The document discusses the complexities of the women's suffrage movement, highlighting the initial peaceful campaigning by suffragists led by Millicent Fawcett and the later, more militant actions taken by suffragettes under Emmeline Pankhurst. It contrasts the moderate strategies with the aggressive tactics that garnered public attention but sparked debate over their effectiveness in achieving women's voting rights. The text ultimately suggests that while the suffragette movement drew significant media coverage, it was the suffragists who played a crucial role in lobbying for effective change.

1. Women do not have the experience to be able to vote. But there are other problems as well: the way women
have been educated, their lack of strength, and the duties they have. If women did gain the vote, it would
mean that most voters would then be women. What would be the effect of this on the government? I agree
that there are some issues upon which the votes of women might be helpful. But these cases do not cover the
whole of political life. What is the good of talking about the equality of the sexes? The first whiz of the bullet,
the first boom of the cannon and where is the equality of the sexes then?
From a speech made in 1912 by Lord Curzon, a Conservative leader
How did the campaign for Women’s Suffrage turn violent?
Story Source
Create a title
for each
paragraph.
The article below examines the start of the
Suffrage campaign, and how it turned violent.
Summarise
each paragraph in 1
or 2 bullet points.
By 1897, many women no longer accepted the way
they were treated and a group formed that campaigned
for women to be allowed the right to vote. They thought
that if women could vote, they might be able to elect
politicians who promised to improve their lives. Millicent
Fawcett, the wife of an MP, brought all the groups
campaigning together to form the NUWSS (National
Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies). This group was
known as the Suffragists. They were a collection of
middle class women who believed in peaceful methods
like marches, petitioning MPs, writing article. They felt
that to persuade men to give women the vote, women
would have to show that they were kind and gentle. This
was what men expected women to be.
The Liberal Government didn’t have one clear opinion
on women’s suffrage; some MPs supported, others did
not. Several times the government seemed about to
reform that would allow women the vote, then changed
their minds. This frustrated the women in the Suffrage
movement.
Some Suffragists became frustrated with how long it
was taking for change to occur. In 1903, a member of the
Manchester branch of the NUWSS - Emmeline Pankhurst
- decided it was time to take more direct action. Mrs
Pankhurst and her two daughters, Christabel and Sylvia,
formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in
Manchester. They believed in “deeds not words” and
were not scared to live up to their motto.
The Pankhurst’s decided that the best way to highlight
their cause was to commit spectacular stunts that would
guarantee an appearance in the newspapers. They
disrupted political meetings, chained themselves to
railings in Downing Street, pelted politicians with eggs
and flour, and smashed Parliament’s windows with
stones. They also set fire to churches and railway stations
and some poured acid on golf courses. Women were sent
to prison and soon refused all food in prison (hunger
strike). At first the government released all hunger
strikers, but soon decided to force feed them instead. All
this guaranteed that the suffragettes were front page
news
Task 1
Read through the Story of the events the Suffrage movement.
For each paragraph, you need to create a ‘title’ on one side,
and a short summary (two bullet points maximum) on the
other.
Task 2
Look at source A, B, and C. In your book, write a short
description of the message of each source. Then answer the
question “What do these sources tell you about the Suffrage
Movement?”
Task 3
Read through Marlow and Boyd’s scholarship about the effects of Suffragists and
Suffragette. Highlight what you think are the three most important sentences. In
your book, answer the question “Who do historians think did more for the cause of
women’s rights?”
Photograph of Millicent Fawcett, leading a
meeting of the “law-abiding Suffragists”
To this day, many people equate the British women’s suffrage struggle and the final victory with the famous
Pankhurst family and their militant supporters in the WSPU. In its early years the WSPU was a bold,
innovative, imaginative organisation, among the first to appreciate the value of publicity. Not without
justification, its members regarded themselves as the elite soldiers of the ‘Votes for Women’
campaign. But for every suffragette there were always dozens of non-militant suffragists. Some would
argue – including me – that it was the moderates of the NUWSS, led by Millicent Fawcett, who actually won
the vote. In 1912, while the militants embarked on arson and bombing, the NUWSS made a successful
working alliance with the growing Labour Party. It was this group which successfully lobbied for the 1918
Franchise Act.
Joyce Marlow, Votes for Women (2000)
The Suffragette movement developed into a tremendous force. Its increase of numbers made
it no longer possible for its enemies to dismiss it as the cranky notion of a few women.
[…] Time and again these brave women were sent to prison where they were treated with less
consideration than the commonest and vilest criminal. A great many people, who had not
cared one way or the other about votes for women, changed their minds when they learned
of such indignities.
Edward Boyd, an article on ‘The Suffragette Movement’ in A Pageant of History (1958)
A
Photograph of Suffragette chained to the railings of
government building in London.
B
C
Scholarship