Aims and Tactics of the Suffragette Movement Source Worksheet

SOURCE 1: Emmeline Pankhurst justifies the use of suffragette militancy

It was at this time, February, 1913, less than two years ago as I write these words, that militancy,
as it is now generally understood by the public began-militancy in the sense of continued, destructive, guerilla warfare against the Government through injury to private property. Some property had been destroyed before this time, but the attacks were sporadic, and were meant to be in
the nature of a warning as to what might become a settled policy. Now we indeed lighted the
torch, and we did it with the absolute conviction that no other course was open to us. We had
tried every other measure, as I am sure that 1 have demonstrated to my readers, and our years of
work and suffering and sacrifice had taught us that the Government would not yield to right and
justice, what the majority of members of the House of Commons admitted was right and justice,
but that the Government would, as other govemments invariably do, yield to expediency. Now
our task was to show the Government that it was expedient to yield to the women's just demands.
In order to do that we had to make England and every department of English life insecure and
unsafe. We had to make English law a failure and the courts farce comedy theatres; we had to
discredit the Government and Parliament in the eyes of the world; we had to spoil English sports,
hurt business, destroy valuable property, demoralise the world of society, shame the churches,
upset the whole orderly conduct of life-That is, we had to do as much of this guerilla warfare as
the people of England would tolerate. When they came to the point of saying to the Government:
"Stop this, in the only way it can be stopped, by giving the women of England representation,"
then we should extinguish our torch.
Pankhurst, E. (1914). My Own Story. London, England: Eveleigh Nash.

Source Questions:
1. What type of source of this?
2. What is the intended purpose of the author?
3. List some of the actions undertaken by the Suffragettes as stated by Emmeline Pankhurst.
4. Explain the reasons provided by Pankhurst used to justify the militant tactics of the Suffragettes.

SOURCE 2: Article by The Standard on the

4th of June 1913
1. What type of source is this?
2. What is the intended purpose of the author?
3. In your own words, what was the alleged act
committed by suffragettes against Sir Henry
Curtis Bennett.
4. What does this source reveal about the type
of tactics employed by the suffragettes?

The Standard. (1913). Life Not Sacred: Attempted Murder by Suffragettes. Retrieved from
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/crime/media1/newspapers1/notsacred1/notsacred.html

SOURCE 3: Constitution of the Womens Freedom League in 1909

1. What type of source is this?

2. What is the intended purpose of the author?
3. What was the main aim of the Womens
Freedom League as outlined in this source.
4. What does this source reveal about the type
of tactics employed by the Suffragettes.

Womens Freedom League. (1909). Constitution.

Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/struggle/suffragettes1/constitution1/constitution.html

SOURCE 4: NUWSS information sheet,

1912
1. What type of source is this?
2. What is the intended purpose of the author?
3. Outline some of the actions undertaken by
the NUWSS.
4. How were the tactics employed by the
NUWSS different to that of the Womens
Freedoms League or the WSPU?

The National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). (1912). NUWSS Information
Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs2.pdf

With reference to Source 4 and one other source of your choosing, answer the following question:
How useful would both sources be for a historian studying the aims and tactics of the Suffragettes? In your answer, consider the perspectives provided by each source and the reliability of the two sources.
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