Did the WSPU help or hinder the struggle for women's rights?

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Did the WSPU help or hinder the struggle for women’s rights?

In 1867 most of the male population in Britain received the vote most historians agree that the beginning of the suffrage campaign was in 1832 when a woman asked a campaigner, while campaigning for the wider male, vote to include women. It was not until 1903 when Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Woman’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). She founded this group having been a member of the Suffragists. She became frustrated with the Suffragists’ tactics, especially their middle class and gradualist ideas. The motto of the Suffragettes was “Deeds, not Words” and this was reflected in everything they did. The Suffragettes were much more radical and militant with their tactics including vandalism and violence.  In contrast the Suffragist tactics at this time were the same as they always had been, using their middle/upper class connections to try and persuade men of influence and standing to back their cause. The Suffragists became a national movement in 1887 when various Suffrage groups joined together to form the National Union of Woman’s Suffrage Society (NUWSS). The Suffragist leadership was purely middle class however it was known within the organisation, in order to gain the vote they would need the support of working class women. Middle class woman from the Suffragists went to work in some of the mills to try and persuade them to support the cause. Many mill workers joined the Suffragist movement to vent their frustration, having been involved in trade unions but feeling like they were just “voices in the wilderness”. Although the Suffragists were not as famous as the Suffragettes and some historians have said that they made no difference in the Suffrage Campaign, the revisionist view suggests that it was important in the struggle as membership stayed very high throughout the suffrage campaign. In 1914 there were 53,000 members of the NUWSS (so despite the publicity) when the Suffragettes tactics became more violent and militant women left the WSPU to join them. There are no official figures for the WSPU so it is impossible to form a complete conclusion on the figures. This gives the impression that the WSPU and the NUWSS were very separate groups however on some mass rallies etc they in fact worked together.

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        Early on in the WSPU campaign they raised the public profile of the Suffrage effort by holding large peaceful protests which were entirely legal. This approach, however, did not seem to get them any closer in achieving votes for women. Because of the lack of reaction the Suffragettes upped their campaign. The Chancellor of Exchequer at the time, HH Asquith was a leading opponent of Suffrage was heckled by Suffragettes in the House of Commons. There were also marches and demonstrations outside the Commons which resulted in arrests. The WSPU helped the campaign for women’s rights by keeping the issue ...

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