Why Did Women Get the Vote in 1918?
Why Did Women Get The Vote in 1918
Women first petitioned Parliament for equality in 1649- but were told that it was unnecessary as their husbands represented them in political affairs. 250 years later many people in Britain (women as well as men) still agreed with the Parliamentary response to the petitioners for women’s rights in 1649. However, the women’s suffrage moment in Britain took hold of the country in the 1860’s. Women (over the age of 30) finally won the vote in 1918- although historians are still debating over what was the main cause of women gaining the vote: the militant suffragettes, the more peaceful suffragists or World War One.
Many women who wanted the right to vote had put their faith in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and local trade unions. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst (mother and daughter) were key parts of the suffrage movement. In 1903, the Pankhurst family founded the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). Emmeline wanted the ILP to simply state that women had equal political status as men- to achieve this they began to pressurise the ILP. The WSPU did not start out as a militant movement. In later years, former members of the WSPU claimed that the movement had been pushed into its militant stance by the intransigent behaviour of the government of the day. Their aim for gender equality was not coming quick enough, so they turned to forcefulness. They initially began with campaigning and mocking ministers, and by 1906 had been given the name ‘suffragettes’ from the media. 300,000 women attended a demonstration organized by the suffragettes to convince the new Prime Minister, Asquith, that women did want and intended to get the vote. Even after the demonstration, Asquith-head of the Liberal Party in which women had so much hope in-was not convinced. 1
This kick-started a new level of militancy for the suffragettes, including things such as window smashing, hunger striking and offending the law to get themselves
Women first petitioned Parliament for equality in 1649- but were told that it was unnecessary as their husbands represented them in political affairs. 250 years later many people in Britain (women as well as men) still agreed with the Parliamentary response to the petitioners for women’s rights in 1649. However, the women’s suffrage moment in Britain took hold of the country in the 1860’s. Women (over the age of 30) finally won the vote in 1918- although historians are still debating over what was the main cause of women gaining the vote: the militant suffragettes, the more peaceful suffragists or World War One.
Many women who wanted the right to vote had put their faith in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and local trade unions. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst (mother and daughter) were key parts of the suffrage movement. In 1903, the Pankhurst family founded the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). Emmeline wanted the ILP to simply state that women had equal political status as men- to achieve this they began to pressurise the ILP. The WSPU did not start out as a militant movement. In later years, former members of the WSPU claimed that the movement had been pushed into its militant stance by the intransigent behaviour of the government of the day. Their aim for gender equality was not coming quick enough, so they turned to forcefulness. They initially began with campaigning and mocking ministers, and by 1906 had been given the name ‘suffragettes’ from the media. 300,000 women attended a demonstration organized by the suffragettes to convince the new Prime Minister, Asquith, that women did want and intended to get the vote. Even after the demonstration, Asquith-head of the Liberal Party in which women had so much hope in-was not convinced. 1
This kick-started a new level of militancy for the suffragettes, including things such as window smashing, hunger striking and offending the law to get themselves
Bibliography: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/womens_social_political_union.htm accessed 25.5.13 http://www.thesuffragettes.org/history/anti-suffrage/ accessed 23.5.13 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/britain/votesforwomenrev_print.shtml accessed 23.5.13 http://www.slideshare.net/grundygirl/the-suffragists accessed 23.5.13 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world_war_one_and_women.htm accessed 23.5.13