The British Empire: A source for good or evil? January 2014 | Page 18

Democracy : The voting right in British Empire
1) For indigenous people and British settlers...
There are many different situations in all the colonies. But the most widespread practice
is that there was a governor, nominated by the Queen, who leaded the colony. One of the first
right removed by the British authority was the right to let native people elect their leaders. In
fact, their chiefs were often displaced by the settlers. The ones who could kept their functions
were forced to do reports to the governors, they were in reality under the orders of them.

Illustration : Photography of
native policemen, Natal, South
Africa, 1900
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/educ
ation/empire/g2/cs3/g2cs3s9.htm

The British settlers didn't have either the right to vote: their leaders were choose by the
Queen. But they had more rights than the indigenous people, particularly the right to led native
people, gave them orders that they couldn't refused.
3) In Britain...
In 1897, Millicent Fawcett established the National Union of Women's Suffrage for the
women's right to vote, arguing that if the women have to obey to the laws, they should have the
right to participate at their creation. A long fight followed, particularly marked by hunger strikes.
These actions brought sympathy to the new suffragettes.
During the First World War, women were forced to replace the men and did hard jobs, often
gave to the men. So in 1918, the Parliament of the United Kingdom granted the right to vote to
the women, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who have minimum property qualifications.
About 8 millions of women got the right. The Representation of the People Act 1928 extended
the voting franchise to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms
as men.