Impact of the World War I on the Women's Right to Vote - Essay Example

Order 519623 Topic: How did World War I help Canadian women get the vote? It started with Nelli McClung’s involvement with Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a group that was campaigning for alcohol prohibition. ‘Excessive drinking by men was seen to be the cause of a lot of family trouble and abuse. The temperance movement became closely associated with women’s suffrage because without the vote women realized they could do little to influence political policies about alcoh. In 1914 she rented the Walker Theater in Winnipeg and staged a mock parliament, posing herself as the prime minister and men in the position begging for her vote. It won the audience with its wit and humor. In 1916, a women’s suffrage bill was passed. McClung moved to Edmonton and was elected to the Alberta legislature in 1921. She worked on the famous “Persons case”. ‘Until 1929, Senate seats were open only to “eligible persons” according to the constitution and the Supreme Court ruled that women were not “persons” and therefore not eligible for appointment to the Senate. McClung and several other women led the fight against this archaic notion. During World War I, some women in Canada were finally allowed to vote. And in 1919, all women over 21 had the right to vote in a federal election. ‘Women got the federal vote in 3 stages: the Military Voters Act of 1917 where nurses and women in the armed services were allowed to vote; the Wartime Election Act which extended the vote to women who had husbands, son or fathers serving overseas; and all women over 21 on January 1, 1919. ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. “A Country by Consent”, World War 1, 1914 – 1918. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. ‘On June 19th 1917, the House of Commons voted by 385 to 55 to accept the Representation of the People Bill’s women’s suffrage clause. Suffragists were encouraged to contact their MP’s to support the bill. On the day that the vote was taken in the House of Commons, members of the NUWSS made sure that known supporter of the bill had voted before leaving the House. It is generally assumed that the House of Commons was in favor of supporting the bill, as they were appreciative of the work done by women in the First World War. Historians such as Martin Pugh believe that the vote in favor of female suffrage was simply a continuation of the way the issue had been moving before the war had started in 1914. ‘In 1911, there had been a similar vote to the one in 1917. Of the 194 MP’s who voted for the bills in both 1911 and 1917, only 22 had changed their stance. Fourteen had changed to being in favor of female suffrage and 4 changed from being for female suffrage in 1911 to being against it in 1917. This leaves a difference of only 14 – a long way of the 330 majority of 1917. This only proves that the direction the Parliament was moving in before August 1914 was a significant factor in the 1918 Representation of the People Act. The activities of the Suffragists and Suffragettes (the female members of the Women’s Social & Political Union who wanted to take part in the electoral process) pre-1914 have been more important at a political level than the work done by women in the war. Also, the Parliament was very conscious on how the public would react if they would arrest women who had done important work for the nation during the war just because they wanted political rights after it. A continuation of the way things were going pre-1914 was an important factor as was the fear of social and political unrest in the aftermath of what had happened in Russia. ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. “The Role of Women 1900 -1945”, 2010. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. ‘From 1910 to 1913, two issues dominated British politics: the clash between the Lords and the House of Commons and the continuing rise of militancy by the Suffragettes. The death of Emily Wilding Davison at the Derby in 1913 seemed to many to show that the very fabric of society was at risk as this was seen as a direct attack on the royal family. Many feared that the violence of the Suffragettes would get worse with the ongoing attacks on the churches and politicians. European countries such as Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland granted women the vote in the early part of 20th century. Other continental powers accorded women the rights at the end of World War 1. ‘The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Netherlands granted suffrage in 1917, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Sweden in 1918 and Germany and Luxembourge in 1919. Spanish women were allowed to vote in 1931 but France waited until 1944 and Belgium, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia until 1946. Switzerland in 1971 and women remained disenfranchised in Liechtenstein until 1984. ‘In Canada, women won the vote in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1916. After federal suffrage was achieved in 1918, the other provinces followed suit. The last being Quebec in 1940. Women in early Canada fought long and hard in seeking equal voting rights. A campaign was headed by Dr. Emily Stowe crossing over four decades before a legislation was passed allowing women to vote. ‘Voting was not always a right, not even for men. After confederation, the provinces maintained authority as to who was entitled to vote. Each province had its own criteria. The federal government took over this power in 1885, yet returned it to the provinces in 1898. Women property owners had the right to vote prior to confederation but thereafter were excluded. 7. Karen Stephenson, “History of Women’s Suffrage in Canada: The Right to Vote, 2000”. 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid. Public debates took place among members of the Toronto Women’s Literary Club which was founded by Dr. Stowe in 1876. Campaigns started across Canada to educate women the importance of having the right to vote. Many articulate and educated women rose to the forefront and they were referred to as “suffragettes”. These ‘Canadian suffragettes were inspired by British activists whose campaigns to get women the vote dated back to 1860. They also had contact with American suffragettes whose successes in many states as early as 1869 gave them inspiration to hope. The suffragettes knew they had to obtain support from many organizations in order to have their voices heard. And they got this support from the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Grain Growers’ Association and the Young Women’s Christian Association. ‘These groups were concerned with promoting family and community health through legislated changes such as prohibition, labor, property and dower laws. Regardless of women being able to ‘vote provincially or not, on May 24, 1918, the Canada Elections Act enfranchised all Canadian women 21 years of age and over for federal elections. Compared to the lavishness and sometimes violent suffrage campaigns in England, France and the U.S., Canada’s campaign was peaceful although there were humor and frustrations at times. Sonia Leathes, speaking in 1913 to the National Council of Women, put the challenge clearly: “It is on this account that women today say to the governments of the world: you have usurped what used to be our authority, what used to be our responsibility. It is you who determine today the nature of the air we breathe, of the food which we eat, of the clothing which we wear. It is you who determine when, and how long, and what our children are 10. “History of Women’s Suffrage,” Scholastic, Inc., 1996-2011. 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid. determine today the nature of the air we breathe, of the food which we eat, of the clothing which we wear. It is you who determine when, and how long, and what our children are to be taught and what their future prospects as wage earners are to be. It is you who condone or stamp out the white slave traffic and the starvation wage. It is you who by granting or refusing pensions to the mothers of young children can preserve or destroy the fatherless home. It is you who consider what action shall be considered a crime and how the offender, man, woman or child shall be dealt with. It is you who decide whether cannons or torpedoes are to blow to pieces the bodies of the sons which we bore. And since all of these matters strike at the very heart strings of the mothers of all nations, we shall not rest until we have secured the power vested in the ballot; to give or withhold our consent, to encourage or forbid any policy or course of action which concerns the people, our children, every one. As social reformers, women knows how to use the tools – petitions, publicity, private contacts and lobbying to get what they want and be heard. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________________________________ 13. “Women Take the Right to Vote”, Nancy’s Very Own Foundation, 1996-2011. Bibliography “A Country by Consent”, World War 1 1914-1918, West/Dunn Productions. “History of Women’s Suffrage”, Scholastic, Inc., 1996-2011. Stepheson, Karen,“History of Women’s Suffrage in Canada: The Right to Vote, Women’s Voting Rights Movement, 2000. “The Role of Women 1900-1945”, enquiries@historylearningsite.co.uk. (Accessed April 5, 2011). “Women Take the Right to Vote”, Rebels without a Clause, Nancy’s Very Own Foundation, 1996-2011. (Accessed April 5, 2011). Read More