The title of suffragette was given to members of the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom and United States, particularly in the years prior to World War I. The name was the Women's Social and Political Union (founded in 1903).
The term tends to connote acts of defiance, protest, self-sacrifice and sometimes violence. Suffragettes carried out such minor offences as chaining themselves to railings and setting fire to the contents of mailboxes. One suffragette, Emily Davison, died after she stepped out in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby of 1913. Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes, during which they were restrained and forcibly fed. The so-called Cat and Mouse Act was passed by the government in an attempt to prevent suffragettes from obtaining public sympathy - it provided for releasing those whose condition got too serious then re-imprisoning them when they had recovered.") occurred, and women were required to take on many of the traditional male roles. This led to a new view of what a woman was capable of doing. Political movement towards women's suffrage began during the war and in 1919Parliament passed an act granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who were householders; the wives of householders; occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5; or graduates of British universities. The right of American women to vote was codified in the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Women in United Kingdom got the vote on the same terms as men in 1928.
Janet: "Very often the suffragettemovement is associated only with London but there were many brave women in the North who got involved in the fight for the vote and this novel is a tribute to them.
"This is no romanticised picture of the suffragettes, but a harshly realistic view of their lives and treatment and also of the ambivalence of some of their members.
My granddaughter said she never knew anything about that part of history, she was never taught anything about the bravery of those women who we have to thank for all the freedom we have now.
Prison governors were ordered to force feed Suffragettes but this caused a public outcry as forced feeding was traditionally used to feed lunatics as opposed to what were mostly educated women.
When a Suffragette was sent to prison, it was assumed that she would go on hunger strike as this caused the authorities maximum discomfort.
The most famous act associated with the Suffragettes was at the June 1913 Derby when Emily Wilding Davison threw herself under the King's horse, Anmer, as it rounded Tattenham Corner.
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