Womans Suffrage - Objective Conditions
The Womans Suffrage was an issue that the women of Canada fought for the right to vote. Before 1876, when the Suffrage movement was said to start, women had already noticed that they were not equal to men. Thus, several 'soon to be prominent' women in Canada rose to the occasion to unite the people who supported Womans Suffrage in Canada. In the past, it was only men that were able to vote on who would be the next to run the place were they lived. One of these prominent women that wanted to change this fact, was Emily Murphy. She once stated, 'This is courtship all the world over - the man all tongue; the woman all ears.'. Organizations formed in order to fight for the rights to vote, such as the Political Equality League, The National Council of Women, and the Toronto Womens Literary Club.
In 1850, women had the right to vote for school trustees in Ontario, with property and they could be either married or single. Later in 1876, when Emily Howard Stowe founds her suffragist group, a british common law states "women are persons in matters of pains and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges”. Then, in 1882, the first woman strike in Toronto occurs. Women shoemakers strike for the rights that men have, including increase in wages and recognition in the union. John A Macdonald introduces a new bill in 1883 that includes the granting of Dominion franchise single women that have the required property qualifications. The bill is not passed, however it is reintroduced in 1884 and not passed yet again. This event brings Womans Suffrage to a provincial point. However in 1884, the Married Woman's Property Act states that the married woman is allowed the same legal capacity as men, which means that they may buy their own property etc.
Later in 1900, the only job that allows a pension for women is teaching. The Dominion Elections Act states that only persons who are eligible to vote on a provincial level may vote for a federal election. Minorities, aka women and people of colour were excluded from the provincial elections. By the 1910s, women are allowed more rights such as the right to a municipal franchise to widows and 'old maids'. From 1912 to 1915 a force of suffragists wage a succesful protest on womans suffrage. They are led by Nellie McClung. Nellie McClung once stated 'Women who set a low value on themselves make life hard for all women'. The women of Manitoba win the right to vote in 1916 and soon the rest of Canada follows suit.
The first world war one made a large difference in the womans rights campaign. When the war broke out, a womans role changed from a mother to a worker. They took the roles that the men had when they left for war. However, during the war, many thousands of Canadian women spent their time to raise money for the men in the war. They were also allowed to vote during the war (the women with sons or husbands at war) because of conscription issues. This meant that because they needed men for the armies, the Canadian government would force able-bodied men to war, against their will. Thus, by the end of the war when the men came home, the women were sent out once again to go back to being mothers. Many were grateful for the rights that the war gave them. In the end, after the war women had gained much respect from the community because of their efforts to raise money for the war
This photo was taken in Toronto, Ontario, CA. The photo shows ten women holding up a sign that says 'We were voters out west! Why deny our rights in the east?' The women in this photo are all wearing either black or white long coats, which may signify that they are of middle class and or an age around 20-40. There are ten women, three that hold ribbons, three that stand, and four that hold the poles that keep the flag up. From the coats, it seems that the people wearing white coats are wealthier than the ones in black, because white clothing would become dirty faster, and therefore would need to be cleaned more often than the black coats. Some of them are wearing sashes around their necks, which may show that the people wearing sashes are of a high rank than the others in the suffragist society that these people may be part of. The streets are cobbled and uneven, which shows that there has been alot of use from the streets. The buildings have many windows, and have flowers in the front, giving the buildings around them a homely feel. This proves that this photograph may have been photographed on a road where many people live, so more would be able to see the poster and support womans suffrage.
The women in the photograph seem to be having some kind of protest. From the photo, we cannot tell if there are people watching, because there is no crowd behind the women, and we cannot see behind the photographer. All the women are standing upright, in a posture that seems almost stiff, and looks like one is proud of what they are doing. This shows that these women stand strong for womans suffrage and they are proud to be supporting it. This photo was one that was meant to be published. The women in the photo are trying to spread awareness of womens suffrage and protest, which would not be something that they would want to keep to themselves, but instead the goal was most likely to spread the word from this photo. This photograph was most likely taken because the people in the photograph wanted to tell people to broaden their cause amongst the people of Toronto. It seems that the photograph had an impact on others, because this sign uses guilt as a way to approach the people who are looking at this photograph.
This photo was taken from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. It appears to be so, because that was when womans suffrage protests were at it's peak. This photograph depicts a sign shown, and the sign informs the viewer that some kind of injustice has been done. This photograph shows that the social problem existed, because the photograph shows the women protesting about womans suffrage.