Study Guides

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils analyse why it took so long for women to win the vote in Britain. They learn about the position of women in the early twentieth century, the campaigns for suffrage and the government's responses to these campaigns and women's contributions during the Great War.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain the peaceful tactics of the early suffrage movement and how it was brought together by Fawcett to form the NUWSS.

Key Notes

• Despite opposition to female suffrage, a number of suffrage groups were set up across the country from the 1860s.
• In 1897, Millicent Fawcett set up the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
• The NUWSS preferred peaceful means such as writing letters to MPs.
• Early campaigns for women's suffrage involved a mixture of middle- and working-class women.
• Early campaigns for women's suffrage had failed to gain women the right to vote by 1914.

Vocabulary To Learn

• suffrage: the right to vote
• suffragist: a person advocating for the extension of the right to vote; especially to women

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• The suffrage movement always involved violent or illegal tactics as well as peaceful and legal ones.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• The contribution of women during WW1 Study Guide
• The government's response to the suffragettes Study Guide
• The position of women in the early twentieth century Study Guide
• The suffragettes Study Guide
• Why it took so long for women to get the vote in Britain Study Guide