Women’s Rights Flashcards
All 16 cards in this deck
Who was Emmeline Pankhurst?
Founder (1903) and leader of the WSPU, the Suffragettes, who led the militant campaign for votes for women.
True or false? The Suffragists and the Suffragettes both used militant methods such as window-smashing.
False. The Suffragists (NUWSS, led by Millicent Fawcett) used peaceful methods like petitions and marches; only the Suffragettes (WSPU) used militancy.
What did the Representation of the People Act 1918 do?
Gave the vote to women over 30 who met a property qualification, and to all men over 21. Women's war work in the First World War had helped win support for it.
What did the Equal Pay Act 1970 do?
Made it illegal to pay women less than men for doing the same work (in force from 1975).
Who was Millicent Fawcett?
Leader of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), the Suffragists, from its founding in 1897. She kept the campaign to peaceful, constitutional methods and lived to see women win the vote on equal terms in 1928.
Name one militant method used by the Suffragettes.
Setting fire to post boxes; others included arson attacks on empty buildings, smashing windows and chaining themselves to railings.
How did the government respond to Suffragettes' hunger strikes in prison?
At first it force-fed them; then the 'Cat and Mouse' Act of 1913 let it release weak hunger strikers and re-arrest them once they recovered.
What happened to Emily Davison in 1913?
She ran onto the course at the Epsom Derby, was struck by the King's horse and died; her funeral became a huge Suffragette procession.
What did most suffrage campaigners do when war broke out in 1914?
They stopped campaigning and supported the war effort.
Give one reason, apart from women's war work, why the vote was extended in 1918.
Many soldiers and sailors had lost the vote because it depended on living at a fixed address, so Parliament had to rewrite the franchise; this gave the chance to include women as well.
What did the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 do?
Gave women the vote at 21, on the same terms as men.
What was the 'separate spheres' argument against votes for women?
The belief that women belonged in the home raising children while men dealt with public life and politics.
Who was the first woman to take her seat as an MP?
Nancy Astor, in 1919.
What happened at Ford's Dagenham factory in 1968?
Women sewing machinists went on strike for three weeks over being paid less than men, halting car production; their protest helped bring about the Equal Pay Act 1970.
What did the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 do?
Made it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sex in employment, education and training; the Equal Opportunities Commission was set up to enforce it.
Who became Britain's first female Prime Minister, and when?
Margaret Thatcher, in 1979.