Black Friday (1910)
Encyclopedia
Black Friday was a women's suffrage event in the United Kingdom on 18 November 1910.
Although the Conciliation Bill, which would extend the right of women to vote in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
to around 1,000,000 wealthy, property-owning women, got to its second reading, British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith indicated that there would be no more Parliamentary time for the Bill. In response, the Women's Social and Political Union
(WSPU) sent a delegation of around 300 women who were assaulted when they attempted to run past the police. Many suffragettes reported being assaulted and manhandled by the police and well over 100 were arrested; Asquith's car was vandalized in reaction to this treatment. The event caused some embarrassment to Winston Churchill
who was Home Secretary
at the time.
were elected at the next general election, they would include a Suffrage Bill that could be amended to allow women to vote. The WSPU rejected this believing that it was an attempt to delay reform; the events of Black Friday were damaging to the suffrage campaign, as they caused MPs to distance themselves from the campaign.
This was the first time that Suffragette protests were met with violent physical abuse, however it was generally supported by the British population, who at the time were relatively opposed to women's franchise. Two women died as a result of police violence, and two hundred women were arrested.
Although the Conciliation Bill, which would extend the right of women to vote in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
to around 1,000,000 wealthy, property-owning women, got to its second reading, British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith indicated that there would be no more Parliamentary time for the Bill. In response, the Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
(WSPU) sent a delegation of around 300 women who were assaulted when they attempted to run past the police. Many suffragettes reported being assaulted and manhandled by the police and well over 100 were arrested; Asquith's car was vandalized in reaction to this treatment. The event caused some embarrassment to Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
who was Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
at the time.
The aftermath of Black Friday
The events of Black Friday were a public relations disaster for the government; the press took the side of the Suffragettes, printing pictures of police assaulting unarmed female protesters. The actions of the police were greatly criticised. After Black Friday, Asquith stated that if the LiberalsLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
were elected at the next general election, they would include a Suffrage Bill that could be amended to allow women to vote. The WSPU rejected this believing that it was an attempt to delay reform; the events of Black Friday were damaging to the suffrage campaign, as they caused MPs to distance themselves from the campaign.
This was the first time that Suffragette protests were met with violent physical abuse, however it was generally supported by the British population, who at the time were relatively opposed to women's franchise. Two women died as a result of police violence, and two hundred women were arrested.