Votes For Women

GCSE History

History Coursework: Votes For Women

From studying source A you can learn that it is a poster for the suffragette campaign produced in 1912. Women should deserve the vote more than men because they feel men are responsible for being convicts, lunatics, drunkards, unfit for service and proprietor of the white slaves. While women feel they are the pride of Britain for being mayors, nurses, mothers, doctors, teachers, factory hand and they are more sensible and more loyal than men. So they should have the vote more than men. Men have the vote for being these and women are more loyal so they should have the vote that is what its trying to explain in the picture.

Source B supports source C at the beginning of source B “Votes For women is the shrill cry of a number of discontented ladies.” Referring to the suffragettes. While Source C supports it because it shows a picture of a suffragette women shrieking. Source B says that women are more destined to make voters than to be voters. Which I think the people who drawn C feel the same way but haven’t supported it in their source. Source B says that women suffer great injustice at the hands of men. While source C does not really support it but in the source the suffragette looks like she feels being suffered to injustice at the hands of men. Source B ends in another point that mothers have reared their sons and still continue to rear them meaning they have brought their children up to become the likes of drunkards etc. while Source C does not show any sign of supporting it.

Women had not won the vote before the outbreak of the war, because in source D politicians said they would give women the vote if the public were in favour which they were but they never give them the vote. Politicians were afraid if they give the vote to women the country would go into woman’s hands and become in ruin. In source E The government didn’t want to give the vote to women because then they would have to give it to all men including riff raff and layabouts. The liberal party did not grant women the ...

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Women had not won the vote before the outbreak of the war, because in source D politicians said they would give women the vote if the public were in favour which they were but they never give them the vote. Politicians were afraid if they give the vote to women the country would go into woman’s hands and become in ruin. In source E The government didn’t want to give the vote to women because then they would have to give it to all men including riff raff and layabouts. The liberal party did not grant women the vote because of more important issues e.g. violence in Ireland over home rule, the 1910 general election. They were afraid if women got the vote they will vote for the opposition parties over the liberals in the election. Source D says “What good did all this violent campaigning do us?” from a suffragette. Meaning parliament never give them the vote because of there bad image of using violence to get what they wanted the government didn’t want to show that they would give in to there violence. Women hadn’t shown what women could do and show they were sensible to vote until the war started which was the spark to getting the vote. Women were gaining ground though women who owned a house, part of a house or a room and had complete control of it could vote.

Source F is a poster made by the government to make women enrol as munitions workers in 1916. It is asking women to enrol to be munitions workers. Making weapons ammunition for the war effort. A job which is often done by men but women was needed to replace men who had been sent off to war. A really crucial job which not done properly, could decrease the chances of winning the war. Making Women look like heroes for the war. This poster would make women enrol to take there part in the war by helping it because it shows a women dressed as a munitions worker looking proud. In the background there is a picture of war showing men putting ammunition in there weapons to fight it shows how important ammunition is and persuading women to help by making these in the factories. Source G shows statistics of women employed in Britain in a school textbook written in 1980’s, shows that because of the war women have been employed more taking the place of men gone off fighting in the war. Before the war men worked in the metal industries, because of men having to go to war women took the place of male workers it has raised from 170,000 in 1914 before the war to 594,000 after war. Meaning the war made a huge difference for women employment. Government offices had made a huge increase in women employment; because it was the government it might persuade politicians to give the vote to women. Food, drink and tobacco did not increase much because it was not mainly done by male workers only by mainly women before the war. Women working in metal industries would show the government that they can do the work of men just as good. Source G is very useful and because its statistics you can get an awful lot of information like the stuff above. It can be used as evidence for why women got the vote for showing that they can do the work of men.

‘It was the work that women did during the war that earned them the vote’ I agree and disagree. The men who fought in the war who were aged 18-21 could not vote, the government decided to give them the vote for their effort fighting in the war and they gave the votes to women as well for their war effort by working and keeping the economy going. At the beginning of the war men were cheered by women who campaigned for men to recruit in to the army. Women Knitted scarves and socks for the soldiers who were in damp and cold trenches. Women built weapons, ammunition and planes which were a new and crucial weapon for the war. Women were found very useful for the war and men underestimated what they could do before the war. From the war effort women showed that they were almost equal to men and could be trusted with the vote. You could argue that their militant campaign from the suffragettes got them the vote because it showed they were determined for the vote but it didn’t show they were good enough for the vote till they showed it in the war effort which could have been the final spark to getting the vote. The women’s status changed after the war it was acceptable for them to wear trousers, they had more freedom but men got still got paid more and women who kept their jobs were attacked by men who wanted them back. I also disagree because the suffragettes showed men they had a voice they would never stop till they got the vote. They made themselves well known. They showed they weren’t always violent by stopping their campaign during the war and helping with the war effort. The suffragists demonstrated and protested for the vote using peaceful methods it showed they were capable with the vote. Source H says it wasn’t the war which gained women the vote it, the government felt that if a women had brought up children they had done a good service for the government so they should have the vote. Source I says it was the war which gained women the vote not the political and social event happening in the 4 years. Source J thinks that the stop of militant campaigns for 3 years and helping in the war from the suffragettes has got women the vote.

Votes For Women

History Coursework: Votes For Women

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