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Emmeline Pankhurst was an English political activist and a leading figure in the suffrage movement in Great Britain. Her tireless campaigning in the face of police brutality and failing personal health made her an icon of British politics. Let us look at one of her most influential public addresses titled, "Freedom or Death"

On November 13, 1913, British activist Emmeline Pankhurst gave one of the most influential speeches of the suffragette movement titled, Freedom or Death" at a meeting of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association in Hartford, Connecticut. U.S.

On this day, the founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) took the stage to argue that women's liberation could only be achieved by civil war.

Sign of the times

One of the greatest political changes of the 20th Century was obtaining the vote for women; but behind this accomplishment lay decades of refusals by successive governments.

The long-standing campaign for women's suffrage began in 1865 but when years of peaceful protest and innumerable petitions failed to translate into political change, women took to the streets to rally for their right to vote. It was during this time that Emmeline Pankhurst. along with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, came up with a public campaign of engagement and spectacle to gain media attention change public opinion, and influence the Parliament through (their motto) deeds and not words.

Freedom or Death

In her 1913 speech, Pankhurst addressed herself as a soldier on leave from the battle, since she was temporarily relieved from her prison sentence on account of what was popularly called the "cat and mouse act"

But her failing health could not derail her from utilising this occasion to speak on the need to fight against the injustices perpetrated on women by society. At the time working women she explained, were earning a meagre amount of two dollars a week: wives had no right on their husband's property and no legal say in the upbringing of their children. Girls were seen as marriageable at the age of 12 and divorce was considered to be an act against God: violence and assault on women rarely received any significant penalty, and above all, there was no legal framework that represented their gender in the constitutional setup. In this political environment, the right to vote, she insisted, was the first step towards getting political equality and attaining full citizenship.

The path to militancy Justifying the rise of the self-proclaimed militant suffragettes, she proclaimed "you cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs" The double standard of the society that reveres men as the harbinger of change and women as creatures to be domesticated has forced us down this road. The history of politics is a testament to the fact that one has to be more noisy" and disruptive to gain the media's attention and see their grievances addressed.

Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913

 This 1913 law, also known as the cat and mouse act, was especially passed to suppress the women's movement and allowed for the early release of prisoners who were so weakened by partaking in hunger strikes that they were on the verge of dying. Addressing this legislative move by the Government, she said "There are women lying at death's door... who have not given in and won't give in... they are being carried from their sick beds on stretchers into meetings. They are too weak to speak, but they go amongst their fellow workers just to show that their spirits are unquenched and that their spirit is alive, and they mean to go on as long as life lasts...either women are to be killed or women are to have the vote." (excerpt from Freedom or Death)

World War-l

Less than a year after this speech World War I broke out. The government released all imprisoned suffragists to join the workforce and support the war effort. It was only after the Representation of the People Act was passed in 1918 that property-owning British women over 30 were granted the right to vote.

Key takeaways from the speech

1. One must never hesitate to fight for social good.
2.  Women's rights are human rights.
3.  Equality is the soul of liberty.
4. It takes courage to challenge the familiar and resilience to succeed.
5.  Actions hold more meaning than words.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The colour scheme for the Suffragette movement was purple, white and green which stood for dignity purity and fertility.
• Pank-a-Squith was a pro women's suffrage board game created by WSPU in the early 1900s. The game's goal was to avoid all the pitfalls of suffragette life and get the right to vote.
• The Museum of London holds the diary entries, letters and sketchbooks written on toilet paper, passed between imprisoned suffragettes and eventually smuggled out of the prison building.

Picture Credit : Google 

On April 23, 1910, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivered what would become one of the most quoted speeches of his career, titled ‘Citizenship in a Republic’ at The Sorbonne for the University of Paris.

Theodore Roosevelt is remembered as one of the most robust Presidents in US history. His journey to become a symbol of America's strength and vitality is an inspiration for many. Let's revisit his monumental 1910 address in Paris, titled Citizenship in a Republic.

According to historian Edmund Morris's biography Colonel Roosevelt, the audience for this address included ministers in court dress, army and navy officers in full uniform, nine hundred students, and an audience of two thousand ticket holders.

This speech, which is also popularly known as The Man in the Arena, went on to become so influential that it was printed for tens and thousands of French school children. It was translated across Europe and turned into a pocketbook that sold 5.000 copies in just five days.

Roosevelt's America

History records that growing up, the 26th President of the U.S. found himself standing at the hinge of history. He was the leader of a new generation, one that had not witnessed the civil war first-hand. His presidency marked a beginning of a progressive era in politics that re-evaluated the moral conundrums and choices of the past.

Roosevelt's America was wrestling with profound challenges. Industrialisation and immigration meant that the cities were overcrowded and the working conditions at the factories were deteriorating by the day, and in the South. African-Americans were losing many of their voting rights, whereas women were still fighting to get the right to vote in the first place, business was booming and consolidating into various Trusts and monopolies. But in spite of all this, people were optimistic that the tools, technology, voices, and ideas of this time could solve all these problems.

Leadership distilled into action

Few men have had as much action in their life as Theodore Roosevelt. For average American citizens, his name conjures up images of Big game hunting, the Panama canal, glasses, his iconic grin, and moments that make him seem larger than life.

He was called by many the first media-conscious President the nation has ever seen. His pictures were everywhere, his likeness appeared in countless cartoons, his quotes passed from citizen to citizen and a record of his public life filmed for posterity flickered on every screen. He used the Oval office to preach the virtues of action and social reform. His rebellion against corporate greed and crooked politicians gave him the name and reputation of being a loose cannon that seldom missed a shot. One of history's supreme examples of leadership distilled into action. Roosevelt preached that the most effective way to learn was to do so by observation and true to these words, he led by example.

The Man in the Arena In his 1910 speech at The Sorbonne, he declared "Today I shall speak to you on the subject of individual citizenship... The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed... the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behoves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high" (excerpt from Citizenship in a Republic)

He further points out that the biggest problem with the system of higher education was that it made one a cynic and even took pride in it. Such an education (which was a privilege in itself) strips us of emotions and beliefs and reduces us to mere commentators who only know how to criticise "the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt".

He explains, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood: who strives valiantly: who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly..." (excerpt from Citizenship in a Republic) His entire understanding of leadership came down to the fact that actions speak louder than words. And his political career is a testament to his devotion to his country and his belief in this philosophy.

The combination of his manic energy, wide-ranging interests, and his extraordinary intellect at the turn of the 20th Century made him one of the most remarkable leaders the country has ever seen.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Roosevelt was the first President to win a Nobel Peace Prize. He received this honour for having negotiated peace in the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-05.

2. Roosevelt is to date the youngest man to have served as the President of the U.S.

3. Roosevelt sparked a scandal when he invited the African-American educator Booker T. Washington to dine with him and his family; he was the first President ever to entertain a black man in the White House.

4. During his presidency he created the United States Forest Service (USFS) to preserve wildlife and established 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, and five national parks.

Picture Credit : Google