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Why Do Women Get Right To Vote In 1918

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Up until the early 20th Century, women in Britain were viewed as second class citizens, seen as both physically and mentally inferior to men. They campaigned vigorously for the right to vote as they longed to be treated as equal in society. In 1918, the Liberal government passed a law called the ‘Representation of the People Act’ which finally gave the vote to all ‘respectable’ women over the age of 30. This essay will discuss four of the key reasons why women gained the right to vote in 1918 including the Suffragists, women who worked during the First World War, changes in society and the Suffragettes. I will argue that the Suffragettes are the main reason why women got the vote.

One key reason why women got the vote was because of the National …show more content…

When the war broke out, women put their campaigns to get the vote on hold and focused on contributing to the war effort. Many women joined the Ministry of Munitions in 1915 to help to make ammunition for the soldiers at war. By the end of the war, there were over 30,000 munitionettes completing this dangerous job for low pay to demonstrate that they were willing to risk their lives to gain the vote. Over 90,000 women also joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) to look after injured soldiers. An example of a member of the VAD was Elsie Inglis. She was a Scottish doctor who helped the VAD as well as campaigning for women’s suffrage. On one hand, some argue that the work that women did showed they were as capable as men and the vote was the government’s way to show appreciation and thank women for the work they did during the war. On the other hand, some will argue that since the majority of women lost their jobs after the war, the hard work they did was not truly valued by the rest of the country. In addition to this, many working women didn’t get the vote as they were either too young or of a lower social class. In evaluation, working women were not the main reason why women gained the vote because they didn’t raise awareness for women’s suffrage and the majority of working women didn’t end up getting the

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