeth Anderson in Suffolk)

Question 2

In 1800s and early 1900s numerous democratic changes took place in Britain, what are some examples?

Answer 2

More men gaining the vote, secret ballots and the payment of MPs

Question 3

What were previous arguments against women and the vote?

Answer 3

They could not be trusted with the responsibility of voting or they could exercise their opinion, through their husbands (if they had the vote)

Question 4

How was society’s view of women changing?

Answer 4

They were playing a bigger role in society, including working in many of the key industries at the time e.g. Factories

Question 5

What rights were women gaining?

Answer 5

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)

Question 6

What does changing social attitudes to women link to?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

How did changing social attitudes to women influence women and the vote?

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

How didn’t changing social attitudes to women influence women and the vote

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Who took part in peaceful campaigns

Answer 9

The National Union of Women’s Sufferage Societies (suffragists led by Millicent)

Question 10

What were the peaceful methods used?

Answer 10

Public meetings, petitions and parliamentary bills

Also worked with new Labour Party to campaign for “Votes for all”

Question 11

What do peaceful preassure groups link to?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

How did peaceful preassure groups influence women and the vote?

Answer 12

•The responsible campaigning methods used by the suffragists undermined the claims that women were not responsible or educated enough to vote

Question 13

How didn’t peaceful preassure groups influence women and the vote?

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

What were the extreme methods the suffragettes used?

Answer 14

Hunger strikes, arson (burning churches) and vandalism

Question 15

What was the most famous act to do with the suffragettes

Answer 15

Emily Davidson died at the 1913 Derby race when she ran out in front of and was hit by the Kings horse

Question 16

What can violent preassure groups be linked to?

Answer 16

Can be argued to have undermined the suffragists peaceful methods because their extreme actions showed that women were too irresponsible to vote

Question 17

How did violent preassure groups influence women and the vote?

Answer 17

The suffragettes gained huge publicity because of their actions which brought attention to women’s plight and increased preassure on the government

Question 18

How didn’t violent preassure groups influence women and the vote

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

What happened to all men aged 18-41 from the year 1916

Answer 19

They were conscripted (forced) to join Brittains millitary and fight in the war. This left many jobs unfolded

Question 20

What did women do to help with the war effort?

Answer 20

• Worked in traditional male jobs (bus conductors, police officers etc)
• Worked in factories e.g. munition factories, to build weapons and amp

Question 21

What does World War One link to?

Answer 21

Suspension of the suffragettes campaign at the start of the war showed that women were responsible enough to be given the vote

Question 22

How did World War One influence women and the vote

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

How didn’t World War One influence women and the vote?

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

When were Liberals in government and what did they resist?

Answer 24

Prior to World War One and resisted giving vote to women

Question 25

Why did the liberals introduce controversial laws such as the ‘cat and mouse Act’

Answer 25

To undermine the violent campaign to get women the vote

Question 26

What were the Liberals worried about?

Answer 26

Rise of the Labour Party feared they could loose votes to the new party from their working class supporters

Question 27

What does political advantage link to?

Answer 27

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

Question 28

How did political advantage influence women and the vote?

Answer 28

• 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

Question 29

How didn’t political advantage influence women and the vote?

Answer 29

• 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