"SYLVIA PANKHURST: ADVOCATE OR SUBVERSIVE?"
Introduction:
Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was an English campaigner for the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom. She was for a time a prominent communist who then devoted herself to the cause of anti-fascism. In 1906 Sylvia Pankhurst started to work full-time with the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) with her sister and her mother. In contrast to them she retained an affiliation with the labor movement, and unlike them she concentrated her activity on local campaigning with the East London Federation of the WSPU, rather than leading the national organization.
During the First World War, Sylvia was horrified to see her mother and her sister Christabel become enthusiastic supporters of the war drive, and campaigning in favor of military conscription. She herself was opposed to the war. Her organization attempted to organize the defense of the interests of women in the poorer parts of London. The group continued to move leftwards and hosted the inaugural meeting of the Communist Party (British Section of the Third International). Workers'Dreednought published 'A Constitution for British Societe at this meeting. This was an article by Sylvia, in which she highlighted the role of Household Soviets "In order that mothers and those who are organizers of the family life of the community may be adequately represented, and may take their due part in the management of society, a system of household Soviets shall be built up'
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Goal:
The goal of this written assessment will be to discover the various events, themes, and issues that characterized and impacted the industrial and reform era in Great Britain/Victorian England. In addition, analyze primary sources documents to formulate conclusions.
Assignment:
In a paragraph, answer the following questions that can be drawn from the attached reading and documents. Support your answers brit:el uding phrases from the document(s) in your responses
1) Explain the aims of the suffragists and the actions taken by them to achieve those aims. After explaining their aims, how do other organizations like the Liberal and Independent Labour Parties react? Use the documents to support your responses.
2) How did Sylvia carry her ideals into practice through the East London Federation of Suffragettes and its newspaper "Woman's (later Workees) Dreadnought?" Based on the foregoing, how do you think Sylvia felt about the passage of The Representation of the People Act in 1918? Use the documents to support your responses.