Women’s Social and Political Union

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Item Relations

Mentioned in (4)
Member of (4)
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Harriot Stanton Blatch to Jane Addams, August 12, 1912

Jane Addams to Theodore Roosevelt, August 24, 1912

Adela Isabel Coit to Jane Addams, October 14, 1912

Comments on The International Suffrage Congress, July 12, 1913 (excerpts)

Kenney, Annie (1879-1953)

Christabel_Pankhurst,_c.1910._(22734753300).jpg

Pankhurst, Christabel (1880-1958)

Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden (1858-1928)

Pankhurst, Estelle Sylvia (1882-1960)

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Founding Date

1903

Ending Date

1917

Description

The Women’s Social and Political Union was a British woman suffrage organization founded by Emmeline Pankhurst, Sylvia Pankhurst, and four others in 1903. The WSPU was a splinter group of the National Union of Women Suffrage Societies that sought more militant tactics. This woman-only organization, with the slogan “Deeds Not Words,” became known for opposing the British government, refusing to support any legislation that did not include suffrage, and holding increasingly violent demonstrations. Known as suffragettes, after 1907, the WSPU directed campaigns of property destruction, hunger strikes, arson, and bombings. These tactics led to divisions in the ranks, with more moderate leaders such as Sylvia Pankhurst expelled when they did not agree with Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst’s escalation. With the outbreak of World War I, Christabel Pankhurst called for a cessation of attacks against the government and support for the war effort, and the WSPU ceased operations.