Suffragettes were members of women's suffrage (right to vote) movements in the late 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States. Suffragist is a more general term for members of suffrage movements, whether radical or conservative, male or female.The term "Suffragette" is particularly associated with the actions of the women's suffrage movement in the UK in the early 20th century, which included chaining themselves to railings and setting fire to mailbox contents. One woman, Emily Davison, died whilst trying to throw a suffragette banner over the King's horse at the Epsom Derby on 5 June 1913. Many suffragettes were imprisoned in Holloway Prison in London, and were force-fed after going on hunger strike.In the United States, women over 21 were first allowed to vote in Wyoming from 1869 and in Utah from 1870, and with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment the suffrage was extended to women across the United States in time for the 1920 presidential election. Women over 21 were allowed to vote in New Zealand from 1893, in Australia from 1894, and in Canada from 1919. Women in the UK were given the vote in 1918 if over 30 and meeting certain property qualifications, and in 1928 suffrage was extended to all women over the age of 21.[1]
The term "suffragette" was first used by the Daily Mail newspaper to describe activists in the movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).[2]
Suffragettes were mostly women from upper– and middle-class backgrounds, frustrated by their social and economic situation. Their struggles for change within society, along with the work of such advocates for women’s rights as John Stuart Mill, were enough to spearhead a movement that would encompass mass groups of women fighting for suffrage. Mill had first introduced the idea of women’s suffrage on the platform he presented to the British electorate in 1865.[3] He would later be joined by numerous men and women fighting for the same cause.
New Zealand was the first self-governing country to grant women the vote; in 1893 all women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections.[4] Women in South Australia achieved the same right in 1894 but became the first to obtain the right to stand (run) for Parliament.[5] The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which was founded in 1897, formed of a collection of local suffrage societies. This union was led by Millicent Fawcett, who believed in constitutional campaigning, like issuing leaflets, organising meetings and presenting petitions. However this campaigning did not have much effect. So in 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded a new organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union. Pankhurst thought that the movement would have to become radical and militant if it was going to be effective. The Daily Mail later gave them the name "Suffragettes".[6]
A few historians feel that some of the suffragettes' actions actually damaged their cause. The argument was that women should not get the vote because they were too emotional and could not think as logically as men; their violent and aggressive actions were used as evidence in support of this argument.[7][8]
No comments:
Post a Comment