Source C has no writing with it so I have no idea of what has happened or where. The photo has been taken from further away which does tell me that the race continued and it also shows me how crowded the place is which lets me know it was a popular event, I can see a whole different viewpoint and a wider area maybe it would be easier to tell which angle she came from, from this photo. But it is much harder to know what has happened as there is nothing to give me motives dates or times. The source of the photograph is unknown so it is likely it could have just been someone photographing the races, which reassure me it can’t have been manipulated if it was an accident.
Neither of these sources tell me all I want to know but I think B is the most useful as it tells me the most. Neither gives any detail on the suffragette movement or what happened after the incident. The problem with these sources is that they only capture one moment in time slightly after it has happened which can’t possible cover a whole incident, this is why I think B is more useful as it in words tells me a little more about what has happened.
Question 3 – Study Sources D and E. Suggest possible reasons why these two sources differ in their accounts of what happened at Tattenham Corner and why Emily Davison acted as she did.
These two sources differ in their accounts of what happened at the derby in 1913, because two people with different opinions wrote them. D was written by a lady who was passionate about the suffragette movement and everything to do with it and E is written by a reporter who is not really interested in what happened so one is vague and one is very bias.
Mrs Pankhurst who was the leader of the Suffragettes is claiming Emily is a martyr who gave up her life for the women’s cause. She did know Emily personally and knew more what she was like as a person, which the writer of source E didn’t. But she also hadn’t spoken to Emily around that area of time and is likely to be extremely bias in her account of what happened, she is likely to be bias because she wanted people to believe Emily was a martyr for the women’s cause and this account was also in her own book maybe was written to entertain.
Source E was written by a male journalist for The Times, which was a highly read and important paper. The reporter may have been at the races at the time and could be an eye witness. You can tell he is annoyed by Emily’s actions because he talks about the race first and then Emily, he may just talk about her because he has to, as it’s the latest news, he doesn’t even state her name and just assumes she is a desperate woman who wants to stop the race. I don’t think this account is reliable at all just because he doesn’t care about getting facts right.
Question 4 – Study source F. How reliable is this account? Explain your answer.
Source F was written by Mary Richardson who was also part of the Suffragette movement, so I have to beware that she may be bias but in the source she doesn’t actually strongly suggest that Emily was a martyr, she says she has been told this but her own opinion is not voiced. She simply recalls seeing Emily and describes how she was acting.
But this was written for her own auto biography, there was a lot of time between the dates of the event and when the book was written, Mary describes Emily’s actions in great detail but I am not sure if she would be able to remember small details like if her hands were shaking and i also ask the question, if she didn’t know what Emily was going to do, why look to see if she is shaking? I believe she is not trying to prove Emily was a martyr but she is trying to make her book more interesting and so this is not a very reliable source even though she was an eyewitness she has too many reasons to exaggerate or manipulate the event.
Question 5 – Study Sources G and H. How far is the account in source G supported by source H? Explain your answer.
Source G was written the same year Emily died, we do not know if the author ever made contact with Emily Davison but it sounds as though they may of at least observed her some when because she has a conversation which quite exact words included.
They both support each other that she had two suffragette flags on her and the date of which the incident happened but H tells me about the colours and the exact measurements, which the other doesn’t.
One thing that the accounts don’t support each other in is the fact that she had a pass for a suffragette festival on the 4th of June but why would she have got one when in source G she already said she has planned to go to the derby on that day, that doesn’t make much sense. There also is no mention of the return ticket to London in G so one or both of these reports can’t be reliable as they contradict what the other says.
Question 6 - Which interpretation is best supported by the evidence in these sources and your knowledge of the period? Explain your answer.
Interpretation A is saying that Emily went to the derby with the intention to die and become a martyr. B is saying that Emily did not intend to kill herself she simply wanted to draw more attention for women’s suffrage and was a fanatic who was prepared to go to extreme measures for her beliefs.
Many of the sources differ in opinion, I have found that sources A, B, D and F all point to Emily being a martyr, 3 out of these 4 sources have been written by suffragettes, one written by Emily herself, whom are going to be bias. The other, D was written by a reporter who seems quite sure that Emily was a martyr.
I find that only sources H and I suggest she was fanatic, based purely on the items found on her body suggesting she intended to carry on with her life not die that day.
The other sources, C, E and G, I fond hard to categorize as they either suggest both in some ways and neither. C is just a photo taken slightly after the event and there is no one’s opinion by it doesn’t support either. Then there is E which is written by a reporter who doesn’t know much about the situation and is just summing up all possibilities so this source suggests she could have been a martyr or a fanatic. Then there is G, which doesn’t really tell me much about her intention, just that she wanted to flags, possible to make a statement with or to die with them on her body, it’s impossible to tell.
The sources to me support interpretation A. Although this doesn’t mean that Emily was a martyr as the sources may be bias or unreliable, this also fits in with the personal opinion I have formed from my background knowledge.
This opinion, I think is proved in Source A where Emily herself talks about how in prison she tried to kill herself for the cause, then in D and F, two people who knew her and what she was like, what she was capable of back this up by saying this was her intention as well, they may well be bias but they probably know more about how Emily felt or thought than the authors of many other sources as they all fought together for the same cause. Then to finalise a reporter who witnessed the event says the same.
Amy Collins 1,784 words.
