y attended a meeting in London to hear Sir Edward Grey (Minister in British government). During the meeting the girls shouted “Will the Liberal Government get Votes to Women?” When the Minister refused to answer their question, they persisted to yell out the question. They were then evicted from the meeting but they refused to leave without a fight, which resulted with them getting arrested and charged with assault. This was the first time Britain Women used violence to win the vote. From that day on the WSPU started to use Militant actions rather than constitutional actions. The public gave members of the WSPU the name Suffragettes. Emmeline Pankhurst was first arrested in 1908, which accelerated the campaigns illegal tactics. (See figure 1)(“WSPU”, NP)June 30th, 1908 Suffragettes marched into Downing st. throwing small stones through the windows of the Prime Minister’s home. As an outcome 27 women were arrested and sent to Holloway Prison. (“WSPU”, NP)Figure 1: Emmeline Pankhurst being arrested in 1908Another Large demonstration occurred in October of 1908 in London. The Suffragettes tried to forcefully enter The House of Commons. The police and authorities arrested 24 of the women suffragettes. (“WSPU”,NP)Between 1905- 1911 the NUWSS and the WSPU adopted different election policies. The WSPU said, “Keep the Liberal out” because the government had the power to pass a Suffrage Bill and they continued to decline the suffrage, the WSPU would continue to use militants. The election policy of the NUWSS was “Obtaining declarations of opinions from all candidates at each election and supporting the man, independent of party, who gave the most satisfactory assurance of support.” The members of the NUWSS feared that the militant actions of the WSPU would alienate potential supporters of the Women’s Suffrage. However, they admired their courage to do such outla...
