Demanding the Vote - The Pankhursts and British Suffrage

Overview

In 1913, the British government was under assault by its own people who were torching buildings, shattering office windows, and attacking the homes of government leaders. These revolutionaries were frustrated British women furious that their government refused to take them seriously. Their goal was simple: suffrage, the right to vote. But in Victorian England, their request was dismissed as too outrageous to be taken seriously. The press labeled these militant women "suffragettes," and they were led by the fiery Emmeline Pankhurst and her two strong-willed daughters Christabel and Sylvia. The Pankhursts helped alter the political landscape and the perception of women, but in the process, each of them paid a heavy personal price.