Suffragette & women's right to vote

[Ruinel]

I am totally inspired right now by an HBO movie I saw about the suffragettes and the political movement for a woman's right to vote. The movie was Iron Jawed Angels.

In history books, we are given very little information on this movement and the people who suffered daily to give women in the US the right to vote. One of those women is the heroic Alice Paul.

I was so impressed with what these women went through and what they sacrificed to obtain what should not have to be explained, in her words (in the movie)... "what is there to explain?"

I would like to offer a thread for people to give the history of the suffragist movement in other countries, such as England... where Alice Paul and other Americans participated.

[BeardofPants]

New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote. <- linkage


Hoo haa.

[GrayMouser]

Originally posted by Ruinel
I am totally inspired right now by an HBO movie I saw about the suffragettes and the political movement for a woman's right to vote. The movie was Iron Jawed Angels.

In history books, we are given very little information on this movement and the people who suffered daily to give women in the US the right to vote. One of those women is the heroic Alice Paul.

I was so impressed with what these women went through and what they sacrificed to obtain what should not have to be explained, in her words (in the movie)... "what is there to explain?"

I would like to offer a thread for people to give the history of the suffragist movement in other countries, such as England... where Alice Paul and other Americans participated.

A quick Google says that Alice Paul was a student at the London School of Economics who participated in the Suffrage movement under the leadership of Emmiline Pankhurst who in turn learned from an earlier generation of American activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth (an ex-slave), Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Mott, so it looks like there was a lot of back and forth.

Bread and Roses!

[GrayMouser]

Also interesting to note that the first places to have votes for women were pioneer communities like New Zealand, the western states in the US and the western provinces in Canada.
Probably harder to argue that women were

a) delicate flowers who needed to be protected from the sordid masculine world
b) inferior creatures who lacked the strength or intelligence to participate in public life

in places where women slaughtered hogs, shot varmints, broke sod, managed farms, organised schools and hospitals etc.

[Janny]

Emmeline Pankhurst (says my GCSE history coursework) was the leader of the Suffragette (or WSPU, Women's Social and Political Union) movement in Britain. She worked, I believe, from abroad (France?) with the help of her daughter Christabel and 'General' Flora Drummond. Their use of violence was justified on the grounds that they could not go through legitimate processes for reform without the vote. Much as I respect their campaigning, it is a common misapprehension that this fearsome, bold group of women (and men!!!) singlehandedly won the vote.
There was in Britain another group, the Suffragists, who used non-violent means. Without these women (and men), the respect for the campaign required from politicians would not have been won.
But to put this into context, the largest womens' organisation was at the time the Mothers' something or other founded in 1886 long before the others.
It was probably not the work of these women that actually won suffrage. Their campaigning halted 4 years prior to the 'Representation of the People Act' (1918) and is was their reaction to the war and work during conflict which earnt women the respect from politicians lost by a group of ardent idiots in their running under racehorses (admittidly an accident, but a stupid one to have), breaking the Prime Minister's windows, and pouring acid on cricket pitches. etc.
The response to the war was, especially from the Suffragists, admirable. The Suffragists turned their printing presses towards persuading men to go to war. The Suffragettes argued that women should be allowed to work in factories.
The First World War, however, was the main reason, as it offered politicans, such as Herbie Asquith, the opportunity to change their stance to support women without losing face. The war decreased conflicts between the parties (coalition government) and highlighted the change in electoral law required, to which female suffrage for the over 30's or 21 if a homeowner. Under law at the time all the brave soldiers could not vote for the running of the freedom they had won, due to the fact they had not had one year residency in Britain.
There was also a general notion of 'brave new world' fairness (hence that dumb rule in the League of Nations about it requiring unanimous votes), which brought a general trend towards female suffrage (and well done New Zealand, Beard of Pants).
Incidentally, part of the reason suffrage was politically opposed (besides our good friends at the WSPU), was that all the voters for this Liberal policy would have been Conservative. Tory leaders were for it but would not take action as grassroots were anti-suffrage and Liberal leaders went against their ideals because it made no political sense.
See, I do more than just talk about Bruce Springsteen.
In conclusion, Suffragetes bad, Suffragist good.

[Ruinel]

Great posts Janny.


Good points GrayMouser.


Hooray for NZ!!!

Although a number of other territories had enfranchised women before 1893, New Zealand can justly claim to be the first self-governing nation to grant the vote to all adult women.

More in this essay on Women's Suffrage, it says...

1776-1807
New Jersey - propertied women voted in elections from 1787, although they had the right from 1776; they lost suffrage when universal male suffrage was introduced.

So it seems it was granted and then taken away later... then...

1869
Wyoming Territory

But BoP is correct, NZ was the first nation to grant women the right to vote. Way to go!

[Janny]

Thanks Ruinel (but it was only one post, I know it must have felt like more!)
I think it's pretty much factually correct, if not blame the English school system, but don't complain about my lack of classification of sources and explanation of how they're linked... that's my fault.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

There's a classic book "The Strange Death of Liberal England 1910-1914, by George Dangerfield, which I read as a history major in college, in which the suffragette movement figures prominently, including two chapters titled "The Women's Rebellion" and another "The Pankhursts Provide a Clew." The discussions of forced feeding are, to say the least, disquieting.

[Janny]

I don't deny force feeding was a terrible thing, but it was the women who elected to break law (instead of campaigning with the nice Suffragists) and to go on hunger strike.

[BeardofPants]

Some more info can be found here:

Kate Shepphard was the pivotal aspect in women getting the vote.
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/whm2003/new_zealand2.html

[GrayMouser]

Originally posted by Janny
I don't deny force feeding was a terrible thing, but it was the women who elected to break law (instead of campaigning with the nice Suffragists) and to go on hunger strike.

Sorry, have to disagree with you here- like Abolition or Civil Rights, the 'nice' people could have gone on talking about it till Hell froze over- it was the window-breakers, hunger-strikers, Underground Railroaders, Freedom Riders who brought about the change. In fact, the WPSU was founded because the cause had been making so little progress, and had basically dropped off the public radar screen.

There was a split within the movement, in Britain anyway, that came to a head at the time of the First World War, between those, led by Emmeline and daughter Christabel who supported the War and felt that the most important thing was to get the franchise extended to women on the same basis as men i.e. restricted to upper and middle classes, and others such as Sylvia Pankhurst (Christabel's sister), who aligned themselves more with the Labour movement and argued that women's suffrage should be fought for under a broader struggle for a universal franchise.

Under law at the time all the brave soldiers could not vote for the running of the freedom they had won, due to the fact they had not had one year residency in Britain.

?????

The Representation of the People Act (1918) finally gave universal suffrage to all males over 21 (19 if they had been in the armed forces)

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by Janny
I don't deny force feeding was a terrible thing, but it was the women who elected to break law (instead of campaigning with the nice Suffragists) and to go on hunger strike.

They never actually broke the law. In fact their arrest and imprisonment was ruled unconstitutional by a court at a later date. They had been jailed as political prisoners, really. And the charges were trumped up in an attempt to financially hurt the movement. But the women charged refused to pay the fine, since they had not broken the law. They were in their rights to protest non-violently on public property.



(BTW - don't tell JD Alice Paul was born in NJ... we'll never hear the end of it. )

[Nerdanel]

I found this strange:

Switzerland - 1971 That's late!

[Earniel]

Originally posted by Nerdanel
I found this strange:

Switzerland - 1971 That's late!

Yes, it's a bit odd. They're the last European country to do so as far as I can tell. For some reason it doesn't surprise me but I can't put my finger on it why.

Interesting site BoP.

I once read that Corsica was the first land in Europe to grant women right to vote. Though a few years later the French came in and it was abolished again.

[Nurvingiel]

Herstory and Herstory II are good, short history books about the subject.

[Janny]

Ok fair enough... you all did research, I just listened to Miss Hall go on and on...
But wouldn't it have been nice if it was the meek people who hadn't used violence had succeeded? (And also surely MLK Jnr. wasn't a window breaker and his protests suceeded (or will you chalk that one up to Malchom X?). High profile doesn't mean violent (or, as I am led to believe but will be doubtless accused of sexism etc. for, undignified).
In answer to your second quote, GrayMouser: according to the good people at the history department in my school, the reason electoral reform was made in the Representation of the People Act was primarily because at tha point men who had fought in the war could not vote because they didn't have residency in Britain for one year. Was I ambiguous?
Ruinel, I was under the impression 'breach of peace' was a crime under British law. But hey, again I've been out-researched!

[Janny]

Afterthought: which country are you talking about Ruinel? Can stuff be ruled 'unconstitutional' in the UK?

[Ruinel]

I was referring to the group of women in the NWP who were arrested, tried and then given a sentence of either a fine of $10 each or 60 days in the workhouse. This was in the US. They were actually held for some time with no charge and then finally charged with obstructing traffic, even though they were within their rights to protest with banners on public property. Their protest was actually quite peaceful, it was the crowd of men that gathered before them shouting and threatening them that caused the traffic jam. But only the women were arrested and charged.

I wasn't aware of what had happened in England, that was the point of me opening this thread: so that others could give the information on their countries or information on what they knew. I hope you will continue to provide information as you have been. I've read every post.

[Ruinel]

From the Library of Congress...

Suffrage parade 3/13/13.
Inez Boissevain, wearing white cape, seated on white horse at the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., 1913.


Inez Boissevain died in 1916 campaigning for, what later became the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. She had Pernicious Anemia.

[Ruinel]

I can't believe there was actually an organization that was against women voting...

(again, from the Library of Congress)