New
New
Year 9
Campaigns for women's suffrage
I can explain the peaceful tactics of the early suffrage movement and how it was brought together by Fawcett to form the NUWSS.
New
New
Year 9
Campaigns for women's suffrage
I can explain the peaceful tactics of the early suffrage movement and how it was brought together by Fawcett to form the NUWSS.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- 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.
Keywords
Suffrage - the right to vote
Suffragist - a person advocating for the extension of the right to vote; especially to women
Common misconception
The suffrage movement always involved violent or illegal tactics as well as peaceful and legal ones.
The early suffragist movement was committed to peaceful tactics, even among the so-called 'radical suffragists'.
Show pupils a picture of the statue of Millicent Fawcett and ask why they think she was the first women to be commemorated by a statue in Parliament Square (and not until 2018!).
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).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
The women's suffrage movement was the campaign to gain women the right to ...
Q2.
Which Reform Act gave middle-class men the right to vote in Britain for the first time?
The 1867 Reform Act.
The 1884 Reform Act.
Q3.
Which movement did some women get involved with in the 19th century?
the civil rights movement
the animal rights movement
the climate change movement
Q4.
Which of these laws increased the legal rights of women in 1882?
The Second Reform Act.
The Third Reform Act.
Q5.
In 1888, a at the Bryant and May factory helped women to gain higher wages.
fire
revolution
petition
Q6.
Although women were increasingly involved in life in Britain by the early 20th century, they still could not vote.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Match each keyword with its correct definition.
a person advocating for the extension of the right to vote
the right to vote
Q2.
One reason why some people objected to female suffrage was because they feared it would harm life.
Q3.
Complete the sentence: The NUWSS carried out a peaceful campaign, such as writing letters to .
Q4.
Which woman was the first leader of the NUWSS?
Selina Cooper
Elizabeth Fawcett
Emmeline Pankhurst
Q5.
Complete the sentence: Working-class suffragists were called suffragists, but they still believed in the use of peaceful tactics.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following stages in the development of the suffragists.
Additional material
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