Reform: Violence and the Struggle for Suffrage

The campaign for women’s suffrage is often characterised by its militant factions and leaders like Emmeline Pankhurst who used bombs and destruction of property to get their message across. That characterisation is accurate, but it’s not the whole story. In fact, militant suffrage actions didn’t begin with the Women’s Social and Political Union...or women at all. In this episode, we explore how a lesser-known male suffrage movement called Chartism advanced the suffrage agenda and how the militant tactics of the women’s suffrage activists fit into a large historical trend.

 Documents from The National Archives used in this episode: ASSI 52/212; HO 45/2410; HO 45/10700/236973; ZPER 34/1; ZPER 34/12; ZPER 34/142