Suffrage movement KS3. Story Source Scholarship.

History resource for Suffrage UK women

1. Women do not have the experience to be able to vote. But there are other problems as well: the way women have been educated, their lack of strength, and the duties they have. If women did gain the vote, it would mean that most voters would then be women. What would be the effect of this on the government? I agree that there are some issues upon which the votes of women might be helpful. But these cases do not cover the whole of political life. What is the good of talking about the equality of the sexes? The first whiz of the bullet, the first boom of the cannon and where is the equality of the sexes then ? From a speech made in 1912 by Lord Curzon, a Conservative leader How did the campaign for Women’s Suffrage turn violent? Story Source Create a title for each paragraph. The article below examines the start of the Suffrage campaign, and how it turned violent. Summarise each paragraph in 1 or 2 bullet points . By 1897, many women no longer accepted the way they were treated and a group formed that campaigned for women to be allowed the right to vote. They thought that if women could vote, they might be able to elect politicians who promised to improve their lives. Millicent Fawcett, the wife of an MP, brought all the groups campaigning together to form the NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies). This group was known as the Suffragists . They were a collection of middle class women who believed in peaceful methods like marches, petitioning MPs, writing article. They felt that to persuade men to give women the vote, women would have to show that they were kind and gentle. This was what men expected women to be. The Liberal Government didn’t have one clear opinion on women’s suffrage; some MPs supported, others did not. Several times the government seemed about to reform that would allow women the vote, then changed their minds. This frustrated the women in the Suffrage movement. Some Suffragists became frustrated with how long it was taking for change to occur. In 1903, a member of the Manchester branch of the NUWSS - Emmeline Pankhurst - decided it was time to take more direct action. Mrs Pankhurst and her two daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Manchester. They believed in “deeds not words” and were not scared to live up to their motto. The Pankhurst’s decided that the best way to highlight their cause was to commit spectacular stunts that would guarantee an appearance in the newspapers. They disrupted political meetings, chained themselves to railings in Downing Street, pelted politicians with eggs and flour, and smashed Parliament’s windows with stones. They also set fire to churches and railway stations and some poured acid on golf courses. Women were sent to prison and s oon refused all food in prison (hunger strike). At first the government released all hunger strikers, but soon decided to force feed them instead. All this guaranteed that the suffragettes were front page news Task 1 Read through the Story of the events the Suffrage movement . For each paragraph, you need to create a ‘title’ on one side, and a short summary (two bullet points maximum) on the other. Task 2 Look at source A, B, and C. In your book, write a short description of the message of each source. Then answer the question “What do these sources tell you about the Suffrage Movement?” Task 3 Read through Marlow and Boyd’s scholarship about the effects of Suffragists and Suffragette. Highlight what you think are the three most important sentences. In your book, answer the question “Who do historians think did more for the cause of women’s rights?” Photograph of Millicent Fawcett, leading a meeting of the “law-abiding Suffragists” To this day, many people equate the British women’s suffrage struggle and the final victory with the famous Pankhurst family and their militant supporters in the WSPU.   In its early years the WSPU was a bold, innovative, imaginative organisation , among the first to appreciate the value of publicity.   Not without justification, its members regarded themselves as the elite soldiers of the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign.   But for every suffragette there were always dozens of non-militant suffragists.   Some would argue – including me – that it was the moderates of the NUWSS, led by Millicent Fawcett, who actually won the vote.   In 1912, while the militants embarked on arson and bombing, the NUWSS made a successful working alliance with the growing Labour Party.   It was this group which successfully lobbied for the 1918 Franchise Act. Joyce Marlow,  Votes for Women  (2000) The Suffragette movement developed into a tremendous force.   Its increase of numbers made it no longer possible for its enemies to dismiss it as the cranky notion of a few women . […]   Time and again these brave women were sent to prison where they were treated with less consideration than the commonest and vilest criminal.  A great many people, who had not cared one way or the other about votes for women, changed their minds when they learned of such indignities . Edward Boyd, an article on ‘The Suffragette Movement’ in  A Pageant of History  (1958) A Photograph of Suffragette chained to the railings of government building in London. B C Scholarship