Women's Suffrage Dbq Essay

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Recommended: Struggles of the women's suffrage movement

By 1914, both the women’s suffrage groups had very little success in achieving the ultimate goal of women being able to vote in general elections. The two main suffrage groups, the suffragists and the suffragettes both struggled to change the minds of the british government to allow women to vote despite over forty years of campaigning. The suffragists’ peaceful protest campaign had failed to get the attention of the government and the British public but the suffragettes’ militant campaign gained publicity for issue but caused severe damage to the campaigned, branding women as reckless and irresponsible, marching the campaign backwards. Other weaknesses within the campaign such as the suffragists unwillingness to push the liberal government into giving women the vote and suffragettes refusal of help from trade unions such as the Labour movement also caused the campaign to progress extremely slowly. Politicians lack of sympathy towards the cause could of also explain the lack of progress but also the suffrage movement’s inability to demonstrate to politicians why women deserved the vote could attribute to the lack of success in achieving the aims of female enfranchisement.

The Women’s Social and Political Union was formed in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. The WSPU took a far more radical approach to gaining female enfranchisement. Their militant tactics such as shouting in parliament and smashing windows brought the issue right to the forefront of British Politics but their tactics also backfired on them as many MPs believed their behaviour to be impulsive and stupid, making them doubt that women had the mental capabilities to be able to make an informed decision when voting. The WSPU was also ...

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...e put down mainly to the Suffragettes’ militant behaviour which led politicians to believe that women were reckless and were ruled by their emotions, making them potentially politically unstable. The government also didn't want to seems as though they were giving into female terrorism, showing weakness within the government. The passive tactics of the Suffragists led the government to ignore them easily and meant they didn't capture the support of the British public specifically the working class who struggled to relate to them. The lack of education for women also added to the idea that women didn't have the capabilities to vote, leading politicians to believe men were intellectually superior. Anti-suffragist groups fuelled the government’s fears that women were not emotionally stable enough to be given the vote, leading to political instability in the government.

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