What is the Suffrage Movement?

What is the Suffrage Movement?

The United Kingdom was an extremely different place for women in the early 1800's. One fundamental difference that is vividly apparent today is that women now have the right to vote, whereas before 1918 women were ultimately disenfranchised.
 
The right to vote was seen as the route to emancipation and in today's society is as a fundamental human right. At the start of the 1800's the majority of British women grew tired of the domesticated, uneducated pedestal that was forced upon them, and because of this decided to take action. Women wanted rights and they wanted them fast. They wanted equal marriage laws, the right to an education and overall to be given the right to vote, formally known as Suffrage.
   
One of the first port of call was to gain equality in the vote between men and women. Various groups and individuals decided to take action in many different ways. Due to this the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was formed in 1897, more famously known as the Suffragists.



(Millicent Fawcett)

The Suffragists founded by Millicent Fawcett were a constitutional group that believed in peaceful, non-violent means of protest. They delivered their message through petitions, leaflets and organised meetings in the House of Commons. Their perseverance and ambition paid off, and in 1908 over 10,000 women marched from the Embankment to the Albert Hall to protest simply for Women's Suffrage. This stunt catapulted the Suffragists and earned them the respect they desired. Finally slow progress was being made, however this was not enough action for everybody and in 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed, more widely known as the Suffragettes. (Ellis, 2013, P.88)



(Emmeline Pankhurst)

The Suffragettes were lead by Emmeline Pankhurst and had one objective, the right for women to vote. Unlike their fellow party the Suffragists, the Suffragettes believed in violent force to promote their campaign. They would smash windows, chain themselves to the railings outside the House of Commons and start fires. Whilst this behaviour was perceived as condemning Women's Suffrage, the attention they drew to their campaign was groundbreaking. Millicent Fawcett had even stated "[The Suffragettes] have done more during the last 12 months that we have been able to accomplish in the last 12 years." (Ellis, 2013, P.88)


Without the remarkable work of these two individuals and their organisations, the Suffrage Movement may not have had the desired result we know today. In 1918 women aged over 30 were finally given the right to vote and women everywhere were one step closer to emancipation.