Votes for Woman

        In the 1900 the right to vote was associated with property therefore if you could vote if you were a property owner of a certain status. Moreover politics was considered rough and dirty therefore was unsuitable job for women who were delicate and should be protected. Before 1832 the system was very chaotic and unfair. For example only 2.7% of males were able to vote in general elections. However in 1832 the great reform act changed this and about 1 in 5 men could vote. This was mainly only wealthy and middle class men. Furthermore in 1867 a second reform act was passed giving most male town dwellers the vote but women were still excluded from the law. In 1884 the third reform act was passed, now almost all men could vote but women were still ignored. This infuriated woman as they were now in the same position was lunatics and criminals in terms of voting.

        The general elections were used to choose MP’s or representatives of the people (men!) for the House of Commons who then make the laws. Some women were angered by the lack of rights and lack of progress to gain these rights. The early campaigners for the vote were called the suffragists. They were mainly middle-class women. The leader was Mrs Millicent Fawcett. She believed in constitutional campaigning. She argued her case with MPs, issued leaflets. Presented petitions and organised meetings. The main arguments they used were that Parliament’s decisions affect both men and women. Therefore women should be able to vote for the MPs who pass those laws. Both Liberal and Conservative parties were not prepared to adopt female suffrage as a party policy, so it never got a priority in Parliament. In the years up to 1900, fifteen times Parliament received as bill to give women the vote; fifteen times the bill failed.

        In conclusion women were treated like they were below women and during the 1900’s they desperately tried to be treated equally and get the chance to vote for an MP that would change the ways in which they were looked at in society.