Feminism

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_the_United_Kingdom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pankhurst
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1914Pankhurst.html
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/jsmill-women.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Social_and_Political_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage#United_Kingdom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette


Women’s Suffrage was the reform movement in which the main purpose and goal was to guarantee women the right to vote.

Great Britain
° Women’s right to vote formally taken away: 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act
° People and Groups that wanted to women to gain the right to vote:
- Chartist Movement

- John Stuart Mill

- Leigh Smith Bodichon

° Emmeline Pankhurst
- Was one of the founders of the Women’s Social and Political Union.
- Her tactics to gain attention towards the movement for suffrage included hunger strikes, protests, and writings.
- She originally had founded a league known as the Women’s Franchise League, however when her husband died she was unable to continue on with it.
- Her daughters were also very passionate with the cause of women’s suffrage
- After World War I broke out her efforts of gaining women the right to vote were dropped momentarily and she instead urged women to take over men’s jobs.
- After World War I, Emmeline went on a tour of the USA and Canada, upon her return, she lost her passion for socialist beliefs, and in 1925 she joined the Conservative Party.

° Women’s Social and Political Union
- was founded on October 10th, 1903
- Was the leading militant group that was fighting for women’s suffrage.
- first group whose members were called “suffragists”
- the leaders of the organization were Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst
- believed that women’s suffrage was imperative for sexual equality.
- their slogan was “Deeds, not words” to show their militant stance.
- They held public meetings, protests, wrote letters to politicians, created reform bills, and published texts.


° The Right to Vote
- 1918 - Parliament gives women over the age of 30 the right to vote
- 1928 - with the Representation of the People Act 1928, women were finally granted the right to vote on the same terms as men (21 and over)