Women’s Rights Movement and Prohibition in Canada After WWI

Scrapbooks Come up with 5 things that catch your attention from the pictures/articles

What was granny doing when she was younger? The History of the Vote

“The hand that rocks the cradle does not rule the world, or many things would be different. How long would the liquor traffic or the white slave traffic last if it did? - Nellie McClung in 1914

Learning Goals 1)Understand the effects of WWI on women ’ s suffrage and the key individuals/events (e.g. Nellie McClung, Mock Parliament) in the women ’ s ’ rights movement 2)Compare attitudes taken towards prohibition by Canada and the US

Social Stigmas Prior to WWI, social norms for women were that –They belonged in the house (men would do the work) Cleaning, laundry, dishwashing, etc –Made dinner for their husband

Effects of WWI on Women’s Rights Movement Women worked in munitions factories, tended family farms, etc. –The number of women in the work force rose by nearly 40 percent between 1921 and 1931

Women in the 1920s New labour-saving appliances during the 1920s meant rising standards of cleanliness Society also decided to ‘professionalize’ the business of raising a family –E.g. when to feed an infant, how to toilet train a toddler –New standards being demanded of mothers = declining birthrate from beginning of WWI to 1939

Nellie McClung Heritage Minute - Nellie McLung Mock Parliament = play written by McClung called “How the Vote Was Not Won” –“In this agricultural province, the man’s place is the farm. Shall I call man away from the useful plow and harrow to talk loud on street corners about things which do not concern him? Politics unsettle men…When you ask for the vote you are asking me to break up peaceful, happy homes - to wrteck innoncent lives… It may be that I am old-fashioned. I may be wrong. After all, men may be human. Perhaps the time will come when men may vote with women.

What the heck does women’s suffrage mean?

The Right to Vote Most provinces achieved the right to vote in provincial elections between 1916 and 1922 –Quebec had to wait until 1940 Women achieved the right to vote in federal elections in 1918 and the right to serve as members of Parliament in 1920

The Person’s Case (1929) Confirmed that women were “persons” as defined by the British North America Act –Supreme Court issued decision in 1928 that “qualified persons did not include women” –Appeal to Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Canada in England overturned decision Women behind the Person’s Case were the Famous Five; Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise Gave women the right to serve in the Senate

Prohibition Linked to women’s rights –Many women’s groups believed that alcohol lead to financial problems, to crime and often to physical/mental abuse Grain used in alcohol production would be used for food instead

Prohibition in Canada Began in 1918 (except Quebec) By 1924, most provinces decided liquor control was better than Prohibition –Link to today: Same argument for legalization of marijuana

Bootlegging Bootlegging = sold illegally –Became a big business as criminals devised ways to make, sell or import liquor illegally from the United States –Speakeasies (illegal liquor store or nightclub), blind pigs (illegal bar) Al Capone

FAIL Ultimately Prohibition was unsuccessful, but… –Raised awareness of alcohol abuse Canadian alcohol consumption never again reached the same high levels of the late 19th century

Assignment! Create a newspaper article that describes the key events in the women ’ s rights movement following WWI up until the 1930s –Connect these events to WWI and the changing social attitudes during war-time.