Emmeline Pankhurst's Early Life, Struggle and Deeds, and Qualities of a Successful Leader - Case Study Example

Emmeline Pankhurst Name Tutor Course Date Introduction The paper discusses the life history of Emmeline Pankhurst who is one of the greatest women revolutionist in the world. She is commemorated by a sculpture in London at Victoria Times tower Gardens. At a tender age of 8 years, her mother introduced her into suffrage meetings. The paper highlights some of her contributions that changed gender disparities in England. The paper also discusses how her family was constantly in disagreement with the gender inequality and gender discrimination that affected most women. Her contribution and formation of the Women Social and Political Union landed the entire women in England to the Equal Franchise Bill that granted women and men equal voting rights. Although she did not live to witness the passing of the Bill, Emmeline Pankhurst is a symbolic icon that was gestured using the bill on her funeral day. Emmeline Pankhurst Early Life Emmeline Pankhurst was born in 1858 in England when the country was facing a sharp divided gender line. Her father possessed radical political and business beliefs. Her father Robert Goulden took part in almost all the campaigns against slavery and Corn Laws(Purvis, Women's History in Britain 1850-1945, 1995). Her mother Sophia Crane was a passionate feminist by the fact that she introduced her daughter into women’s suffrage meetings as early as she was only 8 years old. Her parents valued education and by the age of 15 years, she attended a finishing school in Paris. According to the school, she was to conform to women’s deed but she greatly rivaled against this norms. Emmeline was married to Richard a man 24 years older than her. Within the next 10 years, they gave birth to five children. Richard is responsible for drafting the amendment to the municipal corporation bill of 1869 that had resulted to unmarried women householders to vote in local elections (Harold, 1998). Richard was a passionate socialist and served in Married Woman’s Property Committee. Emmeline struggle and deeds Emmeline is a quintessential symbol of the suffrage movement. Her contribution to the British history brings a lot of debate. Many have praised her for her suffragist movement while others have criticized her for giving the government to deny women their voting rights. Other historians still argue whether the suffragists had any impact on legislation, or if women’s suffrage was earned due to their contribution to the First World War. Women in England worked and remained at hoe doing domestic chores. Those who were lucky to get an occupation worked in textile industry while others got involved in doing unskilled jobs. Husbands retained most of the right in the family and retained most of the privileges for property and children. For Emmeline, this was contrary to her dreams and this led to her striking influence on women suffrage. She watched numerous bills passed by the legislature but none favored the women. It is for this reason that she decided to dedicate her life fighting for women’s right. Qualities that made Emmeline a successful leader Emmeline was a good eloquent speaker. Emmeline first spoke at a suffrage meeting while she was only 14 years old and this inspired her role of dedicating her life to the suffrage movement. The women suffrage movement began in 1866 with petitions that gained over 1500 signatures. The movement aimed at passing the voting rights to both genders. However, the amendment did not succeed to pass in the legislature and this led to the rapid demand and the growth of the suffrage movement. Emmeline also possessed resilience. When Richard Pankhurst died, a hall was built in memory of his deeds and contributions to politics. The independent Labor Party was responsible for the commemoration of Dr. Pankhurst. In a sharp contrast of events, women’s exclusion from certain aspects of the Party and denial to join the branch responsible for construction of Dr. Pankhurst memorial hall led to big differences. It is at this moment that Emmeline decided to form the Women Social and Political Union. Emmeline ensured that both the suffrage movement and the women union worked together. The most striking feature in the Women Social and Political Union was the total exclusion of men and she insisted that she was not working against the males but dedicated her life to work for women. Emmeline was a good motivator. Emmeline encouraged women to participate in peaceful demonstrations, campaign in public venues and trade unions in addition to petitioning the government for the gender disparity. Emmeline raised her children and encouraged them to join the fight against women discrimination just as their parents did. It was a defining moment in 1905 when Emmeline’s first daughter together with other Women Social and Political Union members decided to interrupt a liberal party election. Their actions led to the beginning of a fierce battle with the government with the family earning various short sentences in prison.During Emmeline’s tenure of leadership, she decided to embrace a slogan “Deeds not Words” that become the party’s motto and logo. The party organized a march in 1907 that attracted more than 3000 women participants. Emmeline was a persistent leader. Women Social and Political Union also heckled various political meetings. In each of their meetings, they carried banners that asked for women’s rights and votes. As if this was not enough, Emmeline through her party decided to publish a circular “votes for women” that drew sharp reactions from the government. She also went ahead to make public speeches in organized demonstrations and exhibitions. In July 1907, her efforts led to the match of 250,000 Britons who responded to the secretary of state statement that meant that power belonged to the masses and in this case, the mass included the majority who were men(Purvis, 2008). Her efforts and constant campaign did not bear any fruits but her consistency and desire made her to turn to more severe ways of demonstration. In 1908, the prime minister refused deputation of the suffragists and this led to breaking and smashing of windows (Barbra, 1997). Emmeline and her party decided to adopt ways of property destruction and disputes as their way of campaigns. Emmeline’s dictatorship reveals itself when she and some of the women intentionally demanded arrests with the major aim that this would generate fair gender equality and freedom to the women in general. The suffragist’s charges as normal criminal and not as political prisoners in the courts of law further intensified the situation. The women prisoners decided to go on a hungers strike while in prison refusing to eat. In response to this, the prisoners guards decided to use forceful measures to feed the women. Emmeline herself was in the forefront of the hunger strikes that became a usual norm while in prison. The constant hunger strikes in prison were a tactic that was developed by these women. Due to the first deterioration of their health, the government was forced t release them faster with regard to the prisoners temporary discharge for ill health act which allowed for release in case of poor health. In 1913, the parliament dropped the manhood suffrage bill for the session which if passed would have provided universal suffrage (Emmeline, 1914). In response to this, the Women Social and Political Union decided to engage its members in militancy involving smashing of windows, arson, bombing, cutting telephone lines, and chants. The suffrage militants declared war on the government since the government had refused to heed to their demands. The First World War made a great turn to the Women Social and Political Union and suffragists in general. Emmeline’s wisdom is expressed when decide not fight against a government that was already on war but decided to join her efforts with the government to fight a foreign enemy. Emmeline and her party joined the war societies that turned into work force for the military during the period. In 1918, their efforts bore fruits when a bill of Representation of the people Act passed in the legislature (Kingsley, 1990). The bill allowed women with over 30 years to vote. Emmeline continued to work for her party. She renamed the party to Women’s party and actively campaigned for the election of Christabel as a constituency leader. Although Christabel lost the race, she continued to rival support for women. She also ran for Conservative seat herself but also lost. Her demise came in 1928 a few weeks before the passage of the Equal Franchise Bill that granted equal voting rights for both women and men (Paula, 2002). In memory and honor of her contributions, the royal assent to the bill was given on her funeral day as a symbolic gesture. Conclusion In many ways over her 69 years of life, she was an epitome of her generation a fighter and a dedicated mother and wife. She was also an equal reformer a passionate feminist and a dedicated woman. Her uniqueness and necessity to accomplish her desire and goals attracted many women who followed actively rivaled behind her. During her lifetime, a series of education for girls took place and many girls joined universities and colleges in greater numbers. The number of women entering the work force also increased significantly during her lifetime. Her demise left many opportunities that many women have struggled and achieved to the moment. Bibliography Barbra, C. (1997). Enlish Feminism 1780-1980. Oxford: Oxford. Emmeline, P. (1914). My own story. London. Harold, S. (1998). The British Women Suffrage Campaign 1866-1928. Harlow. Kingsley, S. (1990). Sex and Suffrage in Britain 1860-1914. Princeton: Wellingtone. Paula, B. (2002). Emmeline Pankhurst. London: Oxford. Purvis, J. (1995). Women's History in Britain 1850-1945. London. Purvis, J. (2008, May 5). Punkhurst Emmeline. Retrieved 2012, from Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: www.oxforddnb.com Read More