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Year 9

The right to vote and the role of women in the 1920s and 1930s

I can assess the impact the campaign for female suffrage had on the role of women in British society.

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New
New
Year 9

The right to vote and the role of women in the 1920s and 1930s

I can assess the impact the campaign for female suffrage had on the role of women in British society.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. By 1900, many women believed the ability to vote was essential to further improve the lives of women.
  2. Suffragists and suffragettes campaigned for the franchise for women using very different tactics.
  3. Women's contribution during the First World War helped women win the franchise in 1918.
  4. Winning the franchise did not immediately lead to a radical transformation in the status and position of women.
  5. Young women in urban areas began to challenge traditional social expectations for women during the 1920s.

Common misconception

Winning the right to vote in 1919 led to a radical transformation in the status and position of women in society in the 1920s and 1930s.

Although the Representation of the People Act of 1919 was a significant turning point, Britain in the 1920s and 1930s remained a very patriarchal society.

Keywords

  • Franchise - the franchise is the ability to vote

  • Suffrage - suffrage is the right to vote

  • Suffragist - a suffragist was a person who campaigned for women’s right to vote using peaceful methods

  • Suffragette - a suffragette was a person who campaigned for women’s right to vote using militant, sometimes violent, methods

  • Flapper - a flapper was a more independent, fashionable woman who challenged traditional ideas about how women were expected to behave in the 1920s

Ask pupils to compare and contrast the role of women in the 1920s and 30s and the period 1750-1900 and to discuss the amount of change and continuity. Pupils could be asked to stand on an opinion line ('Significant change' to 'No change') and justify their positions.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Middle class men were expected to earn enough to keep their wife and children in comfort; in return, their wives were expected to be like an ________ and devote their time to their families.
'enchantress in the castle'
'halo on the roof'
Correct answer: 'angel in the home'
'mother hen in the coop'
Q2.
What piece of legislation prevented women from working more than ten hours a day in any place which employed more than fifty people?
1870 Factory Act
1870 Education Act
1867 Education Act
Correct answer: 1867 Factory Act
Q3.
By 1900, what fraction of all teachers were women?
Correct Answer: three-quarters, Three-quarters, three quarters, 3/4, Three quarters
Q4.
Who found fame as a nurse during the Crimean War (1853-1856)?
Mary Cornellys
Correct answer: Florence Nightingale
Elizabeth Cooke
Isabella Whitney
Q5.
By the end of the 19th century, work, like teaching and nursing, was considered to be a predominately female occupation.
Correct Answer: clerical, Clerical
Q6.
Which of the following suggest that, despite improvements, women in the workplace were still seen as less important than men in the 19th century?
could work in whatever job they wanted
Correct answer: often expected to resign when married
Correct answer: paid less than men for the same jobs
Correct answer: often excluded from the most senior roles
could ask for a pay rise whenever they wanted

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What keyword describes a woman who challenged traditional expectations of women in the 1920s?
Correct Answer: flapper, Flapper, flappers, Flappers
Q2.
In which year were married women finally recognised as individuals by the law instead of being regarded as the property of their husbands?
1897
1900
Correct answer: 1884
1903
Q3.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:franchise,the ability to vote

the ability to vote

Correct Answer:suffrage,the right to vote

the right to vote

Correct Answer:suffragist,a campaigner for women’s right to vote using peaceful methods

a campaigner for women’s right to vote using peaceful methods

Correct Answer:suffragette,a campaigner for women’s right to vote using militant/violent methods

a campaigner for women’s right to vote using militant/violent methods

Q4.
Who were the suffragettes led by?
Florence Nightingale
Millicent Fawcett
Nancy Astor
Correct answer: Emmeline Pankhurst
Q5.
Put the following events in chronological order.
1 - founding of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
2 - founding of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)
3 - outbreak of WWI
4 - passing of the Representation of the People Act
5 - passing of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act
Q6.
How many female MPs were there in 1931?
55
Correct answer: 15
5
35

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