Women's Suffrage Dbq Essay

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Clearly, a turning point in the history of the women's movement was women joining the services of World War One (WWI). It can be seen that initially women were not invited to join the war effort or services. Later, there was a change of strategic plan and woman were called to arms. This led to further development of the women's suffrage movement - without the "war" this may not have occurred.
Source D, a highly reliable secondary source (Unknown, 2016), showed that initially women were not invited to contribute to the war effort or services during WW1. This is because women had little working opportunities compared to men at that time. They were seen as weak and they belonged at "home" to do cleaning and cooking for the children. The little work women had previous to the war was limited to domestic services like cleaners and servants or secretarial work. The women's suffrage movement faced many obstacles, particularly before WW1. As Source J explains; many politicians were unwilling to listen to a disenfranchised group. Although, over time women began to realise that in order to achieve reform, they needed to win the right to vote (Source J). WW1 was a perfect chance to prove themselves in a male-dominated society, doing more than cleaning the house and tending to the …show more content…

As source B states, due to the removal of The Sex Disqualification Act in 1919, it was illegal to exclude women from jobs just because of their gender (BBC, 2018). This led to women being given the right to vote. Factual secondary source J states that NAWSA, National American Women's Suffrage Association and NWP were two significant Women's suffrage associations that made this happen. Both associations had a purpose to secure equal rights to all American citizens, especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, colour or gender. This was the most significant achievement for women in that era. (source

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