How effective were the suffragists and suffragettes.
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Introduction
How effective were the suffragists and suffragettes The suffragists and suffragettes campaigned for votes for women from 1906 to 1914. The suffragists campaigned politically, organising petitions, marches and meetings. The suffragettes were violent protesters, vandalising public property, private property, and men's affairs. But how effective were these campaigns, of violence and peace. The suffragist's greatest achievement was arguably the introduction of the conciliation bill. Whilst Asquith removed female suffrage from this bill, the prime minister, it was the only bill to pass completely through parliament without being blocked. This bill was undoubtedly influenced by the long campaigns of suffragists. A suffragist would probably not look back on this bill as their greatest achievement because if was eventually blocked and made no difference. ...read more.
Middle
Other achievements were also very large but not as effective because the government didn't want to give the vote to militants. Another great achievement of the suffragettes was the force-feeding campaign. This created huge amounts of sympathy for the suffragettes because force-feeding was a difficult and painful experience for the force fed, and the suffragettes exaggerated it ad exploited this endurance for sympathy. Many suffragettes would consider it a great achievement because it caused problems for the government in a militant manner. The suffragettes possibly damaged the campaign for female suffrage because the government vowed not to give in to militancy. ...read more.
Conclusion
This could have damaged the campaign because men would think that women acting as they were expected would not express their true views in an election and simply add more votes to the conservative party. The suffragette failures highly outweigh their achievements and the suffragist achievements were so little as to not affect the balance. The suffragettes damaged property and their campaign of violence put the government off female suffrage. It did raise the issue's importance as was intended but in the process reduced the need to pass the bill and instead increased the need to deal with the violence. By not giving in to suffragettes the government created an image that discouraged Irish nationalists and other people threatening violent campaigns. The suffragist campaign was not violent and so didn't create any problem or urgency for the bill to pass. ...read more.
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4 star(s)
Response to the question
The candidate starts well, with a good clear introduction setting the outline for the rest of the essay, and covering some basic knowledge and dates to show they have a general understanding and give a good first impression. He/She covers ...
Read full reviewResponse to the question
The candidate starts well, with a good clear introduction setting the outline for the rest of the essay, and covering some basic knowledge and dates to show they have a general understanding and give a good first impression. He/She covers a range of ideas to answer the question, including specific evidence such as that of the Concilation Bill and Emily Davidson. In the second paragraph, he/she offers an opinion about the 'greatest achievement' and while offering an opinion and a judgement is excellent, to discuss what the suffragists/suffragettes in general would choose as their greatest achievement is probably not advisable, as it it making assumptions and an examiner may pick up on in and dislike it.
Level of analysis
The candidate develops all of the points sufficiently, using specific and detailed evidence well; examples of this include Emily Davidson again and the references to Asquith especially in paragraphs 2 and 3. This shows a depth of knowledge and understanding, and the ability to apply this knowledge appropriately to gain marks. The last paragraph could possibly do with some further development about the militancy of the suffragettes and the damaging effects it had. Possible points could include examples of exactly what they did, such as cutting works of art, pouring acid on golf courses, throwing a bomb at David Lloyd George, who was even a supporter of women's suffrage, and further detail on failures of the suffragettes; proving they weren't sensible/responsible enough, targeting the wrong areas, destroying support etc. A conclusion would also be very important, as it offers a judgement and a final overall answer to the question. Without this, it would be very difficult to get top marks.
Quality of writing
Mostly, the spelling and grammar seems good, apart from a few mistakes/typos, such as the use of a full stop instead of a question mark at the end of the first paragraph and 'if' instead of 'it'. The essay follows a good structure, permitting a balanced argument as it covers successes and failures of each groups respectively in order clearly and obviously. However, there is only one main factor in each section, and this could possibly be added to, depending on time restraints and word counts.
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Reviewed by happy_giggles 27/06/2012
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