The Right Dishonorable Double-Faced Asquith
Item
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Title
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The Right Dishonorable Double-Faced Asquith
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Description
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Visual Description: The poster shows British Prime Minister Herbert Aquith, split in the middle, colored green on one side and burgundy on the other. To his right is a woman wearing an apron and bonnet holding a sign that reads "liberty and equality." He shakes a staff at her. To his left, is a man wearing a crown and robes, presumably a member of the House of Lords. He holds up a tri-colored flag reading "Liberty Equality and Fraternity" to the man. Below the figures, uppercase large purple font reads VOTES FOR WOMEN. Below that is purple text criticizing the liberal candidate for refusing to give women the right to vote.
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Contextual Description: H. H. Asquith was a member of the Liberal Party and served as Prime Minster of the United Kingdom. He was opposed to giving women the right to vote. During a debate on the Conciliation Bill, suffrage supporter David Lloyd George stated that justice and political necessity argued against enfranchising women of property, while denying the vote to the working class men. The next day, Asquith announced that in the next session of Parliament he would introduce a Bill to enfranchise millions of men currently excluded from voting and suggested that it could be amended to include women. In the end, the Conciliation Bill never passed parliament, and Asquith never brought a new bill before it.
Emmeline Pankhurst maintained a passion for women's rights and founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). This organization used militant tactics to promote women's suffrage. In 1909, after being arrested while promoting suffrage, WSPU women began hunger strikes while in prison. The hunger strikes led to early release for many suffragists. As a result, in 1913, the Prisoners' Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act was enacted, which permitted prisoners who were released for health reasons to be rearrested and taken back to prison once they'd recovered. Pankhurst encouraged women to join the war effort and fill factory jobs to allow men to fight on the front. The contributions of women during wartime helped convince the British government to grant them limited voting rights with the Representation of the People Act of 1918. Later that year, another bill was given to women the right to be elected to Parliament. Pankhurst was only able to celebrate the achievement of "limited" suffrage before her death, as it was not until 1928 that British women gained full suffrage rights.
(john@spartacus-educational.com), John Simkin. Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, spartacus-educational.com/PRasquith.htm.
Kettler, Sara. “Emmeline Pankhurst.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 17 June 2020, www.biography.com/activist/emmeline-pankhurst.
Taylor, Carrie. “H.H. Asquith as Prime Minister.” COVE, 4 Nov. 2018, editions.covecollective.org/chronologies/hh-asquith-prime-minister.
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Date
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1903-1926
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Creator
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Patriot A.
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Publisher
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M. Caw, Stevenson & Orr, London
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Identifier
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The British Prime Minister Henry Asquith is split in the middle, ignoring a suffragist on the right and appealing to a member of the House of Lords on the left.
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Source
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Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute Gr-1-34b
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Rights
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https://library.harvard.edu/privacy-terms-use-copyright-information#visuals
