What were the goals of the British Women’s Suffrage Movement in the 1800’s?
They wanted votes for women, they also supported measures like the Married Women's Property Act(previously to the passing of this act, a married woman's property automatically became her husband's,unless there had been a marriage settlement., better education for women, more opportunites for educated women to enter the professions, better pay for women workers etc. The Married Women's property act had been passed in the 1880s, and there were more women getting a higher education by the early 1900s, women's colleges had been established at Oxfords and Cambridge, and London University had started to admit women students from the 1860s I think. There were more women becoming doctors etc in the early 1900s. I think there had been some improvement in wages for working women, but I think women in general were still paid less than men for doing the same jobs(women teachers for instance earned less than men), and many jobs that were done mainly or entirely by women (like making clothes for instance) were still very poorly paid. World War I helped to get women the vote, since the government were impressed by the way women took on men's jobs during the war, their competenece in filling roles that had previously been thought too dfficult for them favourably helped to encourage the government to give women over 30 the vote in 1918, and women over 21 in 1928.
Did the suffragettes help women's suffrage?
I think the key issue in this question is defining the difference between the suffragettes and other suffrage groups involved in the campaign. The suffragettes were largely middle and upper class and favoured direct, somewhat radical action, such as arson and violence, which, despite gaining media attention for the cause, went a way to reinforcing many mens belief that women were 'hysterical and over emotional'.Conversely, the suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett, were more inclusive as a group and campaigned constitutionally, meeting with MPs to persuade them, and generally making huge progress. Many bills seen in the House of Commons received a majority as a result of their work (yet were blocked by the PM, Asquith, who was anti-suffrage).The work of the suffragists before the war and women's work in war time went a huge way to persuading MPs to include women in the next enfranchisement bill, which was finally achieved by Millicent Fawcett who tipped the scales and got women included.So, to answer your question, while the suffragettes helped to get the cause media attention and went down in history as the group who got women the vote, there is a strong arguement to be made (and my personal belief) that they largely hindered the movement and that the suffragists were the real driving force behind it. The unsung heroes as it were.
Was the suffragette movement in the United States as militant as the one in the United Kingdom?
Interesting question! I haven’t studied this much, since my main interest was more in the women who struggled for worker’s and reproductive rights during that time, like Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger. Many of the earlier American suffragettes were linked to religious crusades or some sort of moral attitude, which I don’t see in the British movement.The latter began first and Emmaline Pankhurst was very influential on the changes in the movement in America. Two of the main differences between them were that white women in America tended to point to the fact that Black men had the vote and they often excluded Black women. In Britain, there was not a large Black population then, so this didn’t crop up, except for women of colour, mostly from India and other parts of Asia.The Suffragette movement in America was also slower, preferring to get the vote state-by-state (a long procedure), while British Suffragettes wanted a Parliament-wide resolution. Also, Britain’s activists focused more on class distinctions and the first rights to vote went only to women over 30 who owned property. This distinction of property had dogged British politics for hundreds of years, for men as well.However, the two movements did form a coalition whose influence spread to other countries.Here is an excellent article about this:How British Suffragettes Radicalized American Women
Why did the women’s suffrage movement in Great Britain became more militant?
Some of the suffragettes became frustrated by how long it was taking to get the vote, and believed that more aggressive tactics would help. The majority of suffragettes did not support the militant wing. The militant wing of the suffragettes were known as the Women's social and Political Union. Opinion on how effective they were was divided. While many argued that WSPU tactics ultimately delayed victory by making a poltical issue into a spectacle and by turning public opinion against suffrage women, members claimed that they resuscitated a dying movement and single-handedly won the vote.
Why didn't the suffrage movement begin sooner??
Because it would have been too soon. The suffrage movement came about during a time when people were just beginning to understand the notion that ALL people were deserving of freedom, human rights, and equal rights. In America, the abolitionist movement was putting forth the idea that slavery was evil, that the people enslaved deserved all of the rights and freedoms that white men had, and this included the right to vote. Many women were a part of the Abolitionist Movement, but as they were speaking out about the slaves' right to freedom and equal representation, it dawned on them that THEY did not have some of the rights they were advocating for black men. So they began to advocate for themselves. In Britain, the fight was for the right to vote for men who didn't own land. Women marched and fought right along with their husbands and fathers, but were not included. So women's suffrage in Britain was born. In both cases, it was an idea whose time had come. The Enlightenment had put forth the idea of the innate dignity and rights of "man," and this was an idea that, in spirit, encompassed every human being.
What did the suffragettes do?
Suffragette is a term used for women in in the Suffragette movement in the late 19th century until the early 20th century.Goal and methods of the SuffragettesTheir main goal was to get the right for women to vote in general elections. The suffragettes’ often radical methods included hunger strikes, which largely stopped after the First World War started. Some historians therefore argue that the suffragettes radical approach might have been an impediment to their success.Right to vote for womenIn 1918, women over 30 who had to fulfill other limitations were granted the right to vote. But it was not until 1928 that women over 21 achieved the right to vote under equal conditions as men.
1) What is women suffrage?
Is this your homework? I'm not doing your homework for you. And hopefully no one else will either. You have to learn to do things for yourself.
Did the Suffragettes only advocate for wealthy women to get the right to vote?
No. They advocated for women to get the right to vote on exactly the same basis that men had it.In Britain before 1918, there was still a property qualification even for men in order to get the vote: you had to be a householder, either owning or renting property worth a certain minimal value. The vote wasn't restricted only to 'the wealthy': the property qualification was low enough that many working-class men could vote. The main groups excluded were non-householders: adult sons still living with their parents, soldiers living in barracks, servants living with their employers, and so on. In total about 60% of British men could vote before 1918.As such, demanding 'votes for women' in itself would mean "votes for the 60% or so of women who met the property qualification". (For married couples the woman would be treated as meeting the qualification if her husband did, since marital property would almost certainly all be in the husband's name).Some suffragettes wanted to go further, and give the vote to the other 40% of men who didn't already qualify for it, as well as to 100% of women. They tended to be on the radical left wing of the movement. Other suffragettes opposed them, either because they were right-wing and thus happy with the status quo, or because they felt it was bad strategy to take on two battles at once.
Women's suffrage in the UK?
I have an assignment where I have to write the perspectives of some women envolved with the women's suffrage movement which was initiated around the 1860s. I am focussing on the event of Emily Davidson's funeral, she was the first 'martyr' of the movement and threw herself under a horse dying 4 days later in the name of 'deeds not words'. What do you think the WSPU would have had to say about her death? What about the NUWSS? Please help me out, thank you for your time! :)