THE SUFFRAGETTES

THE SUFFRAGETTES:

The women who risked all to get the vote

Index

Who were the Suffragettes?

History

Deeds Not Words

Suffragette tactics

How did they secure the right to vote?

Men and women in the fight

From Past to Present

History

Women had been campaigning to get the vote for decades but it was not until the Suffragettes were formed that they managed to achieve their goal on 6 February 1918. More than 100 years ago, the Suffragettes in the UK succeeded in bringing the vote to a portion of the country’s women: those over the age of 30. It wouldn’t be until 1928, and the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act, that women were given the same voting rights as men.

History

Although suffragist groups existed from the mid nineteenth century, their peaceful approach to requesting enfranchisement using education and debate ultimately failed to change minds. The result was the founding and rapid growth of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) by Emmeline Pankhurst, with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.

Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters.

History

• There could be no doubt that the vote and the move to equality was paramount to the women of the suffrage movement. Some gave their lives for the cause – the most famous, though not the first, being Emily Wilding Davison in 1913, who threw herself in front of the King’s horse at Epsom Derby – while other endured months and years of being on the run.

“Men make the moral code and they expect women to accept it. They have decided that it is entirely right and proper for men to fight for their liberties and their rights, but that it is not right and proper for women to fight for theirs.”

Emmeline Pankhurst addressing a crowd in Trafalgar Square in 1908.

Police trying to remove a Suffragette who chained herself to the railings of Buckingham Palace.

"Deeds Not Words"

With their now-famous motto ‘Deeds Not Words’, this group was much more militant than its predecessors. Members protested, blew up pillar boxes, smashed up shop fronts, and older members even went so far as to buy gun licences to scare the authorities into thinking revolution was imminent. Famously, Suffragettes were imprisoned and treated terribly by their captors, being force-fed sometimes hundreds of times against their will, with lasting physical and mental consequences.

The Suffragettes motto "deeds not words" gave a clear signal times were changing and they were not going to be like the groups who had peacefully been campaigning for women's suffrage for decades.

Who were the key women?

Christabel Pankhurst Queen of the Mob

Sylvia Pankhurst Imprisoned and force-fed

Emily Wilding Davison Killed by King George V's horse

Emmeline Pankhurst Leader, jailed 11 times

Leonora Cohen Personal bodyguard

Aged 45 she founded the WSPU, which became the Suffragettes, and was defiantly independent from political parties.

The middle Pankhurst sister, Sylvia was also part of the WSPU, however she was more of a Labour supporter and disagreed with her mother politics and with the violence.

Emmeline's eldest daughter and a lawyer, Christabel was an executive member of the WSPU. and called "The Queen of the Mob".

Emmeline's personal bodyguard, she was arrested and force-fed multiple times which only increased her passion to fight.

Highly educated, Emily Davison joined the WSPU in 1906 and became an officer and chief steward during marches.

Suffragette tactics: Blowing up post boxes and smashing windows

Members of the Pankhurst-led group were well-known for smashing windows, cutting electricity wires chaining themselves to railings and blowing up post boxes.

They frequently assaulted police officers and staged hunger strikes when they were imprisoned to protest against the conditions, for which they were force-fed. One of their most daring acts was bombing a Surrey house being built for finance minister and future prime minister David Lloyd George in 1913.

How did they secure the right to vote?

Following years of campaigning, on 6 February 1918, 8.4 million women over the age of 30 were finally given the vote under the Representation of the People Act 1918. They had to either be a member or married to a member of the Local Government Register, a property owner or a graduate voting in a university constituency. The act was a massive step in the struggle which started 86 years before when Mary Smith presented the first Woman's Suffrage bill to the House of Commons in 1832. It took another 10 years for women to gain the same voting rights as men but the 1918 act put Britain ahead of countries such as France and gave other nations a push to do the same.

Did men help women in their fight?

Many MPs initially opposed votes for women but there were some male supporters who were ultimately key to getting the act passed. Most intellectual men were ardent supporters of votes for women. The Men's League for Women's Suffrage was formed in 1907 in London. John Stuart Mill, the Liberal MP and philosopher, and Henry Fawcett, Millicent Fawcett's husband, presented the second women's suffrage bill to parliament in 1866. They failed but the move prompted the founding of suffrage societies in Edinburgh, Manchester and London. Keir Hardie MP spoke regularly in the Commons on the subject, questioning ministers on the treatment of suffragette prisoners and attended WSPU events.

From Past to Present

Ultimately, the Suffragettes achieved their goal of enfranchisement for women and the movement has rightfully gone down in history as one of the strongest and most successful women’s rights groups. Today, the battle for women’s enfranchisement has been all but won, but equality still hovers just out of reach. With such high-profile campaigns as #HeForShe and the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, perhaps the methods have changed but the goal of equality remains strong.

"I would rather be a rebel than a slave"

THANKSFOR WATCHING

Realised by:

Anastasio Francesca