Women's Suffrage Dbq Analysis
PART B: DO YOU AGREE WITH THE VIEW THAT, AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, WINNING THE VOTE FOR WOMEN SEEMED TO BE 'FURTHER AWAY THAN EVER '?
By the end of the nineteenth century, there was reason to suggest both why the vote for women had been brought closer and also been pushed further away. This was due to a number of aspects which arose during the period which seemed to show to people that the vote was further away than ever however; it did seem that the vote was nearing closer by the end of the era.
First of all, source 18 is showing that people were giving up on the vote and the suffrage campaign because it seemed as if nothing was going to happen and that the 'dead period of the movement begun '. For a long period of time, no bills or laws had been passed on the issue of women 's suffrage and even when elected MP John Stuart Mill proposed to change the word 'man ' to 'person ' in 1867 it was rejected by parliament. This seemed to give little hope for the future of the campaign and did agree that the vote for women seemed further away than ever. …show more content…
Likewise, in source 17 it is showing that women had more involvement in local politics, but this does not necessarily mean that they are nearing the vote for women and simply is just stating that local politics is the women 's sphere of politics.
The Source shows that towards the end of the 19th century there is an increase in both school boards and poor law boards which involve women in their political sphere. This was seen as just an extension onto their Angel in the House role and to give them the national vote would be pointless because women were needed within local politics and also it would give husbands two votes. Therefore it did seem possible that the national vote was further away than ever because women already had their place in
politics.
However, on the other hand source 16 suggests that there were signs of progress towards the women 's vote and this came from the involvement that they already had in politics. The source says that it was in the '1890 's that women first took an important role in party political activity '. We know that the Conservative supporting Primrose league was set up just before this decade in 1883 than enables women to get involved in politics and to gain a deeper understanding of it. They gained this understanding by being involved in both social and political sides of the organisation. This showed that women could handle politics and that it wasn 't overpowering them. Therefore, through gaining this valuable experience it seemed as if the vote for women was coming closer rather than getting further away.
Also, Source 16 shows that people were in fact not bored of the suffrage campaign and actually were interested by it. If they were bored then the suffrage campaign would not have 'filled the largest halls '. Some of the larger suffrage efforts such as large speeches were made by organisations such as the NUWSS who were very popular and did seem to keep the campaign alive, despite their militant tactics. Therefore it shows that the vote was nearing closer because there was increased publicity about it and even the bad press about militancy was still valuable publicity for the campaign.
Finally, Source 17 is showing that the national vote for women was not far, only a step further to go. This is because they were already increasing numbers within the local politics and so it was more and more proof that women were capable of managing their own vote. Source 17 shows this when in 1885 there were 37 poor law boards but by 1900 there was 1147 which obviously shows that the women were successful. Therefore women were moving closer towards the vote and just had one more step to go after cracking local politics.
So, in conclusion, women were not 'further away than ever ' to the vote and if anything were moving closer towards it with each step they took within local politics because their understanding and involvement was growing so there was evidence that women should get the vote. It was just a case of the bill being passed.
Bibliography
www.schoolhistory.co.uk
www.havering-sfc.ac.uk
edexcel, the changing role of women
access, the changing role of women
By the end of the nineteenth century, there was reason to suggest both why the vote for women had been brought closer and also been pushed further away. This was due to a number of aspects which arose during the period which seemed to show to people that the vote was further away than ever however; it did seem that the vote was nearing closer by the end of the era.
First of all, source 18 is showing that people were giving up on the vote and the suffrage campaign because it seemed as if nothing was going to happen and that the 'dead period of the movement begun '. For a long period of time, no bills or laws had been passed on the issue of women 's suffrage and even when elected MP John Stuart Mill proposed to change the word 'man ' to 'person ' in 1867 it was rejected by parliament. This seemed to give little hope for the future of the campaign and did agree that the vote for women seemed further away than ever. …show more content…
Likewise, in source 17 it is showing that women had more involvement in local politics, but this does not necessarily mean that they are nearing the vote for women and simply is just stating that local politics is the women 's sphere of politics.
The Source shows that towards the end of the 19th century there is an increase in both school boards and poor law boards which involve women in their political sphere. This was seen as just an extension onto their Angel in the House role and to give them the national vote would be pointless because women were needed within local politics and also it would give husbands two votes. Therefore it did seem possible that the national vote was further away than ever because women already had their place in
politics.
However, on the other hand source 16 suggests that there were signs of progress towards the women 's vote and this came from the involvement that they already had in politics. The source says that it was in the '1890 's that women first took an important role in party political activity '. We know that the Conservative supporting Primrose league was set up just before this decade in 1883 than enables women to get involved in politics and to gain a deeper understanding of it. They gained this understanding by being involved in both social and political sides of the organisation. This showed that women could handle politics and that it wasn 't overpowering them. Therefore, through gaining this valuable experience it seemed as if the vote for women was coming closer rather than getting further away.
Also, Source 16 shows that people were in fact not bored of the suffrage campaign and actually were interested by it. If they were bored then the suffrage campaign would not have 'filled the largest halls '. Some of the larger suffrage efforts such as large speeches were made by organisations such as the NUWSS who were very popular and did seem to keep the campaign alive, despite their militant tactics. Therefore it shows that the vote was nearing closer because there was increased publicity about it and even the bad press about militancy was still valuable publicity for the campaign.
Finally, Source 17 is showing that the national vote for women was not far, only a step further to go. This is because they were already increasing numbers within the local politics and so it was more and more proof that women were capable of managing their own vote. Source 17 shows this when in 1885 there were 37 poor law boards but by 1900 there was 1147 which obviously shows that the women were successful. Therefore women were moving closer towards the vote and just had one more step to go after cracking local politics.
So, in conclusion, women were not 'further away than ever ' to the vote and if anything were moving closer towards it with each step they took within local politics because their understanding and involvement was growing so there was evidence that women should get the vote. It was just a case of the bill being passed.
Bibliography
www.schoolhistory.co.uk
www.havering-sfc.ac.uk
edexcel, the changing role of women
access, the changing role of women