4. Resources for teachers
National Curriculum
Suffragettes and votes for women fits in with the History National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 (Year 8/9):
Unit 16: The franchise why did it take so much longer for British women to get the vote?
The sources and information presented in this theme could be usefully employed in the teaching of the following sections of Unit 19:
Section 5: What freedoms were women obtaining
Section 6: Who was campaigning for votes of women?
Section 7: Why did women gain the vote in 1918 and not before?
Suggested activities
- Using Source D (the suggested form of a petition to Parliament) as a starting point, pupils can brainstorm what rights they think women had in the middle of the 19th century. This can be followed up in a class discussion, where the teacher can reveal some of the rights that women did have (1834: Women ratepayers could vote for Poor Law Guardians, 1882: Married Women's Property Act; women could keep property acquired before marriage, 1888: Women could vote in county and borough elections)
- Test pupils understanding of the reasons why women wanted to have the vote, by asking them to imagine that they are a Suffragette and getting them to design a poster explaining why they think women should have the vote. Alternatively, pupils could be asked to write their own persuasive letter in the style of Source C.
- Print off Source B (calling for greater organisation amongst the Suffragettes) as a source of inspiration. In groups, ask pupils to prepare their own strategy; what would they do, who would they get to help them and how would they do it. These suggestions can then be built into a class discussion exploring some of the ways that the Suffragettes operated e.g. Emily Davison at the Derby, the letter writing, the demonstrations etc.
Printable template for a Suffragette Action Plan
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