In 1928 the House of Lords gave its approval to an Equal Franchise Bill by which women were entitled to vote on the same terms as men. The bill was passed quietly, without speeches, almost in the manner of someone repairing an obvious oversight. Thus ended, without drama, a struggle which had lasted just over sixty years and which had been waged, at times, with relentless bitterness on both sides.
The struggle
to obtain equal rights for women can be said to have begun in 1792 with
the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's book, Vindication of the Rights
of Women; but as a political issue it can be conveniently dated from
1867 when the philosopher John Stuart Mill brought in a Women's Suffrage
amendment to the Reform Bill. This amendment was rejected. During the next
twenty years, agitation was kept up by the various branches of the National
Society of Women's Suffrage which sprang up all over the country under
the leadership of Millicent Fawcett, the wife of MP Henry Fawcett. These
societies, though very active, were intent on achieving their ambition
by constitutional means and enlisted the sympathy of several polotitians.
Certain minor gains were made but the real goal - votes for women - was
as far off as ever due to the fierce hostility of the men in power. The
quiet reasonable approach of Millicent Fawcett's Suffragists appeared to
have failed. Now a new tactic came into being, the confrontational methods
of Emmeline Pankhurst's Suffragettes.
Emmeline
Pankhurst had been connected with the Manchester Suffragist movement from
1889 and by 1901 she was a member of the committee. Impatient at the lack
of progress, she decided that shock tactics might be more effective. In
this way the Woman's Social and Political Union was formed and later became
the Militant Suffrage Society. They were to begin with a small group, hardly
bigger than the Pankhurst family. There was Emmeline Pankhurst with her
three daughters, Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, a teacher called Theresa
Billington; and about twenty other
women. Soon there arrived to join them a valuable new recruit, a mill-girl
called Annie Kenney, whose courage
and tenacity would greatly enhance the public awareness of the group. The
W.S.P.U began operations in Manchester and right from the start they
meant business. They denied themselves all luxuries so that the money
could go to the cause. They submitted themselves to a strict discipline
and worked ceaselessly to put their viewpoint to the public. Then in
1905, at a meeting of the Liberal Party, there came the incident that
put the Suffragettes on the offensive. Annie Kenney, waving a small
white banner emblazoned with the slogan 'Votes for Women' asked the
speaker, Sir Edward Grey, if the Liberal Party would
give women the vote. The question was ignored and she shouted it again.
She was joined by Christabel Pankhurst and a riot ensued, ending when
the two women were summarily ejected from the hall by the stewards
and the police. The following morning the two women were brought up
for trial for assaulting the police. Fines were imposed with the option
of going to prison for seven days. They both chose prison. A packed
meeting welcomed them when they were released. Annie Kenney was dismissed
from her job at the mill and became practically a member of the Pankhurst
family. From now on, she was a full time worker for the cause. The
attacking phase had begun.
During
the General Election of 1906, the Manchester Suffragettes were perpetually
in action and grew steadily in numbers. Yet their leaders were not satisfied
with the results. They decided to switch the scene of operations to the
city of London. It was not long before the Suffragette Movement had developed
into a tremendous force. It's
membership included men and women from all sections of society, while its
increase in numbers made it no longer possible for the government to dismiss
it as an eccentric notion of a few women. Sympathy was gained by the brutal
treatment they received whilst they were imprisoned. Forced feeding, solitary
confinement and general mistreatment caused many people, who previously
had not cared one way or the other about votes for women, to change their
minds when they learned of such indignities. Meanwhile
the struggle increased in ferocity. The Suffragettes invaded the House
of Commons and were thrown out. They travelled all over the country,
whenever there was a by-election, and made life misreable for any candidate
who did not support their cause. On 21st June, 1908, the largest gathering
ever witnessed in Hyde Park was organised by the Suffragettes. They were
supervised by a total of no less than six hundred policemen. The government,
however, took no notice and refused to meet a delegation from the various
organisations that had assembled. This merely had the effect of making
the women more determined than ever.
At
last it looked as though the government was about to yield. In 1909 the
new Parliament formed
a committee for for Woman's Suffrage which came to be known as the Concilliation
Committee. The Concilliation Bill was drawn up with the object of granting
the vote to about a million women house holders. The Suffragettes called
a truce during which they only indulged in propaganda. Between July and
September, no less than four thousand meetings took place. By November
it became obvious that the Bill was being quietly sidetracked. A deputation
of the W.S.P.U. went to the House's of Parliament and there was a violent
scene in which the Prime Minister was showered with glass and one of
his colleagues was attacked by the infuriated women. The truce was ended
on that day which came to be known as Black Friday and which ended with
the arrest of over a hundred women. From then on the Suffragettes abandoned
any attempt at moderation. In 1913 the cause acquired its first martyr
in the person of Emily Davison. Miss Davison had just been released after
serving a six month sentence for arson. She went straight from prison
to the Derby and stationed herself at Tattenham Corner with a Suffragette
petition in her hand. As the King's horse came galloping up she threw
herself in front of it. She died four days later from the injuries she
received.
Throughout the year 1914 the Suffragettes kept up the pressure and in May of that year, they attempted to reach Buckingham Palace where they hoped to present a petition to the King. The attempt failed and in a way it was the climax of the Suffragette Movement. The storm clouds were gathering all over Europe and very soon the Question of Votes for Women was swallowed up in the greater question of the deadly battle with Germany. The women who had chained themselves to railings now drove ambulances, made munitions, worked on farms and took the places everywhere of men who were fighting at the front. In the war their contribution was recognised by a patriarchal society and the labour of women became negotiable on the open market. When the war ended there was no longer any hostility to their demands; and the granting of their rights was merely a matter of time. In 1928 the Suffragettes achieved their aims, Votes for Women was no longer an issue, it now became a reality.