This happens to be a two-sided argument because there were a small amount of women and men who have campaigned for the right to give women the vote. They have voiced out their arguments to support their case. Female doctors the women believed that women should get the vote because it would lead to improvements in pay and working conditions and the life of working class women. Most women also believed that women have a lot of experience in local democracy. Some male labour MPs believe that women should be given the vote on the grounds of individual human rights and equality before the law, also women have made progress in the 19th century, and at the time the political system recognised this and included women in the development of democracy.
Some historians believe that one reason why women didn’t get the vote was because of the ‘WSPU’, or their most famous name the ‘Suffragettes’, who broke away from the ‘NUWSS’ in 1903, because they felt that if women didn’t use militant actions like breaking windows then their voices and views would not being heard or expressed for everyone to know and hear. They used a lot of militant actions which was broadcasted through the eye of the public because of the newspapers. However it could be that the government would not give in because of their law-breakings and behaviour towards trying to get the vote. It also highlights that when women used peaceful methods they were still ignored.
In the Daily Mirror they comment on when the Suffragettes began their campaign they were mistaken for featherheads, people didn’t take them seriously, but they then proved that they are determined to shine to prove a point. They did this by frightening the government and breaking the law, which gave them more publicity and showed just how far women would go to get women the vote.
In 1912 a group of Suffragettes produced a poster showing what a woman may be and yet not have the vote, and what a man may be and still not lose the vote. The poster is highlighting that a women may become a nurse, doctor or even a teacher or a mother, who help with healthcare, save lives, teach children and bring up the next generation of children. The poster shows a mayor who helps with the running of the town, this shows that women do have some political responsibility but cannot vote for MPs. However the other side of the poster shows that a man can be a convict, a drunkard, and a lunatic. All these men can still vote even though they break laws, don’t look after their family and show much reasonability, and physically and also be mentally unwell and still be able to vote. The purpose for a poster like this is to highlight that the law needs to be criticized because they are not giving responsible women the vote, but instead they are letting drunken and lunatics the chance to vote. The law is unfair and sexes, but mainly it is ridiculous.
Many people believed that it was the government’s fault that women still did not have the vote after campaigning and getting signatures. In 1913, when women still didn’t have the vote, a MP gave a speech about women and them wanting the vote. This MP doesn’t want to give women the vote, power or any control over the government because he feels that by giving them responsibility it will be dangerous. In his speech we can tell that there is hesitation in his words and feels a little bit threatened by women suffrage like other MPs did. However this is a one-sided argument because not all MPs felt like this, some didn’t mind giving women the vote, but some believed that some women would abuse this opportunity and vote for the MP that they find the most attractive, not having the intelligence to take the public seriously.
In 1912, women at the time were demanding the vote, by passing bills which were being rejected by the government. This simply happened because the government had other things on their mind to deal with like World War One, which had just begun, and they had to concentrate on dealing with the war. Women asking for the vote really were not a number one priority.
Emmeline Pankhurst, one of the leading suffragettes wrote a book called ‘My Own Story’ reflecting on her own experiences of women not having the vote. Emmeline tries to defend the suffragettes and their constant use of militant actions. Emmeline believes that this gave the suffragettes more attention in their campaign in the newspapers which really lifted them up, because they had gained a lot of publicity so in her opinion ‘What good . . . often asked. . .’ this quote suggest that many questioned the use if violence and did not think that it was a good idea to using her militant tactics.
Emmeline blames the government, she says that it is all their fault that women don’t have the vote, this is because the politicians broke their promise.
The ‘WSPU’ did not their help their cause when they started to damage church property and art which eventually turned many people against what was a very worthy cause.
Most women believed that the Liberal party would surely be responsible for giving women the vote. When they took charge, they had the support of the labour party and the Irish nationalists. They began to reform Britain and deal with the main problems of poverty and ill health in Britain. When women decided they wanted to vote, to the liberal party this really wasn't a winner for them. this was because of the outbreak of the WW1 and then there was the problem in Ireland where they wanted to self-govern themselves and stop northern Ireland controlling everything but the liberal party had taken a note about the vote, they thought about extending the age for men to vote to over 21, and letting some women vote, which Emmeline Pankhurst favoured. However not every man could vote either, only household owners or renters over 21 could vote, so it was mainly upper class. If the same rule applied to women then it would create more upper-class women who would properly vote for the conservative party.
I think that in my opinion women would have got the vote, if a major political party would have been prepared to accept women and their policy and give the vote, but I believe this did not happen because of the suffragettes. The violence did them nothing to help them get the vote and to be true it really did not favour their campaign, it only turned people the other way. The NUWSS didn't even want to co - operate even though they both wanted the same thing
