About Project 1
Project 1 will help you to find out more about the women's suffrage movement in Scotland. You will investigate the subject using National Library of Scotland material from from the early 20th century:
- Photographs
- Newspaper articles
- Diary extracts
- Posters
- Cartoons
The seven learning activities in this section will get you thinking about
- Why women wanted the vote
- What type of campaigning methods they used
- How the press and public reacted to the campaign
- The effect of the First World War on women's role in society
- Whether the right to vote has changed women's lives for the better
Each activity will encourage you to use some of the archive
sources to answer questions or to discuss and debate some of the
topics.
General information about the suffrage movement
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many women (and men) were not happy about women's position and role in society. They believed that women's lives needed to improve in four main areas:
- Educational opportunities
- Legal rights
- Working conditions
- Social circumstances
The supporters of the women's suffrage movement believed that women would never become equal to men if they held no political power. They thought that the best way to improve women's lives was to change laws in Parliament.
The suffragettes and suffragists campaigned for women to get the vote so that they could have their say about issues that were important to them and that affected their lives.
