Source B is an argument put forward by women saying that they could have high class and important jobs with many responsibilities while still not having the right to vote. The argument is saying that bad men such as convicts, slave owners, drunkards or handicapped men were still allowed to vote. This argument can be understood as women being less respected than these type of men. I think that this was a good argument for suffrage as politicians were making laws against men like this and thought they were scum of society. Cartoons were a favourable way for suffragists to campaign.
Source C is argument against votes for women. It was made in a speech by Lord Curzon, a conservative leader. He argues that because few men currently voted, a law to allow women’s suffrage would mean most voters would be women. Another argument put across in the speech is that if there was a war, men have to fight but women don’t, which is not equal. As this was written before the war I think Curzon’s attitude to women helping with the war would have changed as women did make notable contributions to the war effort.
Source D is the cover of war worker magazine printed in 1917. I think this would have been a women’s magazine so it shows men and women uniting holding the union jack. The woman is wearing industrial uniform, as many women took up factory jobs in munitions factories etc. I think the source is useful to us as it is telling us about the public’s attitude towards women and that they were playing a vital share in the war.
Source E is a source written by a modern historian. The source was written in 1991 so I don’t think we can say it is truly accurate. The historian is saying that due to women being able to take over men’s jobs it left men venerable to conscriptions. This was the attitude felt by men so was a huge argument against inequality.
Source F is an extract from a tape by the imperial war museum. The tape is made up of direct interviews with the women factory workers. So is a primary, reliable source. The tape describes the conditions in the factories and how hard the work was. I think this source really backs up the idea that women played a big part in the war.
I think that the war changed many people’s attitude to women. Some people felt that they wouldn’t have won the war with out them and some thought they were to blame for sending men off to war as mentioned in source E. Although I don’t think that women would have gained the right to vote without the First World War because women’s contribution to the war effort favourably swayed public opinion.
