Source 8, is an anti-Suffrage poster, typical of the attitude Suffragettes faced. The poster showing, ‘Suffragettes who have never been kissed’ shows the women as well groomed, high class ‘snoblike’ ladies. This poster is a stereotype and does not work in favour of the Suffragettes and makes them look greedy and demanding. They also look very fragile and innocent, to weak and unintelligent to be able to vote.
Source 11 is a Suffragette postcard, which focuses on the cruelty of the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ passed by the Liberal Government. The purpose of the postcard is to depict the unfair way in which the government dealt with hunger strikers by raising public sympathy. For these reasons the source was successful, gaining support for the Suffragettes whilst making the Liberal Government look bad. In other ways, some people considered the Suffragettes a ‘nuisance’ and would therefore consider the Act one of the only ways to deal with the extremists. In conclusion this source was both successful and unsuccessful in its use.
Source 12 shows police arresting a Suffragette who has chained herself to the railings of Buckingham Palace, May 1914. The purpose of the source was to show people what the Suffragettes were like in their protesting. From my own knowledge I know that the source was not in Suffragette favour in the respect that it shows them using violent methods of protest. On the other hand, however, the picture does raise sympathy for the Suffragette in the viscous manner in which the policeman handles her. It also provides publicity for them, by getting them in the public eye. This source is both successful and unsuccessful to the campaign for women’s suffrage.
Source 16 is a newspaper photograph taken on the 5th June 1913. It shows the events that lead to the death of Suffragette Emily Davidson. From my own knowledge, I know she died whilst attempting to tie a Suffragette Banner to the side of the King’s horse. Emily, was a strong follower of the Suffragette campaign and many people were initially lead to believe she had died for the cause, to become a martyr to all Suffrage supporters. Although it was later discovered Emily had bought a return train ticket for that day, the Suffragettes named her a martyr and thousands gathered to her funeral. Despite Emily Davidson’s tragically ending attempt to gain publicity in the way she was planning. This was a valuable source for the Suffragette cause, it showed their indisputable dedication and proved their campaign was not just about violence.
Source 20 is a comment from Lloyd George opposing women’s suffrage. His point based around violence explains that women should not be using violent methods to try and win female suffrage. The more the government suffer, the less likely they will be to grant female suffrage. This source shows the unsuccessful side to the Suffragette campaign, by using violence people were even more opposed to the idea of giving women the vote as through their acts nothing would be achieved. This was even the view of the Suffragists who feared the Suffragettes were the worst enemy of gaining women the vote.
In conclusion, I think many of the protests and posters the groups produced worked in their favour gaining them the publicity they craved. However, despite both parties campaigning towards the same aim their methods lead to great conflict. Posters and meetings were successful yet didn’t gain enough of the publics attention, whilst violence gave a false representation of women in the public eye. With both parties in conflict, neither could be truly successful until they learnt to join together and work as a unit.