Women's Rights Flashcards
1
Q
Describe A Vindication of the Rights of Women
A
- written by Mary Wollstonecraft
* in 1792
2
Q
Describe Millicent Fawcett
A
- 1847-1929
- 1868- joined the London Suffrage Committee
- 1870s and 1880s- organised many campaigns
- 1890- elected president of NUWSS
- committed to the use of constitutional means
3
Q
Describe the Ladies of Langham Place
A
- 1859- English Woman’s Journal moved to Langham Place
- promoted change in education, training, employment opportunities, female suffrage, and giving married women control over their property
- mostly wealthy dissenters
- petition in 1886
4
Q
Describe the formation of the NUWSS
A
because of the exclusion of women from the 1867 Reform Act
5
Q
Describe methods used by the Langham Ladies
A
- speakers toured country
- leaflets produced
- pamphlets issued
- regular newspaper printed
- got MPs on board (John Stuart Mill)
- political meetings interrupted with polite questions
6
Q
Describe the opposition to female suffrage
A
- Queen Victoria, Octavia Hill, Florence Nightingale
- the Mother’s Union
- until 1900- Women’s Co-operative Guild (30,000 members)
7
Q
Describe the reasoning behind opposition to female suffrage
A
- ‘different spheres’
- too emotional
- couldn’t fight in war
- more women than men in Britain
- didn’t really want the vote
8
Q
Describe Annie Kenney
A
- working class suffragette
- became one of the leaders of the WSPU
- worked in Oldham textile mill
- joined Independent Labour Party
- went to prison several times
- memories of a militant
9
Q
Describe the beginnings of violent suffragette action
A
- 1905- Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney set out to be arrested- interrupted Liberal party meeting in London, unfurled a banner, demanded the vote and shouted questions at Sir Edward Grey. Arrested and fined- sent to prison after refusal to pay
- 25th October 1912- Emmeline Pankhurst addressing suffragettes at Royal Albert Hall; ‘I incite this meeting to rebellion’
10
Q
Describe suffragette militancy
A
- 1903- Women’s Social Political Union (WSPU) founded
- disrupted meetings of major political figures
- threw stones through windows
- set fire to letterboxes
- chained them selves to railings
- tried to enter parliament when it was in session
- attacked the greens of leading golf courses
11
Q
Describe suffragette publicity
A
- Emily Davison- ran in front of the King’s horse at Derby and was killed
- her funeral turned into a suffragette procession
- spent huge sums of money fighting by-elections by fielding suffrage candidates against main candidates
12
Q
Describe the Bow and Bromley accident
A
- 1912
- George Lansbury (leading Labour MP) resigned and called a by-election solely on women’s suffrage
- Pankhursts flooded the constituency with their supporters
- their heavy-handed and aristocratic alienated most of his supporters
- he lost his seat to an anti-suffrage Conservative candidate
13
Q
Describe the suffragette impact
A
- membership of NUWSS grew from 12,000 to 50,000
- alienated MPs, made it more difficult to get the Suffrage Bill through the Houses
- 1912- looked to Labour
14
Q
Describe the effects of war on female suffrage
A
- political activities suspended to focus on war
- women carried out semi-skilled and skilled work in factories
- by 1945- 7.25 million women employed (many through conscription)
15
Q
Describe women at work
A
- could work at munition factories
- also worked as civil servants, bus conductors, telephonists and policewomen
- wages were half that of men
16
Q
Describe female suffrage success
A
- 1918- women over 30 given the vote
* 1928- same terms as men
17
Q
Describe the events of the Ford Dagenham strike
A
- 7th June 1968- 187 women went on strike (sewing machinists who made seat covers for new Ford cars)
- set up a picket line to persuade colleagues
- persuaded local union officials for support
- seat cover machinists at another Ford plant supported the strike
- stayed out for 3 weeks, production brought to standstill
- Barbara Castle negotiated settlement
- women returned earning 92%
18
Q
Describe Barbara Castle
A
- devised settlement for Ford Dagenham strikers
- employment minister
- first female Cabinet minister
19
Q
Describe the cause of the Ford Dagenham strike
A
- work had been reclassified as unskilled
* were getting paid 85% of men’s wages for same work
20
Q
Describe the Equal Pay Act
A
- passed in 1970
- came to force in 1975
- illegal to discriminate against women doing the same job under the same conditions as men
21
Q
Describe the Treaty of Rome
A
- 1957
* equal pay for equal work
22
Q
Describe Julie Hayward
A
- 1988
- cook at Cammell Laird shipbuilders in Birkenhead
- took employers to court
- said she was on a lower grade, and lower pay, despite completing same work as men
- won her case and was paid equally
23
Q
Describe the Matrimonal Causes Act
A
- 1923
* granted equal rights in a divorce
24
Q
Describe acts affecting women
A
- Abortion Act- 1967
- Divorce Act- 1968
- Employment Protection Act- 1975 (made illegal to sack someone because they were pregnant)
- Equal Opportunity Commission- 1976
25
Describe women in politics
* 1979- Margaret Thatcher
* 1992- Betty Boothroyd- first female Speaker in the House of Commons
* 1997- record number of female MPs (101 labour)
26
Describe Greenham Common anti-nuclear-missiles protest and peace camp
* 1971-2002
* USA stationed cruise missiles at Greenham Common air base (with UK government permission)
* women set up a protest camp
* 1983- 70,000 people made human chain around the 14 mile perimeter fence
* 1991- cruise missiles returned
* women arrested, tried, sent to prison and evicted from the camp but they came back
* only left so a memorial could be built
