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133-522: The Anti-Sixteenth Amendment Society was an American anti-suffrage group in the late nineteenth century. It was formed in 1869. Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren was the leader and other prominent women were involved. Members of the group opposed giving women the right to vote and petitioned the United States Congress against women's suffrage . The Anti-Sixteenth Amendment Society was formed in 1869 and led by Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren . It

266-864: A counterpublic that espoused a democratic defense of the status quo for women and men in society. Countries in the Western World began to explore giving women the equal right to vote around the mid 19th century, beginning with the Wyoming Territory in 1869. Areas with the most visible women's suffrage movements were Great Britain and in the United States , although women's suffrage movements took place in many Western countries. Anti-suffrage activities began to emerge in many countries as women publicly advocated for suffrage. Anti-suffrage movements were present in Australia through

399-549: A first-day cover and postage stamp released by Australia Post in March 1975. The colours have since been adopted by government bodies such as the National Women's Advisory Council and organisations such as Women's Electoral Lobby and other women's services such as domestic violence refuges and are much in evidence each year on International Women's day . The colours of green and heliotrope (purple) were commissioned into

532-624: A "coherent rationale for opposing women's enfranchisement." Anti-suffrage dramas were also published between the mid-1800s and up to the 1920s. The first playwright to create anti-suffrage plays was William Bentley Fowle , who wrote the one-act play for amateurs, Women's Rights , published in 1856. Later plays were adapted for the professional stage, such as The Rights of Man (1857) by Oliver S. Leland and Election Day (1880) by Frank Dumont . Nellie Locke published an anti-suffrage drama in 1896, called A Victim of Women's Rights . Many anti-suffrage dramas were overtly political and incorporated

665-439: A "right," but as a "duty" and that women already had their own unique responsibilities and duties in the domestic sphere . Also, since Antis believed that governments had authority due to "force," women wouldn't be able to "enforce the laws they may enact." Anti-suffragists, such as Josephine Dodge , argued that giving women the right to vote would overburden them and undermine their privileged status. They saw participation in

798-511: A 92-hour hunger strike, and for fear of her becoming a martyr, the Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone decided to release her early on medical grounds. Dunlop's strategy was adopted by other suffragettes who were incarcerated. It became common practice for suffragettes to refuse food in protest for not being designated as political prisoners, and as a result they would be released after a few days and could return to

931-456: A WSPU meeting at which Garrud spoke. As suffragettes speaking in public increasingly found themselves the target of violence and attempted assaults, learning jujitsu was a way for women to defend themselves against angry hecklers. Inciting incidents included Black Friday , during which a deputation of 300 suffragettes were physically prevented by police from entering the House of Commons , sparking

1064-417: A considerable amount of force. The process was painful, and after the practice was observed and studied by several physicians, it was deemed to cause both short-term damage to the circulatory system , digestive system and nervous system and long-term damage to the physical and mental health of the suffragettes. The first suffragette to be forcibly-fed was Evaline Hilda Burkitt , who, between 1909 and 1914

1197-558: A designation, suffragettes would be placed in the First Division as opposed to the Second or Third Division of the prison system, and as political prisoners would be granted certain freedoms and liberties not allotted to other prison divisions, such as being allowed frequent visits and being allowed to write books or articles. Because of a lack of consistency between the different courts, suffragettes would not necessarily be placed in

1330-443: A difference. She also said that activists ought to advocate revolution rather than seek greater privileges within an inherently unjust system. Anti-suffragists saw women's efforts to gain the vote to be all surface dressing with a lack of serious intent to change the world for the better. Other Antis believed that social reform was better accomplished through trade unions and non-partisan groups. Progressives criticized suffrage in

1463-494: A journalist, wrote "Give women everything she wants, but not the ballot. Open every field of learning, every avenue of industry to her, but keep her out of politics." Dodge encouraged women to become involved in "charitable, philanthropic and educational activities." It was also cited that women had made reforms such as raising the age of consent without the vote and that gaining this right was, therefore, unnecessary and could even be harmful to further reform movements. The thought

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1596-663: A martyr to the cause. However, recent analysis of the film of the event suggests that she was merely trying to attach a scarf to the horse, and the suicide theory seems unlikely as she was carrying a return train ticket from Epsom and had holiday plans with her sister in the near future. In the early 20th century until the outbreak of World War I , approximately one thousand suffragettes were imprisoned in Britain. Most early incarcerations were for public order offences and failure to pay outstanding fines. While incarcerated, suffragettes lobbied to be considered political prisoners; with such

1729-636: A meeting at her home in Manchester to form a breakaway group, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). From the outset, the WSPU was determined to move away from the staid campaign methods of NUWSS and instead take more positive action: It was on October 10, 1903 that I invited a number of women to my house in Nelson Street, Manchester, for purposes of organisation. We voted to call our new society

1862-570: A member of the Central Organising Committee or a member. It was issued under the names of thirty peeresses who would become prominent anti-suffragists, as well as a number of peers and MPs. However, the first meeting of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League only took place the following year on 21 July, at the Westminster Palace Hotel with Lady Jersey in the chair. Seventeen persons were nominated to

1995-460: A near-riot and allegations of both common and sexual assault. Members of the "Bodyguard" orchestrated the "escapes" of a number of fugitive suffragettes from police surveillance during 1913 and early 1914. They also participated in several violent actions against the police in defence of their leaders, notably including the "Battle of Glasgow" on 9 March 1914, when a group of about 30 Bodyguards brawled with about 50 police constables and detectives on

2128-466: A new coat of arms for Edge Hill University in Lancashire in 2006, symbolising the university's early commitment to the equality of women through its beginnings as a women-only college. During the 1960s, the memory of the suffragettes was kept alive in the public consciousness by portrayals in film, such as the character Mrs Winifred Banks in the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins who sings

2261-486: A new view of what women were capable of. The war also caused a split in the British suffragette movement; the mainstream, represented by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst's WSPU calling a ceasefire in their campaign for the duration of the war, while more radical suffragettes, represented by Sylvia Pankhurst 's Women's Suffrage Federation continued the struggle. Prominent British-Indian suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh ,

2394-620: A niche in the Temple of Fame which will last for all time". In 1929 a portrait of Emmeline Pankhurst was added to the National Portrait Gallery 's collection. In 1987 her former home at 62 Nelson Street, Manchester, the birthplace of the WSPU, and the adjoining Edwardian villa (no. 60) were opened as the Pankhurst Centre , a women-only space and museum dedicated to the suffragette movement. Christabel Pankhurst

2527-527: A platform of patriotism . Australia stood out as one of the few members of the British Empire where women held the right to vote at the turn of the twentieth century. Consequently, they were held accountable when the 1916 referendum on compulsory overseas military service was defeated. Publications advocating anti-suffragism utilized the emotions and politics surrounding forced enlistment for men to argue against women's enfranchisement in other parts of

2660-539: A result. Suffragettes were not recognised as political prisoners , and many of them staged hunger strikes while they were imprisoned. The first woman to refuse food was Marion Wallace Dunlop , a militant suffragette who was sentenced to a month in Holloway for vandalism in July 1909. Without consulting suffragette leaders such as Pankhurst, Dunlop refused food in protest at being denied political prisoner status. After

2793-486: A stomach pump. Force-feeding had previously been practised in Britain but its use had been exclusively for patients in hospitals who were too unwell to eat or swallow food. Despite the practice being deemed safe by medical practitioners for sick patients, it posed health issues for the healthy suffragettes. The process of tube-feeding was strenuous without the consent of the hunger strikers, who were typically strapped down and force-fed via stomach or nostril tube, often with

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2926-477: A term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the London Daily Mail to describe activists in the movement for women's suffrage , in particular members of the WSPU. But the women he intended to ridicule embraced the term, saying "suffraGETtes" (hardening the 'g'), implying not only that they wanted the vote, but that they intended to 'get' it. The non-militant suffragists found favour in

3059-537: A tool to fight against the suffrage movement. An Anti-suffrage correspondence had taken place in the pages of The Times through 1906–1907, with further calls for leadership of the anti-suffrage movement being placed in The Spectator in February 1908. Possibly as early as 1907, a letter was circulated to announce the creation of a National Women's Anti-Suffrage Association and inviting recipients to become

3192-712: A trustee of the Hovey Fund , denied access to the capital necessary to launch their campaign. Consequently, the conflict over money misdirected the suffragists’ attentions from Phillips to the Black Suffragism movement he funded instead. Ultimately, the instability between the two parties would prolong the cause of anti-suffragists for another fifty years until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920. Anti-suffragists helped contribute to war relief work during World War I . NAOWS contributed to

3325-515: A very anti-suffrage stance. The American Revolution established universal ideas of equality and natural rights as the hallmark of American policy. This juxtaposed women's customary and now legal exclusion with the public sanctions they had been granted to act politically in the role of the Republican wife or mother and the competency displayed by female politicians. An expanding franchise for white men, moved political action indoors and women to

3458-629: A watch with attachment for explosion, but was clumsily fitted. If it had exploded when the streets were crowded a number of people would probably have been injured. There are reports in the Parliamentary Papers which include lists of the 'incendiary devices', explosions, artwork destruction (including an axe attack upon a painting of The Duke of Wellington in the National Gallery ), arson attacks, window-breaking, postbox burning and telegraph cable cutting, that took place during

3591-472: A women-only movement founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst , which engaged in direct action and civil disobedience . In 1906, a reporter writing in the Daily Mail coined the term suffragette for the WSPU, derived from suffragist (any person advocating for voting rights), in order to belittle the women advocating women's suffrage. The militants embraced the new name, even adopting it for use as

3724-471: The Manchester Guardian : Friends of the women suffrage movement are entitled to reckon the great demonstration at Heaton Park yesterday, arranged by the Women's Social and Political Union, as somewhat of a triumph. With fine weather as an ally the women suffragists were able to bring together an immense body of people. These people were not all sympathisers with the object, and much service to

3857-938: The Anti-Suffrage Review from December 1908 until 1918. It gathered 337,018 signatures on an anti-suffrage petition and founded the first local branch in Hawkenhurst in Kent. The first London branch was established in South Kensington under the auspices of Mary, Countess of Ilchester. Soon after, in May 1910, a Scottish branch was organised into the Scottish National Anti-Suffrage League by the Duchess of Montrose . By December of that year, there were 26 branches or sub-branches in

3990-492: The Belgian war relief effort. Many anti-suffrage groups highlighted their charitable efforts, painting themselves as "self-sacrificing." They wanted the country to see that women could make a difference without the vote, however, it was partly the efforts of women aiding the war that helped women gain the vote in the end. There were several concerns that drove the anti-suffrage argument. Anti-suffragists felt that giving women

4123-621: The Contemporary Review , in which she said: It surely will not be denied that women have, and ought to have, opinions of their own on subjects of public interest, and on the events which arise as the world wends on its way. But if it be granted that women may, without offence, hold political opinions, on what ground can the right be withheld of giving the same expression or effect to their opinions as that enjoyed by their male neighbours? Two further petitions were presented to parliament in May 1867 and Mill also proposed an amendment to

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4256-556: The General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) from officially endorsing suffrage until 1914. Anti-suffragism was not limited to conservative elements. The anarchist Emma Goldman opposed suffragism on the grounds that women were more inclined toward legal enforcement of morality (as in the Women's Christian Temperance Union ), that it was a diversion from more important struggles, and that suffrage would ultimately not make

4389-541: The Manx women a determination to secure the franchise, and on 31 January 1881, women on the island who owned property in their own right were given the vote. In Manchester, the Women's Suffrage Committee had been formed in 1867 to work with the Independent Labour Party (ILP) to secure votes for women, but, although the local ILP were very supportive, nationally the party were more interested in securing

4522-717: The United States Congress was published by nineteen women in Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine in opposition to votes for women, the first instance of the mobilization from anti-suffrage women. Women turned out at the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1894 to protest women's suffrage. In 1895, the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women (MAOFESW)

4655-851: The Utah Territory as a cynical Mormon ploy, resulting in the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act . Another argument employed by anti-suffragists related to the issue of the uninformed voter. This argument was grounded not so much in opposition to women's right to vote, but rather in the concern that their participation would exacerbate an already overtaxed ballot system. The steady rise in immigration between 1850 and 1880 made this rationale popular among middle-class voters, who suggested that these new voters were "illiterate, unfamiliar with democracy, or inclined to sell their votes for liquor or money." Educational requirements were proposed to counter these concerns but became contentious with

4788-547: The school board . Other critics, such as Alice Stone Blackwell , pointed out that the anti-suffrage groups exaggerated certain claims, such as membership numbers. Critics also argued that there were no new arguments presented over time. Anti-suffrage groups were also criticized for being "inconsistent" in that they wanted women out of the public sphere, yet they gathered together into public lobbying groups against suffrage. The Valley Independent wrote in 1915 that any organization that wanted to oppose women's suffrage and which

4921-560: The "fighting line". After a public backlash regarding the prison status of suffragettes, the rules of the divisions were amended. In March 1910, Rule 243A was introduced by the Home Secretary Winston Churchill , allowing prisoners in the Second and Third Divisions to be allowed certain privileges of the First Division, provided they were not convicted of a serious offence, effectively ending hunger strikes for two years. Hunger strikes began again when Pankhurst

5054-556: The 1867 Reform Act to give women the same political rights as men, but the amendment was treated with derision and defeated by 196 votes to 73. The Manchester Society for Women's suffrage was formed in January 1867, when Jacob Bright , Rev. S. A. Steinthal, Mrs. Gloyne, Max Kyllman and Elizabeth Wolstenholme met at the house of Louis Borchardt . Lydia Becker was made Secretary of the Society in February 1867 and Richard Pankhurst

5187-715: The 1870s. However, as Suffragettes in Ireland became more militant, more organized anti-suffrage campaigns emerged. An Irish branch of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League was started in 1909 in Dublin . This branch of the League also opposed suffrage in Britain as well. Irish opposition to the women's vote was both religious and cultural. Both Catholic and Protestant churches in Ireland wanted women's influence to remain domestic in nature. Women were closely associated with their husbands for legal and political purposes and it

5320-532: The 1880s and 1890s. Anti-suffrage organizations in Australia were "closely associated with the Conservative Party, manufacturing interests and anti- socialist forces." The Australian media took part in the anti-suffrage movement, and depicted women as being "weak and unintelligent," emotional and too involved in domestic and trivial matters. The Australian anti-suffragist movement was founded on

5453-481: The 700-year-old Coronation Chair , only caused minor damage. Places that wealthy people, typically men, frequented were also burnt and destroyed whilst left unattended so that there was little risk to life, including cricket pavilions, horse-racing pavilions, churches, castles and the second homes of the wealthy. They also burnt the slogan "Votes for Women" into the grass of golf courses. Pinfold Manor in Surrey, which

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5586-502: The Anti-Sixteenth Amendment Society believed that giving women the vote would hurt the family structure. In addition, they believed that women had enough duties at the home and they did not want to "bear other and heavier burdens." Anti-suffragism The anti-suffrage movement was a counter movement opposing the social movement of women's suffrage in various countries. It could also be considered

5719-454: The Cat and Mouse Act, the WSPU instituted a secret society of women known as the "Bodyguard" whose role was to physically protect Emmeline Pankhurst and other prominent suffragettes from arrest and assault. Known members included Katherine Willoughby Marshall , Leonora Cohen and Gertrude Harding ; Edith Margaret Garrud was their jujitsu trainer. The origin of the "Bodyguard" can be traced to

5852-472: The Enfranchisement of Women . Becker was inspired to help gather signatures around Manchester and to join the newly formed Manchester committee. Mill presented the petition to Parliament in 1866, by which time the supporters had gathered 1499 signatures, including those of Florence Nightingale , Harriet Martineau , Josephine Butler and Mary Somerville . In March 1867, Becker wrote an article for

5985-404: The First Division and could be placed in the Second or Third Division, which enjoyed fewer liberties. This cause was taken up by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a large organisation in Britain, that lobbied for women's suffrage led by militant suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. The WSPU campaigned to get imprisoned suffragettes recognised as political prisoners. However, this campaign

6118-640: The Home Office passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 , or the Cat and Mouse Act as it was commonly known. The act made the hunger strikes legal, in that a suffragette would be temporarily released from prison when their health began to diminish, only to be readmitted when she regained her health to finish her sentence. The act enabled the British Government to be absolved of any blame resulting from death or harm due to

6251-497: The Pethick-Lawrences were arrested, tried and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. On their release, the Pethick-Lawrences began to speak out publicly against the window-smashing campaign, arguing that it would lose support for the cause, and eventually they were expelled from the WSPU. Having lost control of Votes for Women the WSPU began to publish their own newspaper under the title The Suffragette . The campaign

6384-475: The Republic (1897) was a lauded anti-suffrage book that described the reasons for opposing women's right to vote. Other books, such as Molly Elliot Seawell's The Ladies' Battle (1911), Ida Tarbell's The Business of Being a Woman (1912), Grace Duffield Goodwin's Anti-Suffrage: Ten Good Reasons (1915) and Annie Riley Hale's The Eden Sphinx (1916) were similarly well received by the media and used as

6517-678: The WSPU and to raise money for the treatment of her son, Harry, who was gravely ill. By this time the suffragettes' tactics of civil disorder were being used by American militants Alice Paul and Lucy Burns , both of whom had campaigned with the WSPU in London. As in the UK, the suffrage movement in America was divided into two disparate groups, with the National American Woman Suffrage Association representing

6650-591: The WSPU at the other end. The unveiling of this dual memorial was performed on 13 July 1959 by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir . The Pankhurst's name and image and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters are etched on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square , London that was unveiled in 2018. In 1903, the Australian suffragist Vida Goldstein adopted

6783-562: The WSPU colours for her campaign for the Senate in 1910 but got them slightly wrong since she thought that they were purple, green and lavender. Goldstein had visited England in 1911 at the behest of the WSPU. Her speeches around the country drew huge crowds and her tour was touted as "the biggest thing that has happened in the women movement for sometime in England". The correct colours were used for her campaign for Kooyong in 1913 and also for

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6916-577: The WSPU grew it became fashionable for women to identify with the cause by wearing the colours, often discreetly in a small piece of jewellery or by carrying a heart-shaped vesta case and in December 1908 the London jewellers, Mappin & Webb , issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery in time for the Christmas season. Sylvia Pankhurst said at the time: "Many suffragists spend more money on clothes than they can comfortably afford, rather than run

7049-647: The Women , the 2015 graphic novel trilogy Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons and the 2015 film Suffragette . In recognition of having meetings at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Suffragettes were inducted into the Hall's Walk of Fame in 2018, making them one of the first eleven recipients of a star on the walk, joining Eric Clapton , Winston Churchill , Muhammad Ali and Albert Einstein , among others who were viewed as "key players" in

7182-422: The Women's Social and Political Union, partly to emphasise its democracy, and partly to define its object as political rather than propagandist. We resolved to limit our membership exclusively to women, to keep ourselves absolutely free from party affiliation, and to be satisfied with nothing but action on our question. 'Deeds, not words' was to be our permanent motto. The term "suffragette" was first used in 1906 as

7315-517: The antis also felt that they were oppressed and had lost much perceived political power by 1917. Anti-suffrage movements in the American South included an appeal to conservatism and white supremacy . In Virginia , the NAOWS chapter even linked race riots to women's suffrage. Once the nineteenth amendment was passed, some women who opposed suffrage exercised this right. They took

7448-500: The cause must have been rendered by merely collecting so many people and talking over the subject with them. The organisation, too, was creditable to the promoters...The police were few and inconspicuous. The speakers went by special [tram]car to the Bury Old Road entrance, and were escorted by a few police to several platforms. Here the escorts waited till the speaking was over, and then accompanied their respective charges back to

7581-535: The causes of women's and black suffrage. This division has been attributed to a number of factors, including personal biases of women suffragists. However, some scholars argue for a reexamination of the assumption that women's suffrage was "ahead of its time" during the Reconstruction era. Relations between the two movements soured when the 1867 Kansas suffrage referendum proved unsuccessful for both causes. Women suffragists found themselves unable to endorse

7714-559: The central committee at this meeting, including Mrs Humphry Ward in the chair of the Literary Committee and Gertrude Bell as secretary. Other members were Mrs. Frederic Harrison , Miss Lonsdale , Violet Markham and Hilaire Belloc MP. Beatrice Chamberlain served as the editor of the Anti-Suffrage Review . The League's aims were to oppose women being granted the parliamentary franchise, though it did support their having votes in local and municipal elections. It published

7847-540: The claims of suffragists. The anti-suffrage movement began in the United States after the Massachusetts State legislature introduced a proposal to promote female voting rights. Two hundred women opposed this initiative as they did not want women to gain full citizenship. Though nothing became of this proposal, its introduction mobilized the suffrage movement on both sides. In 1871, a petition to

7980-505: The conditions of the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted voting rights to black men but omitted provisions for women's suffrage. Historian Faye E. Dudden suggests that the content of Stanton and Anthony's speeches in the year prior to the Fifteenth Amendment's ratification indicates their belief that they were capitalizing on a historic moment of political opportunity that would not recur in their lifetime. Wendell Phillips ,

8113-567: The country to suffer from what she saw as a terrible decision to allow women to vote. The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment also kickstarted a coalition of anti-suffragists who organized themselves into a political anti-feminist movement in order to "oppose expansion of social welfare programs, women's peace efforts, and to foster a political culture hostile to progressive female activists. This coalition effectively blended anti-feminism and anti-radicalism by embracing and utilizing

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8246-520: The country, a total which grew to 82 by April 1909, and 104 in July 1910. It was announced that 2000 subscriptions had been received by December, 1908, rising to 9000 in July, 1909. In 1910, the group amalgamated with the Men's League for Opposing Woman Suffrage to form the National League for Opposing Women's Suffrage with Lord Cromer as president and Lady Jersey as vice-president. The merger

8379-609: The courtesy of expounding their views without interruption, the audience were outraged, and when the women unfurled a "Votes for Women" banner they were both arrested for a technical assault on a policeman. When Pankhurst and Kenney appeared in court they both refused to pay the fine imposed, preferring to go to prison to gain publicity for their cause. In July 1908 the WSPU hosted a large demonstration in Heaton Park , near Manchester with speakers on 13 separate platforms including Emmeline, Christabel and Adela Pankhurst. According to

8512-439: The empire. In the lead-up to the 1917 referendum, feminine emotionalism was cited as evidence that women had no place in politics. Newspaper coverage of the referendum placed blame on women's belief that "they would be condemning men to death if they voted ‘yes’.” Anti-suffragists consistently pointed to the defeat of Australia's referenda as evidence to support their assertion of the universal unreliability of women voters. Even in

8645-726: The energy they were investing in the anti-suffrage movement and turned it towards supporting the platform of the Republican party. Former members of anti-suffrage groups in New York became involved in the Women's National Republican Club . In this way, they left the private sphere and entered the public sphere, one of the things that they were resisting in their anti-suffrage efforts. Former anti-suffragist, Ida Tarbell , pointed out that it would take some time for women to get comfortable with voting. Some women didn't vote or get involved in politics. Others, like Annie Nathan Meyer advocated for all anti-suffrage women to not vote in order to allow

8778-399: The face of loyal efforts by Australian women, such as those within the Australian Women's National League (AWNL), opponents of suffrage persisted in characterizing Australian women's participation in the referenda as a failure to fulfill their responsibilities. Canadian men and women both became involved in debating the women's suffrage movement in the late 19th century. Women's suffrage

8911-405: The first woman to be elected an MP was Constance Markievicz but, in line with Sinn Féin abstentionist policy, she declined to take her seat in the British House of Commons. The first woman to do so was Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor , following a by-election in November 1919. In the autumn of 1913, Emmeline Pankhurst had sailed to the US to embark on a lecture tour to publicise the message of

9044-419: The flag of the Women's Peace Army, which she established during World War I to oppose conscription. During International Women's Year in 1975 the BBC series about the suffragettes, Shoulder to Shoulder , was screened across Australia and Elizabeth Reid , Women's Adviser to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam directed that the WSPU colours be used for the International Women's Year symbol. They were also used for

9177-409: The franchise for working-class men and refused to make women's suffrage a priority. In 1897, the Manchester Women's Suffrage committee had merged with the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) but Emmeline Pankhurst, who was a member of the original Manchester committee, and her eldest daughter Christabel had become impatient with the ILP, and on 10 October 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst held

9310-470: The government and treason . They were also accused of being socialists , " Bolsheviks " or "unpatriotic German sympathizers." The Texas branch of the NAOWS accused women's suffrage groups of being linked to "socialism, anarchy and Mormonism ." Accusations of being associated with unpopular radical movements was named after the second president of NAOWS, Alice Wadsworth, and called "Wadsworthy" attacks. In addition to associating suffrage with radicalism,

9443-400: The hunger-strikers. In September 1909, the Home Office became unwilling to release hunger-striking suffragettes before their sentence was served. Suffragettes became a liability because, if they were to die in custody, the prison would be responsible for their death. Prisons began the practice of force-feeding the hunger strikers through a tube, most commonly via a nostril or stomach tube or

9576-424: The hysteria of the post-World War I Red Scare." There was contemporary criticism of the anti-suffrage movement in the United States. One criticism was that anti-suffragists did not present a consistent argument against suffrage. Other arguments were seen as inconsistent, such as Antis claiming that voting meant women must hold office, when members of anti-suffrage groups were already holding offices such as being on

9709-496: The image of women as peaceful people that the anti-suffragists had been striving to preserve. Anti-suffragists used these acts as reasons to show that women were unable to handle political matters and that both genders had different strengths. Women writers promoted anti-suffragism through their wide readerships by raising questions of what ideal women were to be like. Women's suffrage movements had been going on in Ireland since

9842-456: The issue of suffrage. Most historical evidence shows that ordinary women did not have much interest in the right to vote before the first World War and also after suffrage had been granted to women. The Women's National Anti-Suffrage League was established in London on 21 July 1908. Its aims were to oppose women being granted the vote in British parliamentary elections, although it did support their having votes in local government elections. It

9975-526: The king 's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby , made headlines around the world. The WSPU campaign had varying levels of support from within the suffragette movement; breakaway groups formed, and within the WSPU itself not all members supported the direct action. The suffragette campaign was suspended when World War I broke out in 1914. After the war, the Representation of the People Act 1918 gave

10108-621: The marginalization of women. Figures like William Lloyd Garrison , leader of the American Anti-Slavery Society , advocated for the collaboration of women and blacks in their respective causes. However, other abolitionists argued that simultaneous promotion of women's rights would detract from the cause of black suffrage. By 1869, a split between race and gender had formed. Pioneers of the women's suffrage movement, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony , adopted overtly racist rhetoric that served to distance

10241-595: The methods of the suffragettes harmed the Liberal Party but failed to advance women's suffrage. When the Pankhursts decided to stop their militancy at the start of the war and enthusiastically support the war effort, the movement split and their leadership role ended. Suffrage came four years later, but the feminist movement in Britain permanently abandoned the militant tactics that had made the suffragettes famous. After Emmeline Pankhurst's death in 1928, money

10374-702: The miseries of the poor." The archives of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics , ref 2WNA . The Library and Archives division of the Georgia Historical Society have a collection of broadsides from the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage from 1917 to 1919. The documents appear to be printed by state affiliates of

10507-539: The more militant campaign and the International Women's Suffrage Alliance taking a more cautious and pragmatic approach Although the publicity surrounding Pankhurst's visit and the militant tactics used by her followers gave a welcome boost to the campaign, the majority of women in the US preferred the more respected label of "suffragist" to the title "suffragette" adopted by the militants. Many suffragists at

10640-450: The most militant years, from 1910 to 1914. Both suffragettes and police spoke of a "Reign of Terror"; newspaper headlines referred to "Suffragette Terrorism". One suffragette, Emily Davison , died under the King 's horse, Anmer, at The Derby on 4 June 1913. It is debated whether she was trying to pull down the horse, attach a suffragette scarf or banner to it, or commit suicide to become

10773-479: The most serious outrage yet perpetrated by the Suffragettes": Policemen discovered inside the railings of the Bank of England a bomb timed to explode at midnight. It contained 3oz of powerful explosive, some metal, and a number of hairpins – the last named constituent no doubt to make known the source of the intended sensation. The bomb was similar to that used in the attempt to blow up Oxted Railway Station. It contained

10906-575: The national group. One of the documents was issued by The Men's Anti-Ratification League of Montgomery, Alabama. Suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom . The term refers in particular to members of the British Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU),

11039-468: The parcel. In 1911 suffragette organisations urged women and supporters of women's enfranchisement to boycott the 1911 census . Some wrote "Votes for Women" or other slogans on their census returns and others evaded the census by hiding overnight. Most famously, Emily Wilding Davison hid in the House of Commons overnight so that she could be enumerated in Parliament. 1912 was a turning point for

11172-516: The periphery. By expanding the franchise to include all white men, Americans "devised a social order in which supposed biological differences, as defined by gender and race, determined relative status.” While men were involved in the anti-suffrage movement in the United States , most anti-suffrage groups were led and supported by women. In fact, more women joined Anti-suffrage groups than suffrage associations, until 1916. While these groups openly stated that they wanted politics to be left to men, it

11305-446: The police, chained themselves to railings, smashed windows, carried out a nationwide bombing and arson campaign , and faced anger and ridicule in the media. When imprisoned they went on hunger strike , not eating for days or even a week, to which the government responded by force-feeding them. The first suffragette to be force fed was Evaline Hilda Burkitt . The death of one suffragette, Emily Wilding Davison , when she ran in front of

11438-473: The press, as they were not hoping to get the franchise through 'violence, crime, arson and open rebellion'. At a political meeting in Manchester in 1905, Christabel Pankhurst and millworker, Annie Kenney , disrupted speeches by prominent Liberals Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey , asking where Churchill and Grey stood with regards to women's political rights. At a time when political meetings were only attended by men and speakers were expected to be given

11571-446: The private sphere as essential to a woman's role and thought that giving them public duties would prevent them from fulfilling their primary responsibilities in the home. Anti-suffragists claimed that they represented the "silent majority" of America who did not want to enter the public sphere by gaining the right to vote. Being against women's suffrage didn't mean, however, that all Antis were against civic pursuits. Jeanette L. Gilder ,

11704-516: The ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. Educated women voiced their resentment that less educated and frequently illiterate men should have the right to vote before themselves. The anti-suffrage movement began to change in its position against suffrage in 1917, expanding their scope to include anti- radical rhetoric. The anti-suffrage movement focused less on the issue of suffrage and began to spread fear of radical ideas and to use "conspiratorial paranoia." Suffragists were accused of subversion of

11837-448: The right for women to vote was a multifaceted phenomenon in which women themselves played a major part. One reason for women's opposition was their belief that women were equal to men (although women were expected to be "equal" in different spheres from men); and that women already had significant moral authority in society, which they would lose if they entered the corrupt world of partisan politics. Anti-suffragists were also appalled by

11970-492: The right to vote would threaten the family institution. Illinois anti-suffragist, Caroline Corbin felt that women's highest duties were motherhood and its responsibilities. Some saw women's suffrage as in opposition to God's will. Antis such as Catharine Beecher and Sara Josepha Hale both shared a religiously based criticism of suffrage and believed women should be only involved with Kinder, Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen and church). Some anti-suffragists did not want

12103-448: The risk of being considered outré, and doing harm to the cause". In 1909 the WSPU presented specially commissioned pieces of jewellery to leading suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst and Louise Eates . The suffragettes also used other methods to publicise and raise money for the cause and from 1909, the " Pank-a-Squith " board game was sold by the WSPU. The name was derived from Pankhurst and the surname of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith , who

12236-542: The self-starvation of the striker and ensured that the suffragettes would be too ill and too weak to participate in demonstrative activities while not in custody. Most women continued hunger striking when they were readmitted to prison following their leave. After the Act was introduced, force-feeding on a large scale was stopped and only women convicted of more serious crimes and considered likely to repeat their offences if released were force-fed. In early 1913 and in response to

12369-602: The society formed a committee to draft a petition and gather signatures, which Mill agreed to present to Parliament once they had gathered 100 signatures. In October 1866, amateur scientist Lydia Becker attended a meeting of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science held in Manchester and heard one of the organisors of the petition, Barbara Bodichon , read a paper entitled Reasons for

12502-572: The song " Sister Suffragette " and Maggie DuBois in the 1965 film The Great Race . In 1974 the BBC TV series Shoulder to Shoulder portraying events in the British militant suffrage movement and concentrating on the lives of members of the Pankhurst family, was shown around the world. And in the 21st century the story of the suffragettes was brought to a new generation in the BBC television series Up

12635-449: The special car. There was little need, apparently, for the escort. Even the opponents of the suffrage claim who made themselves heard were perfectly friendly towards the speakers, and the only crowding about them as they left was that of curiosity on the part of those who wished to have a good look at the missioners in the cause. Stung by the stereotypical image of the strong minded woman in masculine clothes created by newspaper cartoonists,

12768-749: The stage of St Andrew's Hall in Glasgow. The fight was witnessed by an audience of some 4500 people. At the commencement of World War I, the suffragette movement in Britain moved away from suffrage activities and focused on the war effort, and as a result, hunger strikes largely stopped. In August 1914, the British Government released all prisoners who had been incarcerated for suffrage activities on an amnesty, with Pankhurst ending all militant suffrage activities soon after. The suffragettes' focus on war work turned public opinion in favour of their eventual partial enfranchisement in 1918. Women eagerly volunteered to take on many traditional male roles – leading to

12901-404: The states of Colorado and Idaho from 1893 and 1896 respectively. In 1865 John Stuart Mill was elected to Parliament on a platform that included votes for women, and in 1869 he published his essay in favour of equality of the sexes The Subjection of Women . Also in 1865, a women's discussion group, The Kensington Society , was formed. Following discussions on the subject of women's suffrage,

13034-496: The streets. The membership of the militant WSPU and the older NUWSS overlapped and were mutually supportive. However, a system of publicity, Ensor argues, had to continue to escalate to maintain its high visibility in the media. The hunger strikes and force-feeding did that, but the Pankhursts refused any advice and escalated their tactics. They turned to systematic disruption of Liberal Party meetings as well as physical violence in terms of damaging public buildings and arson. Searle says

13167-525: The suffragettes resolved to present a fashionable, feminine image when appearing in public. In 1908, the co-editor of the WSPU's Votes for Women newspaper, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence , designed the suffragettes' colour scheme of purple for loyalty and dignity, white for purity, and green for hope. Fashionable London shops Selfridges and Liberty sold tricolour-striped ribbon for hats, rosettes, badges and belts, as well as coloured garments, underwear, handbags, shoes, slippers and toilet soap. As membership of

13300-458: The suffragettes, as they turned to using more militant tactics and began a window-smashing campaign. Some members of the WSPU, including Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and her husband Frederick, disagreed with this strategy but Christabel Pankhurst ignored their objections. In response to this, the Government ordered the arrest of the WSPU leaders and, although Christabel Pankhurst escaped to France,

13433-753: The third daughter of the exiled Sikh Maharajah Duleep Singh , campaigned for support for the British Indian Army and lascars working in the Merchant Navy . She also joined a 10,000-woman protest march against the prohibition of a volunteer female force. Singh volunteered as a British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse, serving at an auxiliary military hospital in Isleworth from October 1915 to January 1917. The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies , which had always employed "constitutional" methods, continued to lobby during

13566-458: The time, and some historians since, have argued that the actions of the militant suffragettes damaged their cause. Opponents at the time saw evidence that women were too emotional and could not think as logically as men. Historians generally argue that the first stage of the militant suffragette movement under the Pankhursts in 1906 had a dramatic mobilising effect on the suffrage movement. Women were thrilled and supportive of an actual revolt in

13699-537: The title of the newspaper published by the WSPU. Women had won the right to vote in several countries by the end of the 19th century; in 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant the vote to all women over the age of 21. When by 1903 women in Britain had not been enfranchised , Pankhurst decided that women had to "do the work ourselves"; the WSPU motto became "deeds, not words". The suffragettes heckled politicians, tried to storm parliament, were attacked and sexually assaulted during battles with

13832-520: The use of farce to paint suffragists as "self-absorbed" and "mannish in dress and manner." They also criticized the idea of the New Woman in general and advocated for women and men to occupy separate spheres of influence. The Remonstrance , a journal published by the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women (MAOFESW) between 1890 and 1920 was used to promote anti-suffrage ideas and also to react to and refute

13965-476: The violent tactics of suffragettes, who had attacked Members of Parliament with whips and a hatchet. Many female maternal reformers, who sought to protect women's defined spheres of motherhood, education, philanthropy, and civil service, felt that women were the better sex for preserving British society through social service to their communities rather than by meddling with politics. Many women had little desire to participate in politics, and believed that to do so

14098-460: The vote because they felt it violated traditional gender norms . Many anti-suffragists felt that if women gained the vote there would be an end to "true womanhood." There were also those who thought that women could not handle the responsibility of voting because they lacked knowledge of that beyond the domestic sphere and they feared the government would be weakened by introducing this ill-informed electorate. Anti-suffragists did not see voting as

14231-517: The vote to women over the age of 30 who met certain property qualifications. Ten years later, women gained electoral equality with men when the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 gave all women the right to vote at age 21. Although the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency) had enfranchised women who owned property to vote in parliamentary ( Tynwald ) elections in 1881, New Zealand

14364-589: The war years and compromises were worked out between the NUWSS and the coalition government. On 6 February, the Representation of the People Act ;1918 was passed, enfranchising all men over 21 years of age and women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications, gaining the right to vote for about 8.4 million women. In November 1918, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918

14497-538: Was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1936, and after her death in 1958 a permanent memorial was installed next to the statue of her mother. The memorial to Christabel Pankhurst consists of a low stone screen flanking her mother's statue with a bronze medallion plaque depicting her profile at one end of the screen paired with a second plaque depicting the "prison brooch" or "badge" of

14630-513: Was argued that husband's votes were sufficient to allow a woman's political expression. Irish nationalism also played a role in anti-suffrage movements. Because of the nationalistic movements going on in Ireland, both men and women nationalists opposed giving women the vote because they were prioritizing Irish Home Rule . A nationalist paper, Bean na hÉireann , which was published by the Inghinidhe na hÉirann (Daughters of Ireland), took

14763-570: Was being built for the Chancellor of the Exchequer , David Lloyd George , was targeted with two bombs on 19 February 1913, only one of which exploded, causing significant damage; in her memoirs, Sylvia Pankhurst said that Emily Davison had carried out the attack. There were 250 arson or destruction attacks in a six-month period in 1913 and in April the newspapers reported "What might have been

14896-618: Was created and is noted to be the first effort of the anti-suffragists to institutionalize their cause. In Des Moines, Iowa , 35 women formed the Iowa Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1898. California , Illinois , New York , Oregon , South Dakota and Washington all formed groups by 1900. Ohio formed an anti suffrage group, the Ohio Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1902. The New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

15029-579: Was debated in the Legislative Assembly in New Brunswick starting in 1885, and anti-suffrage "testimonies" began to appear in the newspapers around that time. Organized campaigns against women's suffrage began in earnest in 1905, around the same time that suffragettes were turning to militant tactics. In general, most ordinary women had prioritized domestic and family life over paid employment and political activism when it came to

15162-442: Was force-fed 292 times. Mary Richardson was recognized as the second suffragette to be force fed while imprisoned, describing her experience as "torture" and an "immoral assault." Some suffragettes who were force-fed developed pleurisy or pneumonia as a result of a misplaced tube. Women who had gone on hunger strike in prison received a Hunger Strike Medal from the WSPU on their release. In April 1913, Reginald McKenna of

15295-479: Was founded at a time when there was a resurgence of support (though still by a minority of women) for the women's suffrage movement. The Women's National Anti-Suffrage League, publisher of the Anti-Suffrage Review , submitted a petition to Parliament in 1907 with 87,500 names, but it was rejected by the Petitions Committee of Parliament as "informal". The Anti-Suffrage Review also used shame as

15428-673: Was founded in 1897, and by 1908 it had over 90 members. It was active in producing pamphlets and publications explaining their views of women's suffrage, until the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed in 1920. A Geneva branch was founded in 1909. The suffragists in New York often extended invitations to open discussion with the anti-suffragists. The New York association had its own magazine, The Anti-Suffragist , published by Mrs. William Winslow Crannell from July 1908 to April 1912. The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS)

15561-410: Was in effect a takeover, as the president of the former organization, Lord Cromer, became president of the new one. In 1912 Lord Curzon and Lord Weardale became joint presidents. By 1914, there were around 15,000 members. The organization continued its activities and the publication of the Anti-Suffrage Review until 1918 when both came to an end as women's suffrage was granted. The opposition to

15694-542: Was largely hated by the movement. The board game was set out in a spiral, and players were required to lead their suffragette figure from their home to parliament, past the obstacles faced from Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and the Liberal government. Also in 1909, suffragettes Daisy Solomon and Elspeth McClelland tried an innovative method of potentially obtaining a meeting with Asquith by sending themselves by Royal Mail courier post; however, Downing Street did not accept

15827-605: Was largely unsuccessful. Citing a fear that the suffragettes becoming political prisoners would make for easy martyrdom, and with thoughts from the courts and the Home Office that they were abusing the freedoms of the First Division to further the agenda of the WSPU, suffragettes were placed in the Second Division, and in some cases the Third Division, in prisons, with no special privileges granted to them as

15960-495: Was made up of powerful and affluent men and started out with around 600 members opposed to women's suffrage. The cause of anti-suffragism was furthered by the friction between the women's and black suffrage movements prior to the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment . The connection between the two movements arose during the 1830s when abolitionist activists' rhetoric linked the subordination of enslaved people to

16093-405: Was made up of women "leaves a bad taste in our mouth." Some critics were "almost contemptuous," such as Anna Howard Shaw , who said, "You'd think they would have loyalty enough to their sex not to make us all out a set of fools." Shaw believed that Antis were "puppets of more power male forces." Florence Kelley called anti-suffragists "lazy, comfortable, sheltered creatures, caring nothing for

16226-502: Was more often women addressing political bodies with anti-suffrage arguments. The first women-led anti-suffrage group in the United States was the Anti-Sixteenth Amendment Society . The group was started by Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren in 1869. During the fight to pass the nineteenth amendment , women increasingly took on a leading role in the anti-suffrage movement. Helen Kendrick Johnson's Woman and

16359-539: Was one of the earliest members of the executive committee. An 1874 speaking event in Manchester organised by Becker, was attended by 14-year-old Emmeline Goulden , who was to become an ardent campaigner for women's rights, and later married Pankhurst becoming known as Emmeline Pankhurst . During the summer of 1880, Becker visited the Isle of Man to address five public meetings on the subject of women's suffrage to audiences mainly composed of women. These speeches instilled in

16492-463: Was passed, allowing women to be elected into parliament. The Representation of the People Act 1928 extended the voting franchise to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms that men had gained ten years earlier. The 1918 general election , the first general election to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918 , was the first in which some women (property owners older than 30) could vote. At that election,

16625-490: Was raised to commission a statue, and on 6 March 1930 the statue in Victoria Tower Gardens was unveiled. A crowd of radicals, former suffragettes and national dignitaries gathered as former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin presented the memorial to the public. In his address, Baldwin declared: "I say with no fear of contradiction, that whatever view posterity may take, Mrs. Pankhurst has won for herself

16758-567: Was run by Josephine Dodge and Minnie Bronson . Alice Hay Wadsworth , wife of James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. , assumed leadership of the association when it moved its headquarters from New York to Washington D.C. in 1917. NAOWS produced The Woman's Protest , a newsletter that helped defeat close to forty woman suffrage referendums. Everett P. Wheeler , a lawyer from New York, created the Man-Suffrage Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1913. This organization

16891-418: Was that women were able to influence the government because they were seen as politically neutral and non-partisan and giving them the right to vote would strip them of this unique position. In addition, because voting is "only a small part of government," they believed there was no need to vote in order to participate in politics. This particular line of reasoning, that women should stay out of politics, kept

17024-462: Was the first national organization of women who challenged the fight for women's suffrage. Several state associations assembled for an anti-suffrage convention in New York City and formed the NAOWS. The association gained significant momentum between 1912 and 1916 and was operational in twenty-five states. The NAOWS was said to have as many as 350,000 members. At the start, the organization

17157-522: Was the first self-governing country to grant all women the right to vote in 1893, when women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in all parliamentary elections. Women in South Australia achieved the same right and became the first to obtain the right to stand for parliament in 1895. In the United States, women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote in the  western territories  of Wyoming from 1869 and Utah from 1870, as well as in

17290-592: Was the first women-led anti-suffrage group in the United States. The first two meetings were held at Dahlgren's home. Other members included Catherine Beecher , Almira Lincoln Phelps, and Mrs. William Tecumseh Sherman. The group sent a petition to the United States Congress against women's suffrage and reprinted the petition in Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine . The reprinted petition was copied by anti-suffragists who used it to collect around five thousand signatures which were given to Congress in February 1871. Members of

17423-548: Was then escalated, with the suffragettes chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to post box contents, smashing windows and eventually detonating bombs, as part of a wider bombing campaign . Some radical techniques used by the suffragettes were learned from Russian exiles from tsarism who had escaped to England. In 1914, at least seven churches were bombed or set on fire across the United Kingdom, including Westminster Abbey , where an explosion aimed at destroying

17556-412: Was transferred from the Second Division to the First Division, inciting the other suffragettes to demonstrate regarding their prison status. Militant suffragette demonstrations subsequently became more aggressive, and the British Government took action. Unwilling to release all the suffragettes refusing food in prison, in the autumn of 1909, the authorities began to adopt more drastic measures to manage

17689-537: Was women just imitating men, instead of using the moral authority that came from being "real women." Some feared that the right to vote would lead to uninformed women in making decisions on important political matters. Since Britain was in the process of colonizing other regions around the globe, some viewed the right to vote as a threat to their imperial power as it would make the British look weak to other nations who were male oriented still. Some suffragist female groups developed militant and violent tactics which tarnished

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