Objectives of Women and the vote

That students may:

• consider the role of women in politics in the past and the present
• discover sources in order to research the role of women in politics in the past and the present
• evaluate these sources critically
• discover the circumstances leading up to the achievement of women's suffrage
• explore the process of historical change
• explore the process and strategies of a campaign on women's issues
• explore attitudes to women in Ireland and England in the past
• become aware of the political restrictions on women in Ireland and England in the past
• become aware of the circumstances which motivated the desire for change
• become aware of the interconnection between the campaign to obtain Home Rule for Ireland and the campaign for women's suffrage in the UK
• discover how the suffrage campaign intersected with other issues such as political party policies, Home Rule for Ireland, nationalism, unionism and World War One
• discover how votes for women were finally achieved
• discover how they themselves may research the topic of votes for women at a local, national or international level.

1. Most topics are preceded by The background in order that teachers and students may place them in context.
2. While we hope the section will be studied as a whole, we also consider the style and layout of the section will facilitate teachers and students who wish to pick and choose topics without necessarily having to complete the whole section.
3. Students might first brainstorm the reasons why they think women could not vote for parliament. The lists given in The debate above are not absolutely comprehensive but represent most of the views expressed at the time.
4. More information on the development of women's rights during the nineteenth century will be found in Later modern Ireland. The campaign for women's suffrage in nineteenth century England has been well recorded and is only lightly touched on here. See the bibliography, various encyclopaedias and the Internet.
5. The campaign for women's suffrage in England in the twentieth century is developed in slightly more detail because of its inter-connection with the Home Rule Bill.
6. We have included a variety of attitudes to votes for women.
7. Political aspects is included for more advanced students because of the complexity of the issues involved in the closing stages of the campaign and these issues are also teased out in Tribunal role play.
8. The variety of primary sources included reflects our hope that students in different parts of the country will be motivated to do local research on the topic, especially at a family or local level and that their research will be made available to the public.
9. Like any other bibliography, this one is out of date as soon as published and will need constant revision.

Topics for discussion

1. The historical importance of the achievement of women's suffrage
2. The women's suffrage movement in conflict with other agendas in UK and Irish politics
3. Physical courage and moral courage in the women's suffrage movement
4. Male supporters of equal political rights for women
5. The women's suffrage movement was a struggle, not against powerful armies but against attitudes of the powerful
6. The women's suffrage movement: a struggle against control and contempt
7. Ridicule as a weapon against women's suffrage
8. The paradox of resistance to equal political rights for women by those who struggled for other rights and freedom
9. Suffragists and suffragettes
10. The women's suffrage movement as a non-military campaign
11. Attitudes of religious authorities to the women's suffrage movement
12. Divisions in the women's suffrage movement
13. The women's suffrage movement and Home Rule
14. The women's suffrage movement and nationalism
15. The women's suffrage movement and unionism
16. The women's suffrage movement and war
17. Motives for resistance to votes for women
18. Anti-suffragism
19. The women's suffrage movement in our own area.