power and the people- part 4, 20C, equality and righs Flashcards
Women's Rights, Workers' Rights, Minority Rights (62 cards)
what were the 3 women groups fighting for female suffrage
- National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
- The Women’s Freedom League
- Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)
describe the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
- Millicent Fawcett created this in 1897- known as the suffragists
- believed in peaceful methods (meetings, letters, posters)
- wanted to be seen as kind and gentle to persuade men to give them the vote
describe The Women’s Freedom League
- created in 1907
- members did not believe in violent tactics
- mostly pacifists
- also campaigned for equal pay for women
describe the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)
- created by Emmeline Pankhurst- was part of the NUWSS but decided more action needed to be taken
- formed the WSPU in 1903 with her daughters- called the Suffragettes
- believed in ‘deeds not words’
what were the similarities between all women’s suffrage groups
- middle-class women
- wanted the vote for women
differences between suffraGISTS and suffraGETTES
- SUFFRAGISTS- NUWSS, peaceful methods
- SUFFRAGETTES- WSPU, militant methods
as the suffragettes thought that change was taking too long, they used more militant tactics- what were these
- heckling MPs during speeches
- demonstrations outside the House of Commons
- chaining themselves to railings
- 1912 stone-throwing campaign: over 200 suffragettes arrested
- arson attacks and blowing up buildings
which suffragette gained a martyr
Emily Wilding Davison
why did Emily Wilding Davison gain a suffragette martyr
in 1913 at the Epsom Derby- she ran in front of the King’s horse and got trampled and died (was trying to stick a suffragette rosette on the king’s horse)- however no one knows if she meant to kill herself or not as she bought a train ticket home
how did women behave in prison if arrested
they would starve themselves until they nearly died to prove how much they wanted the vote
how did the government respond to women starving themselves in prison
- ‘the cat and mouse act’
- they couldn’t these women die as they had influential husbands or fathers and didn’t want to create martyrs
- women were initially force-fed but this was seen as too dangerous as it could lead to disabilities or death
what was the cat and mouse act
- Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act in 1913
- act said that women should be released when they became too weak due to starvation in prison- once they were well enough they would be rearrested and returned to prison
why did many people not support the suffragettes
- they thought that they held back women’s suffrage because their violence made them look irrational and unbalanced- a good reason for not having the vote
- a women’s place was in the home
- politics was a man’s world and women were unsuited to it; Prime Minister Herbert Asquith believed this and blocked moves to give women the vote
how did WW1 help women get the vote
- women ran family businesses and worked in the stressful war environment- this showed they could make clear-headed decisions
- by working on farms, in factories and on the front line as nurses, women showed they could do the same jobs as men- they became known as the ‘angel of the factory’
- women proved they could so war work and still look after their children and homes
what were the governments actions towards universal suffrage
- due to women working in factories in the war, they felt some women deserved the vote
- Feb 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave the vote to all men over 21 and to women over 30 with the property qualifications
- after the war, women had to leave the workplace and make way for the men returning from war
- women continued to campaign for the vote- in 1928 women were given the vote on equal terms with men
in the 1960s the Women’s Movement was born, what did this demand
- equal pay with men
- more women in higher education
- 24 hour child care
- free contraception and abortion on demand
what year was the Divorce Reform Act, what did it state
1969- allowed women to divorce their husbands and claim any property owned in the divorce settlement
what year was the Equal Pay Act, what did it state
1970- gave women the right to be paid the same as men for the same work
what year was the Sex Discrimination Act, what did it state
1975- gave women the rights and protection in the workplace
what were the 3 causes of the General Strike in 1926
impact of the First World war, technology, mine owners and the unions
how did the impact of the first world war cause the General Strike in 1926
- in the war, Britain’s output had been high with lots of people working in industry.
- coal mines had been nationalised, but were returned to private owners afterwards. after 1918 there was a fall in demand for coal.
- mine owners had to either close insufficient mines or introduce new automatic machinery that would mean fewer men were needed.
how did technology cause the General Strike in 1926
- British coal mining struggled further because mines in countries like Germany and the USA had more modern equipment and lower costs.
- British mines could not compete so the unions called for the mines to be re-nationalised
how did mine owners and the unions cause the General Strike in 1926
- 15 April 1921 (Black Friday)- mine owners announced longer working hours but a drop in wages
- the miners decided to strike, but without the support of the other big unions they had to go back to work or lose their jobs
what happened in 1925 to the price of coal, what did this cause for the workers
- price of coal fell and miners faced a further wage cut
- fearing a general strike with the miners backed by other big unions, the government subsidised the coal industry