14.2.1

The Suffragists (NUWSS)

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The Campaign for Women’s Suffrage

Women started campaigning to gain the vote in the 1800s.

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Women's voting

  • By the start of the 20th century, members of Parliament (MPs) were under more pressure to give women the vote.
  • Between 1906 and 1913, new laws to give women the vote were put to parliament six times.
    • The proposals failed each time.
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Early suffrage efforts

  • In 1866, campaigners set up a petition demanding votes for women.
    • The petition gained 1500 signatures but was rejected.
  • In 1867, Lydia Becker formed the Manchester Society for Women's Suffrage.
    • Similar societies across England in Scotland were set up in places such as London, Bristol, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
    • The separate groups kept the campaign going by organising more petitions, writing, and lecturing.
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The Suffragists (NUWSS)

  • In 1897, Millicent Fawcett linked all the different suffrage organisations into the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
  • The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was a national organisation.
  • The NUWSS were known as the suffragists.
    • The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was democratic with members electing the president and committee.
    • Fawcett was president of the NUWSS for more than 20 years.
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Expansion of NUWSS

  • By 1914, the NUWSS had over 400 branches and 100,000 members.
    • The membership was mainly middle class women, but also included working class women particularly in the North of England.
    • Men were allowed to join and a few did.
    • The NUWSS focused on using peaceful methods such as holding talks and lectures, writing letters and petitions.
  • In 1907, they organised a procession of 3000 in London.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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