First World War and British Women's Right to Vote
The war was responsible for sending many men away from home, leaving
their jobs, families etc. As men were conscripted to fight, the
opportunity for women to fill men's work placements opened. When the
war started Suffragettes stopped campaigning so that concentration
could be paid to the war effort.
Source A written before the war by Emmeline Pankhurst who had huge
following is saying that if women get the right to vote, it would
allow women's point of view to be put forward. This is was what
suffragists wanted, their views to be listened to and to have a little
say on the running of the country and felt that the vote had such
importance it could give this. Male politicians felt that the women's
view was better off at home looking after the family.
Source B is an argument put forward by women saying that they could
have high class and important jobs with many responsibilities while
still not having the right to vote. The argument is saying that bad
men such as convicts, slave owners, drunkards or handicapped men were
still allowed to vote. This argument can be understood as women being
less respected than these type of men. I think that this was a good
argument for suffrage as politicians were making laws against men like
this and thought they were scum of society. Cartoons were a favourable
way for suffragists to campaign.
Source C is argument against votes for women. It was made in a speech
by Lord Curzon, a conservative leader. He argues that because few men
currently voted, a law to allow women's suffrage would mean most
voters would be women. Another argument put across in the speech is
that if there was a war, men have to fight but women don't, which is
not equal. As this was written before the war I think Curzon's
attitude to women helping with the war would have changed as women did
make notable contributions to the war effort.
Source D is the cover of war worker magazine printed in 1917.
Women were trying to get the vote for many years before 1900, however this was not a serious concern and they were not doing much to achieve this. However in 1900 this all changed. The NUWSS (Suffragists) and the WSPU (Suffragettes) were set up in the early years of 1900; their goal was to allow women to get the vote. Their reason was that women were already allowed to work on city councils and become doctors, some notable ones too such as Florence Nightingale. The NUWSS believed that if women were house owners and had respectable jobs they should be allowed to vote. This is because men who were allowed to vote could be white slave owners and lunatics so why could these men vote and women could not? Notably however Queen Elizabeth herself proclaimed that women should not get muddled up with the world of politics.
Women's Suffrage in the right of women to share political privileges on equal terms with men, the right to vote in elections and referendums, and the right to hold public office. The women's suffrage was a worldwide issue that had begun a long time before the 19th century. The issues involving women's right to vote was aroused in 1839 when the American Missionary Association began to work to develop education opportunities for blacks and other minorities in the U.S. which begun with the defending of the slaves of the Amistad. (Banner, Lois W. 1,NP)
been able to vote at the legal age men were. At least they had drawn
to vote the same way as their husbands did, or used to if they had
The War in Europe came to an end on the 8th of May 1945, after a
Why Women Did Not Gain the Vote in 1914 In 1914 women could work as highly respected members of society. They could be teachers, moulding the minds of future generations, doctors or nurses caring for the sick and injured and of course mothers possibly the most important role in society. Yet, they had no say in how the world around them was run. This essay will explain why women were blocked from the right to vote, why their say was disregarded, and why they were seen as inferior, in early 20th centaury society. Firstly, this male dominated society viewed women as weak, overly emotional and under educated.
During the late 19th century, women were in a society where man was dominant. Women did not have natural born rights, such as the right to vote, to speak in public, access to equal education, and so forth, did not stop them to fight for their rights. Women's lives soon changed when Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony played a prominent role to help bring about change.
vote or have any say in the way their country was run, or whom it was
"Leeds Express: 4 March 1868 I wonder, Mr Editor, Why I can't have the vote; And I will not be contented Till I've found the reason out I am a working woman, My voting half is dead, I hold a house, and want to know Why I can't vote instead I pay my rates in person, Under protest tho, it's true; But I pay them, and I'm qualified To vote as well as you. " Sarah Ann Jackson The purpose of this investigation is to analyse the issues surrounding the eventual enfranchisement of women in 1918, to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the militant Suffragette campaign in the early years of the twentieth century and to decide whether the outbreak of war was instrumental in achieving enfranchisement, or merely a fortunate coincidence. The poem written by Sarah Ann Jackson underlines the fact that many middle class women had, throughout the reign of Queen Victoria, taken issue with men's dominance over their lives and had worked hard throughout these years to draw attention to women's right to equality. For these women, enfranchisement was not their sole aim.
During the reconstruction of the South many people had opposing views on black rights. The south predominantly thought blacks were inferior, but the North was more accepting of black rights. After years of fighting between confederates and abolitionists black rights were finally put into place. Black rights caused disunity between the people just as Women's Suffrage in the 20’s did. Just as black rights were sanctioned with time, Women's suffrage should also have been acknowledged. Throughout the 20’s many woman tried to obtain popularity in women's suffrage by holding meetings. The Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Staton, was a convention held by women's rights activists. These meetings addressed many issues that affected women's rights. These meeting were held to start giving notoriety to the issues pertaining to woman. Women's rights in the 20th century was an extremely controversial topic. Although women had been seen as inferior for many years, looking at the documents it’s unequivocal that woman should have been given the same domestic, political and social rights as men.
Plan of Investigation This investigation will evaluate the question, to what extent did the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force assist the Allies’ war efforts during the Second World War? This question is important because in World War 1 British women were active in the war effort but to a limited extent, acting as nurses on the battle field and working in munitions factories, but resumed their traditional roles in society after the war. In World War 2 women were more active in the military through auxiliary groups, such as Women’s Auxiliary Force (WAAF) and it is important to understand how much of an impact their work made on the Allies war effort.
WWI and Women's Right to Vote in 1918 The Campaign for women’s right to vote started in the 1860’s with mainly middle class women and some men. At first the campaigning was peaceful and respectable and the lobbying was conducted discretely, without causing hindrance to anyone. It commenced in large cities such as London and Manchester however soon more people joined and the campaign spread across England. The women were known as suffragists (NUWSS) and were an amalgamation of many suffragists’ societies but after four decades of campaigning some women felt they had made no progress and decided to take violent action. These were known as suffragettes (WSPU) and started in 1903.
Women's Right to Vote due to Their Contribution to the War Effort In 1918 a major milestone was reached in the fight for women's equality rights, this was women being granted suffrage by the government. During the physical endurance of the four years of the war, women proving themselves equal to men, they were rewarded the vote. The Electoral Reform bill was passed which granted voting rights to all female property owners over 30. Some historians say women were never given the vote; it was hard fought for and won.
Women's Suffrage and World War I In my opinion British women would not have gained the right to vote in 1918 without the First World War. In my research to substantiate my view, I obtained my information from my history book and the Internet I will state the source of my information and explain how the information links to the causes and effects that enabled women to get the vote. During the war, women were given responsibility and knowledge to carry out skilled work.
During the beginning of the 20th century, the increase activity of the National Union Of Women attractive additional support of the suffrage movement. “However, it was possible to criticize the policy and tactics of the constitutional suffragist on several grounds. It was argued that the suffragists should have revolted in 1884, when the amendment to the reform bill of that year failed through the opposition of the liberal leadership, but the suffragists were too well mannered to do more protesting and concentrate all of their efforts on one private members bill.” The women suffrage’s organization could not force the political parties to adopt the cause of women’s suffrage and need a major party to pick up their campaign or there was no hope of a government bill. Women’s suffrages leaders saw that they need more of a drastic tactics to gain public awareness. Women started protesting by undergoing violence methods and tactics however, the National Union Of Women believed that any aggression or violence acts of protesting would only weaken the movement. These actions would persuade male’s voters that women are too emotional and thus could not be trusted with the responsible of voting. These gentle ways of protesting was unconvincing, as many political believed would give up or lose interests. The lack of actions cause many women to take strongest methods of protesting their rights and formed a more violent group called Suffragettes.