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Suffrage Movement Heroes

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Suffrage Movement Heroes

Read the short information panel, then use the clues and your own historical thinking to answer.

Three campaigners, different approaches

In the early 1900s, women in Britain campaigned for the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Emmeline Pankhurst helped found the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903, abbreviated WSPU. Its members became known as suffragettes. The organisation used direct action, and some members were imprisoned. Millicent Garrett Fawcett led the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, abbreviated NUWSS, whose campaign relied on peaceful methods such as meetings, petitions and lobbying. Supporters of this approach were often called suffragists. Emily Wilding Davison was a suffragette. In 1913, at the Epsom Derby, she ran onto the racecourse and was struck by the King’s horse; she died from her injuries. Historians continue to discuss exactly what she intended to do. In 1918, some women aged 30 and over gained the vote if they met property qualifications. In 1928, women gained the vote on the same terms as men, at age 21.

Read the evidence

Use the information panel above for Questions 1–10.

1.Write the abbreviation for the organisation Emmeline Pankhurst helped found in 1903.

2.Which abbreviation identifies the organisation led by Millicent Garrett Fawcett?

3.True or false? The organisation led by Fawcett campaigned using peaceful methods, including petitions and lobbying.

TrueFalse

4.Match each campaigner to the description that fits them.

Emmeline Pankhurst
Millicent Garrett Fawcett
Emily Wilding Davison

Died after being struck by the King’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby
Helped found the organisation abbreviated WSPU
Led the organisation abbreviated NUWSS and its peaceful campaign

5.What does the word suffrage mean in this campaign?

6.In what year did some women aged 30 and over gain the vote, subject to property qualifications?

7.When did women gain the vote on the same terms as men, at age 21?

8.Give one difference between the methods used by the direct-action organisation and the peaceful organisation.

9.Why should a historian be careful when explaining exactly what Emily Wilding Davison intended at the Epsom Derby?

10.Which campaign approach do you think might persuade people more effectively: peaceful lobbying or direct action? Give one reason. There is no single correct opinion; support it with a reason.