Reasons why Women Gained the Right to Vote by 1928 - Essay Factors

Reasons why Women Won the Right to Vote by 1928: Set The Scene:In the early 19th century no female citizens in Britain were given the right to vote and society regarded women as 'second class citizens' who lived in different spheres to men. However, as time passed the idea of giving women the right to vote was taken more seriously and several factors contributed to the vote eventually being given.Intro/Conclusion Factors:Arguably, the most important factor in women gaining the right to vote by 1928 was the Suffragists, who were led by Millicent Fawcet. The Suffragists, or NUWSS used peaceful tactics in order to gain political and public attention and they also gained the support of the Labour Party and Trade Unions. The movement acquired a huge following and by 1914 the NUWSS had 53000 members.Secondly, another factor of great significance in women gaining the right to vote by 1928 was the Suffragettes, or the WSPU, who had split from the NUWSS and used more daring and violent tactics in order to gain publicity for the cause of women's suffrage. Some of the actions of the WSPU included a hunger strike in 1909 and the heckling of a British minnister in Government. Although the WSPU's tactics lost support from the Government and the public, the gained a mass amount of publicity from the cause of women's votes.Another important factor in women gaining the right to vote by 1928 was Changing society. Before 1839 women's rights were extremely limited and were objectified by males. However once society began to change their views on women, and no longer considered them inferior to men, various acts such as the Infant Custody Act and the Women's Property Act allowed women to have a far greater amount of rights. However, these changes happened in a very slow manor and would not have resulted in women gaining the right to vote on its own. A less important factor in women gaining the right to vote was The Great War which highlighted to British society that women were more than capable of running male industries such as engineering or heavy manufacturing whilst the men were away at war. The Munitionettes grabbed public attnetion for their dangerous, life threatening work, however they were now the women who were 'rewarded' for their war efforts. Instead it was the middle and upper class women who were given the vote before the hard working, brave women of Britain and political attitudes were still not supportive post-war of women gaining the vote.Lastly, and arguably the least significant in women gaining the right to vote, was Foreign Examples. Many other countries in the world faced the issue of women's suffrage as well as Britain and countries such as New Zeland, Canada and Australia were beginning to deal with this issue. As these countries who were part of the British Empire began to give women increased rights and the right to vote, Women in Britain were inspired by this and campaign groups grew more dedicated and persuasive in order to gain the vote. However, Foreign Examples were not forceful enough to cause a significant change and the British Government took little notice of these changes.