Suffragettes were members of women's organisation (right to vote) movements in the late 19th and

early 20th century, particularly militants in Great Britain such as members of the Women's Social and
Political Union (WSPU).[1][2] Suffragist is a more general term for members of suffrage movement.
The term "suffragette" is particularly associated with activists in the British WSPU, led
by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, who were influenced by Russian methods of protest such
as hunger strikes. Other tactics employed by members of the WSPU included chaining themselves
to railings to provoke an arrest, pouring harsh chemicals into mailboxes, breaking windows at
prestige buildings, and night-time arson at unoccupied buildings. Many suffragettes were imprisoned
in Holloway Prison in London, and were force-fed after going on hunger strike.
New Zealand was the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote in 1893 when all
women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections. [3] Women in South
Australia achieved the same right and also became the first to obtain the right to stand for
Parliament in 1895.[4] In the United States, women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote in the
western territories of Wyoming from 1869 and in Utah from 1870, and in most states outside the
South by 1919. With the ratification in 1920 of the Nineteenth Amendment the suffrage was
extended to women across the United States in time for the 1920 presidential election. Women over
21 were allowed to vote in Canada (except Quebec) from 1919.
Women and men in Britain over the age of 30, meeting certain property qualifications, were given
the right to vote in 1918, and in 1928 suffrage was extended to all women over the age of 21. [5]
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Contents
[hide]

1 Origins

2 Early 20th century in the UK

o

2.1 Imprisonment

2.2 Hunger strikes

2.3 Force feeding

2.4 Legislation

2.5 The Bodyguard

2.6 World War

3 Legacy

4 Colours

5 Popular culture

6 Notable people

6.1 Australia

6.2 Canada

6.3 Ireland

6.4 New Zealand

6.5 Great Britain

6.6 United States

7 See also

8 References

9 Further reading
o

9.1 Primary sources

10 External links

Origins[edit]

Suffragists marching in New York City, 1915

British suffragettes were mostly women from upper and middle-class backgrounds, frustrated by
their social and economic situation. Their struggles for change within society, along with the work of
such advocates for women's rights as John Stuart Mill, were enough to spearhead a movement that
would encompass mass groups of women fighting for suffrage. Mill had first introduced the idea of
women's suffrage on the platform he presented to the British electorate in 1865. [6] He would later be
joined by numerous men and women fighting for the same cause.
The term "suffragette" was first used as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the
London Daily Mail for activists in the movement for women's suffrage, in particular members of
the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).[7]But the objects of the intended ridicule gladly
embraced the term saying "suffraGETtes" (hardening the g) implied not only that they wanted the
vote, but that they intended to get it as well.[8]
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which was founded in 1897, formed of a
collection of local suffrage societies. This union was led by Millicent Fawcett, who believed in
constitutional campaigning, like issuing leaflets, organising meetings and presenting petitions.
However this campaigning did not have much effect. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded a new
organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union. Pankhurst thought that the movement would
have to become radical and militant if it was going to be effective. The Daily Mail later gave them the
name "Suffragettes".[9]
Some of the techniques, especially hunger strikes, were learned from Russian exiles from tsarism
who had escaped to England.[10] Many suffragists at the time, and most historians since, have argued

that the militant suffragettes' actions actually damaged their cause.[11] Opponents at the time saw
evidence that women were too emotional and could not think as logically as men. [12][13][14][15][16]

Early 20th century in the UK[edit]

Memorial edition of The Suffragette newspaper dedicated to Emily Davison

From 1909, the 'Pank-A-Squith' board game was sold by the Women's Social and Political Union to
raise awareness of the suffragette campaign as well as to raise money. The board game is set out in
a spiral, and players must lead their suffragette figure from their home to Parliament, past the
obstacles faced from Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and the Liberal government. ThePeople's
History Museum in Manchester has a 'Pank-A-Squith' board game on display in the Main Galleries,
as well as a replica version for visitors to play.[17]

7 October 1913

1912 was a turning point for the British suffragettes as they turned to using more militant tactics such
as chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to mailbox contents, smashing windows and
occasionally detonating bombs.[18] This was because the Prime Minister at the time, Asquith, nearly
signed a document giving women (over 30 and either married to a property-owner or owning a
property themselves) the right to vote. But he pulled out at the last minute, as he thought the women
may vote against him in the next General Election, stopping his party (Liberals) from getting into
Parliament/ruling the country.
One suffragette, Emily Davison, died under the King's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby of 4 June
1913. It is debated whether she was trying to pin a "Votes for Women" banner on the King's horse or
not.[19] Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on to refuse food as a scare tactic
against the government. The Liberal government of the day led by H. H. Asquith responded with
the Cat and Mouse Act.

Imprisonment[edit]

Emmeline Pankhurst was the most prominent of Britain's suffragettes.

In the early twentieth century until the First World War, approximately one thousand suffragettes
were imprisoned in Britain.[20] Most early incarcerations were for public order offences and failures to
pay outstanding fines, with the first suffragettes Christabel Pankhurst (daughter of Emmeline
Pankhurst) and Annie Kenney imprisoned in October 1905.[21]While incarcerated, suffragettes
lobbied to be considered political prisoners; with a designation as political prisoners, suffragettes
would be placed in the First Division as opposed to the Second or Third Division of the prison
system, and as a political prisoner would be granted certain freedoms and liberties not allotted to
other prison divisions, such as being allowed frequent visits and writing books or articles. [22] However,
due to a lack of continuity between the different courts, suffragettes would not necessarily be placed

in the First Division and could be placed in Second or Third Division, which enjoyed fewer liberties
and were for non-political prisoners.[23]
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.[24] The
WSPU campaigned to get imprisoned suffragettes recognised as political prisoners. However, this
campaign was largely unsuccessful. Citing a fear that the suffragettes becoming political prisoners
would make for easy martyrdom,[25] and with thoughts from the courts and the Home Office that they
were abusing the freedoms of First division to further the agenda of the WSPU, [21] suffragettes were
placed in Second Division, and in some cases the Third Division, in prisons with no special privileges
granted to them as a result.[26]

Hunger strikes[edit]
Following the refusal for suffragettes to be recognised as political prisoners, many suffragettes
began to stage hunger strikes while they were imprisoned. The first woman to refuse food
was Marion Wallace Dunlop, a militant suffragette who was sentenced to be imprisoned for a month
in Holloway for vandalism in July 1909.[27] Without the consultation of suffragette leaders such
as Pankhurst,[28] Dunlop refused food as a protest for being denied political prisoner status; following
a 91-hour hunger strike, and for fear of her becoming a martyr for the suffragette cause, [28] the Home
Secretary Herbert Gladstone made the decision to release her early on medical grounds.[21] Dunlop's
strategy was adopted by other suffragettes who were incarcerated.[29] Soon, it became a common
practice for suffragettes to refuse food in protest of not being designated as political prisoners, and
as a result they would be released after a few days and return to the "fighting line." [30]
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, and
this allowed for prisoners in Second and Third division 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.[31] Hunger strikes began again when Pankhurst was transferred from the Second Division
to the First Division, inciting the other suffragettes to demonstrate regarding their prison status. [32]
Militant suffragette demonstrations subsequently became more aggressive, [21] and the British
Government took action. Unwilling to release all the suffragettes refusing food in prison, [29] in the
autumn of 1909, the authorities began to adopt more drastic measures to manage the hungerstriking suffragettes.

Force feeding[edit]
In September 1909, the Home Office became unwilling to release the hunger-striking suffragettes
before their sentence was served.[30] Suffragettes became a liability because if they were to die in the
prison's custody, the prison would be responsible for their death. Therefore, prisons began the
practice of force feeding the suffragettes through a tube, most commonly a nostril or stomach tube or

a stomach pump.[29] The use of force feeding had previously been practised in Britain, however, its
use had been exclusively for patients in hospitals who were too unwell to eat or swallow food
properly. Despite that this practice had been deemed safe by medical practitioners for sick patients,
it posed health issues for the healthy suffragettes.[28]
The process of tube feeding was strenuous; without the consent of the hunger strikers, they were
typically strapped down and force fed via stomach or nostril tube, often with a considerable amount
of force.[33] Many women found the process painful, and after the practice was observed and studied
by several physicians, it was deemed to have 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.[34] Suffragettes who were force fed were also known to develop pleurisy or
pneumonia as a result of a misplaced tube.[35]

Legislation[edit]
In April 1913, Reginald McKenna of the Home Office passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for
Ill Health) Act 1913, or the Cat and Mouse Act as it was commonly known. This 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 to prison when she regained her health to finish her sentence.
[33]

This enabled the British Government to be absolved of any blame resulting from death or harm

due to the self-starvation of the striker, in addition to ensuring that the suffragettes would be too ill
and too weak to participate in demonstrative activities while not in custody.[29] However, most women
continued with their hunger strikes when they were readmitted to the prison following their leave.
[36]

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 these offences if released were
force fed.[37]

The Bodyguard[edit]
In early 1913 and in direct response to the "Cat and Mouse Act" the WSPU instituted a society of
women known as "The Bodyguard" whose role was to physically protect Emmeline Pankhurst and
other prominent suffragettes from arrest and assault. Known Bodyguard members included
Katherine Willoughby Marshall andGertrude Harding; Edith Margaret Garrud served as
their jujutsu trainer. Members of the Bodyguard participated in several violent actions against the
police in defence of their leaders.[38]

World War[edit]
With the commencement of the First World War, the suffragette movement in Britain moved away
from suffrage activities and focused the efforts of their organisations on the war effort, and as a
result, hunger strikes largely stopped.[39] In August 1914, the British Government released all
prisoners who had been incarcerated for suffrage activities on an amnesty,[40] with Pankhurst ending

all militant suffrage activities soon after.[41] The suffragettes' focus on war work turned public opinion
in favour of their eventual partial enfranchisement in 1918. [42]
Women eagerly volunteered take on many of the traditional male roles this led to a new view of
what a woman was capable of doing. The war also caused a split in the British suffragette
movement, with 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.
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which had always employed "constitutional"
methods, continued to lobby during the war years, and compromises were worked out between the
NUWSS and the coalition government.[43] On 6 February, the Representation of the People
Act 1918 was passed, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who met minimum property
qualifications (as well as men over 21 prior to this not all British men were enfranchised). [44] About
8.4 million women gained the vote.[44] In November 1918, the Parliament (Qualification of Women)
Act 1918 was passed, allowing women to be elected into Parliament. [44] TheRepresentation 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.[45]

Legacy[edit]
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 the streets; the membership of the militant WSPU and the older
NUWSS overlapped and was 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 forcefeeding did that. However 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. This went too far, as the overwhelming majority of suffragists
pulled back and refused to follow because they could no longer defend the tactics. They increasingly
repudiated the suffragettes as an obstacle to achieving suffrage, saying the militant suffragettes
were now aiding the antis, and many historians agree. Searle says the methods of the suffragettes
did succeed in damaging the Liberal party but failed to advance the cause of woman suffrage. When
the Pankhursts decided to stop the militancy at the start of the war, and enthusiastically support the
war effort, the movement split and their leadership role ended. Suffrage did come four years later,
but the feminist movement in Britain permanently abandoned the militant tactics that had made the
suffragettes famous.[46][47]
Whitfield concludes that the militant campaign had some positive effects in terms of attracting
enormous publicity, and forcing the moderates to better organise themselves, while also stimulating
the organisation of the antis. He concludes:

The overall effect of the suffragette militancy, however, was to set back the cause of
women's suffrage. For women to gain the right to vote it was necessary to demonstrate that
they had public opinion on their side, to build and consolidate a parliamentary majority in
favour of women's suffrage and to persuade or pressure the government to introduce its own
franchise reform. None of these objectives was achieved.[48]

Colours[edit]

Pendant presented toLouise Eates in 1909

From 1908, the WSPU adopted the colour scheme of purple, white and green: purple
symbolised dignity, white purity, and green hope. These three colours were used for banners,
flags, rosettes and badges, They also would carry heart shaped vesta cases, and appeared in
newspaper cartoons and postcards.[49]
Mappin & Webb, the London jewellers, issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery for
Christmas 1908.
In 1909 the WSPU presented specially commissioned pieces of jewellery to leading
suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Louise Eates. Some Arts and Crafts jewellery of the
period incorporated the colours purple, white and green using enamel and semi-precious stones
such as amethysts, pearls, and peridots. However jewellery that incorporated these stones was
already quite common in women's jewellery during the late 19th century, before 1903 and could
not be connected with the suffragettes, before the WSPU adopted the colours. Also, it is a
popular myth that the colours were green, white, and violet, to spell GWV as an acronym for
"Give Women Votes".[50]
The colours of green and heliotrope (purple) were commissioned into a new coat of arms
for Edge Hill University in 2006, symbolising the University's early commitment to the equality of
women through its beginnings as a women-only college.[51]

Popular culture[edit]

The character of Mrs. Banks in the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins sings the
song Sister Suffragette in celebration of the suffrage movement.

The character of Maggie DuBois in the 1965 film The Great Race is a vocal suffragette.

The 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels portrays events in the American suffrage movement circa
1910, concentrating on the suffrage careers of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns.

The Year of the Bodyguard (1982) is a televised docudrama about the Bodyguard unit of the
WSPU.

The 1974 BBC TV series Shoulder to Shoulder portrays events in the British militant suffrage
movement, concentrating on the lives of members of the Pankhurst family.

The 2008 telefilm The 39 Steps features the character Victoria Sinclair, who is both a spy
and a suffragette.

The women's suffrage movement is the basis of an ongoing subplot in the 2013 television
drama series Mr. Selfridge and in individual episodes of the seriesUpstairs,
Downstairs and Downton Abbey.

The song "Suffragette" by Nina Gordon

The 2013 BBC sitcom Up the Women depicts a group of women forming a women's
suffrage movement and makes reference to suffragettes. Would carry vesta case and would
smoke.

The song "Suffragette City" by David Bowie

The 2015 graphic novel trilogy Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons portrays the
adventures of the WSPU Bodyguard society