work of suffragettes to expand the franchise Flashcards
How did the suffragettes expand the franchise?
Early campaigners relied on peaceful protest, for examples marches and demonstrations, and were known as the suffragists. When it became clear that their methods were not attracting the necessary attention, campaigners turned to more extreme, sometimes violent methods, the most famous being Emily Davison throwing herself in front of the King’s horse at the 1916 Derby and subsequently dying of her injuries. The campaigners became known as the suffragettes, and risked imprisonment, where they would go on hunger strike and were force-fed. Public support for women’s suffrage started to grow, and, following the work done by women in the First World War (where they proved just as capable of doing ‘men’s jobs’) women over 30 were granted the right to vote in 1918. Once this was achieved, efforts turned to increasing the representation of women in politics, efforts which continue to this day (for example, the 2015 election returned 191 women MPs, or 29% of the total).
