The Story of Suffrage Focus: Britain and France 10.1

Transcription

1 The Story of Suffrage Focus: Britain and France 10.1

2 Direc;ons: You will be going around in learning sta;ons today to learn part of the history of suffrage. Each sta;on has a number that coincides with a sec;on of your packet so be sure to follow carefully. With your group you will have 5-7 minutes at each sta;on to use the informa;on provided at your sta;on to fill in the guided notes sheet and answer the ques;ons. You MUST read the notes aloud with your group during the last minute at each sta;on. You will be given a 2-minute and 1-minute warning to help pace yourselves. Finally in the last 5-10 minutes of class we will read the story together.

3 SeNng the Stage Early 1800s only about 5% of Bri;sh could vote Limited to men who owned a substan;al amount of land No women at all

4 1. The Reform Bill of the wealthy middle class (many of whom gained their wealth thru the industrial revolu;on) began to protest Sought to extend suffrage: the right to vote Bri7sh Parliament became worried about the revolu7ons spreading across Europe quickly passed the Reform Bill of 1832 before things got too out of hand Extended vo;ng rights to wealthy middle class by easing the property requirements

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6 2. The Char;st Movement Lower middle + working class men s;ll could not vote They started a mvmt à The Char7st Mvm t: B/c they presented their demands to Parliament thru a pe;;on called The People s Charter of 1838 The People s Charter of 1838: Called for universal male suffrage Annual Parliamentary elec;ons Secret ballot to protect those working on the wealthy man s farm End to property requirements for serving in Parliament Pay for members of Parliament

7 The Char;st Movement Parliament reject the Char;sts demands BUT à Their protests convinced many others of their valid complaints Con;nued to fight for these rights and reforms throughout the 19 th century By 1884 most adult males could vote By early 1900s all Char;st reforms besides annual elec;ons were passed

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9 3. The Victorian Age Queen Victoria oversaw most all of these changes 1837 at age 18 she came to the throne, maintained a 64-year reign as Queen Victorian Age G.B. reached its height of power and wealth But, she had less power than previous monarchs as Parliament assumed most poli;cal power The elected House of Commons had much influence Prime Minister and the cabinet ran the gov t

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11 4. Women Get the Vote Thru/out the 1800s many women s groups emerged in G.B. + the U.S. to fight for their right to vote Others rose up in opposi;on to women s suffrage Militant Protests: Ini;ally, protests were peaceful but Emmeline Pankhurst formed the WSPU Women s Social and Poli;cal Union became militant

12 Women Get the Vote Emmeline Pankhurst s daughters Christabel and Sylvia were ac;ve in the WSPU They were arrested many ;mes Used hunger strikes in prison to gain interna;onal aken;on (similar story in the U.S.) Were force fed in prison, very painful In both the U.S. (1920) and G.B. (1918) women gained the right to vote aler WWI

13 Source for Women s Suffrage Ques;on: Bri%sh poli%cians, press and public were astonished by the demonstra%ons, window smashing, arson and hunger strikes of the suffrage<es. In 1913, WSPU member Emily Davison was killed when she threw herself under the king's horse at the Derby as a protest at the government's con%nued failure to grant women the right to vote. hkp://

14 5. France and Democracy Paris Commune (radical socialist gov t) lasted for 3 months in France (March 1871 May 1871) aler the fall of Napoleon III The Third Republic in France ( ) Replaced w/ the Cons7tu7onal Laws of 1875 that formed the founda;on for the Third Republic two-house legislature a Council of Ministers President w/ powers resembling those of a cons;tu;onal monarch Lasted 60 years

15 6. The Dreyfus Affair Dreyfus Affair An excep;on to 19 th century forward thinking and reform Illustra;on of the growing an;-semi;sm of the era 1894: Captain Alfred Dreyfus (a Jewish officer in the French Army) was accused of selling military secrets to Germany Sentenced to life in prison aler the court found him guilty based on FALSE evidence. 1896: New evidence proved his innocence and showed he was framed by other army officers

16 The Dreyfus Affair Public opinion divided over the scandal: The an7-dreyfusards: Na;onalists, an;-semi;c groups, clergy + army leaders refused to let the case be reopened Worried it would bring dishonor to the French Army The Dreyfusards: Dreyfus supporters argued for the importance of jus;ce Emile Zola: French writer published an open leker to the French ppl ;tle J accuse! (I accuse!) Zola denounced the Army for covering up the scandal These views landed him a year in prison 1906 Dreyfus named innocent 1995 French army publically declared his innocence

17 Alfred Dreyfus

18 7. The Dreyfus Affair and Zionism Significance of the Dreyfus Affair: Illustrated the an;-semi;c strength in France/ Western Europe In Eastern Europe: persecu;on of Jews very severe Many fled to the U.S. Zionism: Mvm t founded by Theodor Herzl in the 1890s to promote Jewish autonomy and an independent Jewish state (Israel) Not achieved un;l 1948

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