Female Suffrage

The Arguments For & Against Female Suffrage

• Votes for women would improve life for all women, e.g. equal working conditions, better access to education, etc.
• Australia and New Zealand had given women the right to vote in national elections and in the USA, women had the right to vote in some states
• Many women were already involved in politics at a local level, especially on boards of education and poor law boards
• Women paid the same rates and taxes as men, so they should be able to vote for the politicians who spend those taxes
• By the early 1900s, the vast majority of men could vote; Britain was not a democracy if 50% of the adult population could not vote
• Women had different responsibilities or 'spheres'; men were suited to work and politics while women were suited to the home and caring roles
• Most did not want the vote or were not interested; they irrational and would not vote wisely
• Giving the vote to some women would mean giving the vote to all men, some of whom were not worthy
• Women did not fight in wars so they should not be able to vote for governments that might have to declare war

Effectiveness of The Suffragists

• Failed to get the vote for women by 1914
• Built up an impressive organisation and membership: by 1914, the NUWSS had over 400 branches and over 100,000 members
• Consisted of mainly middle-class women but there were also quite a few male members
• Managed to get women's suffrage bills proposed to Parliament several times between 1900 and 1914 e.g. Conciliation Bill(1910) - abandoned by the Liberals
• There were many societies campaigning for the vote in Britain during the 19th century. In 1897, the various societies came together to form the NUWSS , often called the suffragists. The NUWSS was led by Millicent Fawcett.
• Very good at propaganda - they made newsletters and posters, organised petitions and wrote letters to MPs; they held large rallies e.g. Hyde Park demonstration(1908) and the Women's Pilgrimage(June 1913)
• Kept the issue of women's suffrage in the public eye at a time when PM Asquith and many other MPs did not want to even consider the issue

Suffragettes and their effectiveness

• name given to the WSPU
• founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia and Christabel
• more radical than NUWSS - frustrated by the lack of progress in the campaign to win women the right to vote
• direct action - intended to attract such publicity the government would end its opposition
• direct action began in 1908 with suffragettes breaking Downing Street windows and chaining themselves to railings
• WSPU called off violent protest in 1910 but began again in 1912 with a campaign of arson and vandalism after the Concilation Bill's failure
• 04/06/1913 - Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby and was severely injured, dying 4 days later
• Didn't achieve vote by 1914
• Divided the women's movement; from 1909 onwards, the suffragists distanced themselves from the suffragettes
• Suffragette violence turned some MPs and sections of public opinion against female suffrage
• Issue of female suffrage was never forgotten
• Effective campaigners, publishing poster and leaflets (their newspaper Votes for Women had a circulation of 40,000 by 1914)
• Many people admired their courage e.g. some were arrested and some went on hunger strike
• Police and government treated them very harshly
• Suffragettes were treated harshly in prison and went on hunger strike in protest but the government responded with force-feeding which was painful, degrading and potentially harmful - this gained them support and sympathy;Liberals then introduced the 'Cat and Mouse' Act(1913) - hunger strikers were released in order to recover then returned to finish their sentence