Do you agree with the view that the divisions in the early Suffrage movement, up to 1903, helped with the refinement of ideas and policy?
Daniel Osman
Do you agree with the view that the divisions in the early Suffrage movement, up to 1903, helped with the refinement of ideas and policy?
Women in the 1800’s did not really have a say in the society and had very few rights in their favour. They could not vote and were ruled by the husband of the house. During the whole of the nineteenth century, women had no political rights though there had been some movement in other areas to advance the rights of women. It was looked upon that a woman could not go wrong if her actions were directed toward the needs and comforts of her family. This role of women in society was accepted and supported by most people, men and women, of the times because history dictated that women's place was caring for the family. It was said that although she may be capable of other things, there was no reason to even consider them. When it came to marriage, women in some circumstances could be forced by a man to marry her even if she has no wish to. There were many issues arising during the 1800’s and women began to stand up for themselves and try to fight back and attempt to get more rights socially and politically. A first Suffrage was on the cards because it had the nation’s attention and the Government looked upon it as a threat to the way the country was being run.
In 1866 a group of women from the Kensington Society organised a petition that demanded that women should have the same political rights as men. The women took their petition to Henry Fawcett and John Stuart Mill, two MPs who supported universal suffrage. Mill added an amendment to the Reform Act that would give women the same political rights as men. The amendment was defeated and the members were very disappointed when they heard the news and they decided to form the London Society for Women's Suffrage. The following year, Millicent Fawcett joined the group. The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national movement in the United Kingdom which campaigned for the emancipation of women which was created in 1868. The organisation could be seen as laying the foundations of the women's suffrage movement so that later organisations such as the NUWSS and the WSPU could take the movement further. Similar Women's Suffrage groups were formed all over Britain. One of the most important of these was in Manchester, where Lydia Becker emerged as a significant figure in the movement.
