Key Topic 1: The Liberals, votes for women and social reform
Lesson plan page 9
A woman’s place
Lesson objectives:By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- describe the main role of women in 1900
- identify the reasons why some people believed that women should not be given the vote
- explain the reasons why some people believed women should be given the vote.
Starter
Activity 1: ask students to identify from Source B on page 9 the view of a woman’s main role that is presented in the painting.
Possible responses: a woman’s role is shown as a mother, although she is also helping bring in some of the harvest. Ask students to consider whether doing work would have been true of women in all sections of society. It was much less likely for wealthier women to work than working-class women. Ask students to consider the kind of job that women might be employed in. Traditional female occupations included: nursing, teaching, domestic service.
Development
Activity 2: explain that women in 1900 were not allowed to vote. Students design a poster or a pamphlet presenting either the view that women should not be given the vote or presenting the case for women being given the vote. The pamphlets/posters should include information about: the role of women; the capabilities of women; the possible consequences if women were given the vote. The poster pamphlet should also include a cartoon illustration. Students should use information on page 9. In addition, the National Archives website provides excellent primary source information and explanation on the case for and against women’s suffrage, which could be used for further research and is available at: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/britain1906to1918/g3/gallery3.htm
Possible responses: The case in favour of women gaining the vote: as intelligent as men, so just as capable of exercising the vote responsibly, e.g. women beginning to go to university and some becoming doctors; already a precedent for women using the vote sensibly in the local elections in which they were allowed to vote; other countries, e.g. New Zealand had already given women the vote; women are capable of being involved in politics and continuing their role in the home. The case against women gaining the vote: women were too emotional to use their vote wisely (they may just vote for the most handsome candidate); most women did not work and their role was in the home which meant that they should not have a say in political issues since they would be badly informed and it would distract them from their duties in the home; women did not fight to defend their country so they should not be given the vote; women were already represented by their husbands; some women did not want to vote.
Conclusion
Ask students to consider what was changing which meant there was increasing pressure in the campaign to give women the vote c.1900.
Possible responses: the roles of women were changing as more women were going to university for the first time, becoming doctors for the first time and other countries were giving the vote to women, which highlighted the unfairness of the system which did not let them vote, although they were just as capable as men.
Lesson plan pages 10–11
The women’s societies
Lesson objectives:By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- describe the aims and methods of the suffragists
- describe the aims and methods of the suffragettes
- evaluate the strengths and limitations of different methods of protest.
Starter
Activity 1: students fill in Worksheet 1a to indicate the methods of protest that they would use if they were running a campaign in favour of women being given the vote.
Explain to students that if they have chosen to use a majority of the non-violent methods of protest that they would probably have been a member of the suffragists, and if they have chosen predominantly violent methods of protest then they would have been a suffragette.
Development
Activity 2: students write a profile for the NUWSS and the WSPU using the information on pages 10–11. The profiles should include: 1. full name and initials of the organisation; 2. date established; 3. name of the founder; 4. main methods of protest used by the organisation.
Activity 3: students consider the strengths and limitations of the approach taken by each movement, using the information on pages 10-11 and their responses in Worksheet 3a.
Possible responses: many of the non-violent methods of protest have the advantage of gaining a large volume of support and making women appear reasonable by presenting the rational argument for women gaining the vote. Many of these methods also present women as intelligent, responsible and capable people who would be able to exercise the vote sensibly. The limitation of some of the non-violent methods of protest is that they could be easily ignored by the government or would take a long time to lead to real benefits. The more militant methods of protest have the advantage that they will attract mass publicity for the cause, could not easily be ignored by the government and show the determination of the women to gain to vote. The limitations of the more militant activities include: the government would be unlikely to give in to violence; the tactics presented women as emotional and impulsive, which may not encourage the belief that they could use the vote sensibly; the extreme tactics would put moderates off supporting the campaign.
Conclusion
Ask students to vote to show whether they would have joined the suffragists or the suffragettes and to give a reason for their choice.
Homework
Students design a campaign poster for either the suffragettes or the suffragists explaining their aims, their leaders and some of the campaign activities.
Worksheet 1a (pages 10-11)
Possible methods of getting the vote for women
You are involved in campaigning in favour of women gaining the vote. Indicate in the table below which of the possible methods of protest you would use and the advantages/disadvantages of this method.Possible method of protest / What are the advantages/disadvantages of this method? / Would you use this method? Yes/No?
1. Produce books, leaflets, posters promoting your case.
2. Attack politicians who refuse to give women the vote, e.g. break their windows; insult them publicly.
3. Hold mass meetings of women who support the cause.
4. Work to improve education opportunities for girls.
5. Try to get women accepted in professions like medicine and the law.
6. Attack the places where men meet in their free time, e.g. cricket clubs.
7. Protest by chaining yourself to railings in London.
8. Go on hunger strike.
9. Do not allow men to join your campaign.
10. Support male candidates in elections who were in favour of women’s suffrage.
Lesson plan pages 12–13
Militancy and protest
Lesson objectives:By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- describe the main methods of protest used by the suffragettes, 1903–1914
- explain the reasons for the changes in suffragette tactics
- evaluate the usefulness of a source.
Starter
Activity 1: students complete the line graph on Worksheet 1b to show the changing level of violence of the suffragettes’ tactics between 1903 and 1914.
Possible responses: the graph should show a rise in militancy of the tactics, rising most steeply at g, 1912 and h, 1913 and then dropping dramatically at i, 1914 when the suffragettes called off their violent campaigning.
Additional activity: show students two newsreel clips of suffragette activities: the first a peaceful demonstration march; the second a report on arson attacks, available from the National Archives at: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/britain1906to1918/g4/cs1/g4cs1s10b.htm
Development
Activity 2: students read pages 12–13. Ask students to answer the following question: What happened in 1911 that might explain the considerable increase in violent tactics used by the suffragettes?
Possible responses: the prime minister, Asquith, decided against extending the vote to women in 1911. The suffragettes felt betrayed and extremely angry with the government, which fuelled their violent campaign.
Activity 3: students read ‘The “Suffragette Derby: 1913’ on page 13. Students look at the Pathé film of the event available from the National Archive website at: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/britain1906to1918/g4/cs1/g4cs1s6.htm . Ask students their responses to the film: was a deliberate suicide or a protest that went wrong?
Possible responses: a protest that went wrong: it is possible Davison misjudged the gap between the horses; the King’s horse (which hit her) was the leader of the second group of horses; the collision occurred just after a corner in the course and it is possible that Davison could not see/misjudged the speed of the horses which came upon her more quickly than she expected; Davison seems to freeze in front of the King’s horse, this may have been due to terror which temporarily paralysed her. A suicide: Davison seems to stand still in front of the King’s horse, which suggests she wanted it to hit her.
Activity 4: students practise evaluating the usefulness of sources by answering the examination question on page 13: How useful are Sources A and C as evidence of the work of the suffragettes?
Conclusion
Ask students to consider whether the view of Emily Wilding Davison presented in Source D might have been widely shared. If not, what other view of her action might there have been? Possible responses: anger that she had endangered the life of a horse and jockey; evidence of the irrationality of women and that they should not be given the vote as they would not be capable of exercising it sensibly and it would be giving in to violence.
Worksheet 1b (pages 12-13)
Militancy and protest by the suffragettes
Mark each of the methods of protest used by the suffragettes listed below on the graph with an ‘X’ to show the level of violence. Draw a line through all the ‘Xs to produce a line graph. There will not be an ‘X’ for every year.a) Suffragettes organised meetings of women supporters (1903).
b) Suffragettes produced pamphlets (1904).
c) Some suffragettes refused to pay taxes to the government as it would not let them vote (1905).
d) Suffragettes disrupted political meetings in the Houses of Parliament using loud hailers from the River Thames and heckled anti-suffrage politicians on the streets (1906).
e) Suffragettes chained themselves to railings in London (1908).
f) Some imprisoned suffragettes went on hunger strike, and prison authorities responded by force-feeding them (1909).
g) Suffragettes launched a massive campaign of window smashing and many were imprisoned (1912).
h) Suffragettes set fire to post boxes, cut telegraph wires, committed arson attacks on the homes of politicians, put bombs in warehouses and defaced valuable paintings in museums (1913).
i) Suffragettes called off their violent campaigns (1914).
Lesson plan pages 14–15
Reactions to suffragettes (1)
Lesson objectives:By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- identify the reasons for opposition to the suffragettes
- evaluate whether violent methods helped to get the vote
- explain the purpose of a source.
Starter
Activity 1: students look at Sources A and C on pages 14-15. Ask students to explain the purpose of these sources by considering whether these posters support the suffragettes.
Possible responses: Source A does not support the suffragettes; it is mocking women and jokingly shows a way to silence them by nailing their tongues to the table; it does not take women’s rights seriously. Source C similarly does not take the suffragette hunger strike protests seriously since the suffragette on hunger strike is shown to ‘give in’ to the smell of ‘Plasmon Oats’ porridge and therefore is not very determined in her cause.
Development
Activity 2: students read pages 14-15 and think about how the government responded to the violent campaign of the suffragettes, particularly the hunger strikes in prison. Students write a definition of the powers of the ‘Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act’ (hunger strikers should be released from prison when they became weak, but should be rearrested once their strength had recovered). Ask students to answer the following questions: Why did the government pass this law? (the government did not want any suffragettes to die in prison from hunger striking as this would make the government look brutal; the government also did not want to attract criticism for force-feeding hunger strikers since this was a rather brutal procedure). Why did the law become known as the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’? (this was because the treatment of suffragettes by the government reminded people of how a mouse is treated by a cat).
Activity 3: students evaluate how far the violent methods of the suffragettes were a help or a hindrance to the cause of women’s suffrage. Students use Worksheet 1c to sort the evidence according to whether it supports the suffragette campaign as helpful or condemns their tactics as a hindrance to the cause. Students should record the evidence in a table and briefly summarise their own view as a conclusion about how far the suffragettes were a help or hindrance to the cause of women’s suffrage.
Possible responses: cards which support the idea that the suffragettes were a help to the cause: A, E, B, F; cards which claim the suffragettes were a hindrance: C, G, D, H.
Conclusion
Ask the students to vote on how far they think the suffragette campaign was a help or hindrance to the cause of women’s suffrage. Ask students if they can think of a way to synthesise both arguments. For example, in the short term the suffragette militancy made it less likely the government would give women the vote since they would not want to give in to violence, but in the longer term if, for some reason, the suffragettes called off their violent campaigning, the government might be more likely to give women the vote than if there had never been the suffragette campaign because it would be impossible to ignore the issue due to the publicity caused by the suffragettes.
Worksheet 1c (pages 14-15)
Did the suffragettes help or hinder the cause for women’s suffrage?
Lesson plan pages 16–17
Reactions to suffragettes (2)
Lesson objectives:By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- describe the impact of the First World War on the activities of the suffragettes
- identify the role of women in the First World War
- explain why women gained the vote in 1918.
Starter
Activity 1: students read the section ‘Suffragettes and the War’ on page 16. Remind students of the graph they drew on Worksheet 1b, which showed the suffragettes calling off their violent campaigning during the war. Ask students to look at Source D on page 16 and to identify the impression it gives of women during the First World War.
Possible responses: the photograph shows women working in a munitions factory in the First World War. The workers in the factory are almost entirely women; they are hard working. Their work (making shells and ammunition) was essential to the war effort and dangerous (danger of explosions in the factory; chemical poisoning from the TNT; the factories were often targets of German Zeppelin and aircraft bombing raids). Ask students to list other jobs that might have been done by women during the First World War: farm work (Women’s Land Army); military administration; nursing; transport workers.
Development
Activity 2: students write a short speech from the point of view of former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, who had been opposed to giving the vote to women in 1911, but who in 1918 said ‘I find it impossible to withhold from women the power and right of making their voices heard’, explaining the reasons for him changing his mind. Students should refer to the work done by women during the war and explain why this made him more in favour of giving women the vote.
Possible responses: the work done by women was essential to the war effort and they should be rewarded for helping their country by being able to vote for its government; women, by taking on jobs previously done almost exclusively by men, had shown they were as able as men and so should be allowed to vote like men.
Activity 3: ask students to consider reasons why in 1918 it was only women over 30 who were allowed to vote, whereas the vote was given to men over 21.
Possible responses: it was believed that women over 30 would be more conservative and more likely to use the vote responsibly than younger women; it was more likely that women over 30 would be married and thus would be influenced by their husbands in how to vote; if women were given the vote on the same age terms as men, it would mean that far more women would have the vote than men since there was a larger proportion of women than men, especially following the losses of soldiers in the First World War.
Activity 4: students prepare for a debate or write an answer to the statement: ‘Women were given the vote entirely as a reward for their war work’. How far do you agree with this statement? Useful primary source material is available from the National Archives at: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/britain1906to1918/g4/gallery4.htm
Conclusion
Ask students to vote according to which of the following statements is most true: 1. ‘Women were given the vote due both to the suffragettes and women’s war work, but mainly due to the suffragettes.’ 2. ‘Women were given the vote due both to the suffragettes and women’s war work, but mainly due to the war work.’ 3. ‘Women were given the vote only due to their war work.’
Lesson plan pages 18–19