Preview

Bussiness Not Pleasure

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
628 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bussiness Not Pleasure
In 1918 women over 30 got the vote. There were a number of reasons why this happened and people disagree about what the most important reason was.
The first reason is the war effort the suffragettes put into the war. On 14th August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. After that the NUWSS (national union of suffrage societies) decided that all political activity would be suspended until the war was over. Some leaders of the women’s social and political union such as Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter, Christabel Pankhurst, played a big role on recruiting young men into the army. When men left their jobs to go to fight overseas, they were replaced by women, women such as Octavia Wilberforce and Louisa Martindale from Brighton worked as doctors treating injured British soldiers. Many jobs that men did were overtaken by women jobs like tram driver, doctor, factory worker, navy and so on. This gives the government a good reason to give the women the right to vote. The historian Alasdair Gray has the view that the War was the most important influence in women gaining the vote, “No one will ever know if the suffragettes or suffragists had the better tactics for winning the vote. For by August 1914 Britain was at war . . . . Millions women became a key part of the war effort making shells, bombs, guns and uniforms. In January 1918, women were rewarded when the wartime government passed the Representation of the people Act giving a vote to all women over 30 years of age.”
Some people might disagree with this because they think it’s too immature and simplistic, ignoring the 1914 changes of attitude towards the women firstly after the war who had done men’s jobs were then dismissed from their jobs, it seemed as if the women’s place in the house was still as strong as ever.
Secondly women who worked a lot of hours in the munitions factories were mostly in their late teens and early 20s. The respectable women in their 30s that were given the vote either owned a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Pankhurst and the War(2003, p. 109). Atkinson asserts in lines ( 9-10), "The fact that women had played an important role in the war effort, made it easier for politicians to support a bill". Here we see that Diane Atkinson's stance gives credit to politicians' sympathy in acknowledging women's participation in World War One. It is therefore safe to say, that Diane Atkinson is of the view that women's participation in the war, is the main factor to finally tip the scale in the women's direction, gaining favour in the eyes of politicians hence, influencing government in 1918, to grant women over thirty the vote. Not to mention Diane Atkinson , in the early years of suffrage, was against women having the…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pt1420 Quiz 6

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I believe that some people did not want women to vote partly because of the fear of the unknown, but also because they believed that women to be made to stick to household duties, getting married, and having kids. They were expected to take care of the kids as well as the father went out for work.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before WW1 women had very little policital power and were considered inferior to men. Men didn't see the need for women to have a voice, and that their opinion was not needed. However, when the war began men were sent to war, leaving job spaces to be filled. This was when the women were called upon to fill these spaces. This was an oppurtunity for women to prove their rights for politicial power. Source A1 supports this because it states 'by the end of the war in November 1918, women proved that they were just as important to th war effort as men'. This shows that women were successful in doing so and had been given more political power. This source was taken from a website focused at GCSE students which means alot of research must have been put into the text, making it reliable.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry.” -Susan B. Anthony (Brainyquote.com) American women deserved the vote earlier than August 18th, 1920 for three reasons: they had worked and fought for it for a long time; other countries had already given women the right to vote; and women should have equal rights per the Bible and American Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Powerful suffragettes like Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony had been working hard for the vote for a long time before they received it. Intriguingly, eleven countries had already given women the vote before America.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women get the vote 1916-1919 Women's suffrage groups had existed since the 1870s, but during the war it was hard to ignore their arguments. Women were serving in the war, taking over from the men in factories and offices, holding families together while the men were overseas, and working in voluntary organizations that supported the war effort. They couldn't be kept out of political life any longer. Women got the federal vote in three stages: the Military Voters Act of 1917 allowed nurses and women in the armed services to vote; the Wartime Election Act extended the vote to women who had husbands, sons or fathers serving overseas; and all women over 21 were allowed to vote as of January 1, 1919.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ww1 Unit 1 Research Paper

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There were many people who argued that because women had worked so relentlessly during the war, it would be impossible to deny them the vote, especially due to the fact that working class men got the vote that were on the frontlines. Source 5, a letter from Lord Selborne to Lord Salisbury argues this point, and claims that it would not only be unjust to the women; it would also be “dangerous to State”, as it would be a gross corruption of morality and standards, because of the “the steadying influence…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As argued by Martin Pugh pre-war campaigns played a significant role in gaining women the vote in 1918. Therefore it is important to consider the (NUWSS) suffragist campaign formed in 1897 by various women’s suffrage societies under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett. These members believed that they could achieve success peacefully within the law and they believed that securing the vote was the main objective to securing reforms benefiting women’s interests overall. The suffragists had gained an overwhelming amount of support and during the 1910 general election the NUWSS organised petitions and presented around 300,000 signatures to the House of Commons. These signatures included male signatures providing evidence of the overwhelming amount of support…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The passing of the nineteenth amendment and the suffrage movement was not only an empowering moment for women in history, but it was also a way for them to break through social norms. Before the passing of this amendment and the uprising of the suffrage movement. From the year 1840 to 1920, women spent around 80 years fighting for their right to vote. Before the Second World War, women were not in male-dominated work fields and this only changed during the Second World War when the US saw a recession in the amount of male troops and medical staff. After this, more women were able to apply for jobs such as aviators and medical staff and many more occupations.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Suffragettes Dbq

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The First World War could have been seen as the most important factor in achieving female enfranchisement in 1918 due to it acting as a catalyst which sped up the changing attitudes towards women. As it gave women the opportunity to prove that they really were as worthy of having the vote as men. Foremost amongst these was the fall of Asquith as PM. However, the issue would certainly not have been in the forefront of the Government’s mind without the publicity-seeking campaigning of the Suffragettes, immediately prior to the War. It is difficult, however, to consider this to have been the most important factor, due to the very negative image of Suffragettes that prevailed, and the fact that many WSPU members had defected to the NUWSS. The work of the Suffragists together with the changing laws, led to the increasing politicisation of women. So therefore it can be concluded that the militant suffragette campaign cannot be seen as the most significant factor in helping women gain the…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Of course from the start of America there were women that wanted the right to vote. America in its youth was quite sexist, and believed that woman were at their best when they were serving their husbands and their families. Of course throughout history women had done brilliant things, but they had never had an opportunity to stop men from putting them down. Now in America equality was promised and women began to realize that they had a platform in the Declaration of Independence that supported them. The start of the movement is credited to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who in 1848, presented at a convention in Seneca Falls. The main point that came out of the convention was that American woman were intelligent individuals who deserved the right to vote. As the movement progressed, more and more women got on board, and the main document that they could use as leverage to vote was the Declaration of Independence. The declaration promised equality for all, yet women did not receive this equality. The movement and its major actors argued that women share the same humanity as men, thus they should receive the same unalienable rights. These unalienable rights say that no one person should rule over another, yet in this case, men were ruling over women. With the ability to vote, men held the power to influence the direction and goals of the nation, and who its leaders would be, while women had to accept whatever choices the men made. Ultimately, the 19th amendment was formed which gave all persons in America, no matter gender, the right to…

    • 2475 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women were beginning to want their own identity and the rights that the men had. There were women who fought for it and men who stood by their side and then there were those who were scared of the possible outcomes that right to vote would bring. Which brought groups that were against women’s rights. Many women-suffrage advocates had to over obstacles and some weren’t correct in the way they recruited for their movement. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony decided to not support the Fifteenth Amendment (guarantees African Males the…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Essay On The 19th Amendment

    • 2539 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Can you believe at one time women were not allowed to vote? It wasn't until the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920 that women obtained this right. Throughout the history of America's government, the legislature has passed many different Amendments. One important amendment to women was the nineteenth. This Amendment deals with the issues of Women's suffrage. There was much controversy of whether or not woman should have the right to vote. Many different key women such as Elizabeth Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony devoted most of their lives to help obtain the passage of women's suffrage in America.…

    • 2539 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women were discouraged from working , while men would leave the home to work and provide for the family. This didn’t change until the year 1940 when the United States actually was at war and women were recruited. During this year women were portrayed differently. In 1930s during the depression, women were portrayed in the home, but in the years of war, women were pictured as heroines since they were in the assembly lines working. During this time, waves of women stepped up to work as men went overseas to…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the suffragettes

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    2) There efforts incouraged many men to think differently about the right woman should enjoy after the war. Mr osqtih the priminster had been and ‘enemy ‘ of the suffragettes before the war he said woman helped in the most effected way when the war is over there special claim should be heard and not be denied.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women’s suffrage in the US was a very long hard fight with lots of conflicts within the suffragists. American women overcame conflicts within their own organizations, social stereotypes, and racial divisions before earning the right to vote. Conflicts within the American Equal Rights Association led to the division of the original group into two separate ones; the NWSA and the AWSA. Another issue was that women were stereotyped in the US as housewives and mothers, not anyone who should have the right to vote. Another big issue was whether or not they should campaign for african american women's rights to vote also or just focus on getting white women rights.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics