Hunger Strikes by Suffragists

In US History class this week, everyone was assigned a topic to research and blog about; all relating back to World War 1. I happened to bring my laptop to class on the day we were supposed to, so I got to draw my topic first. I ended up with a very interesting topic which is Hunger Strikes by Suffragists. At first I just typed in Hunger Strikes on Google and got way to many results so I asked my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lawson, for some guidance and she pointed me in the right direction. With this help I came across three great websites, Woman in History, History Matters and Spartacus Educational. They all provided me with key information about the hunger strikes that I really enjoyed learning about.

Alice Paul

One of the most important woman figures who helped lead suffragists to victory was Alice Paul. Alice was once part of the National American Woman Suffrage Association but separated from it to form the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage which later developed into the National Woman's Party (NWP) in 1917. Oh and one really cool thing I learned is that Alice and I have the same birthday, January 11^th! Anyway, back to the subject, while WW1 was going on the NWP's main focus was to win the right for woman to vote. They did this by picketing the White House in Washington, DC. As most strikes go, the police were called and the picketers were sentenced to a few days in jail. But this didn’t change anything in the minds of the suffragists and the picketing still went on. But finally on October 20, 1917 Alice Paul, who was one of the NWP’s main leaders, was arrested by the police in order to break the spirit if the suffragist and end the picketing. Alice was sentenced to seven months in prison and this is where she started a hunger strike.

Woman picketing in front of the White House

 Alice, my birthday twin, would not eat anything while in jail. Alice was deprived of everything she once had while in prison and the only option she had left with was to go on a hunger strike. It was the only thing she could control. Alice once said "It was the strongest weapon left with which to continue our battle.” She was transferred from her cell and into a psychopathic ward. By doing so prison officials hoped to label her as insane. Yet Alice did not eat. Her hunger strike lasted an insane number of 22 days. During the last week of this 22 day strike the prison hired doctors to force feed Alice.

Force feeding

Force feeding is such a disturbing thing, especially during this time period. In this case suffragist on a hunger strike would be forcibly held down by multiple people, sometimes 10 or more were needed for just one suffragist, or the suffragist would be strapped down to a chair and have her hands and legs tied to it. A doctor would come in with a small plastic tube about two yards long and force the tube down either the woman’s mouth or nose and into the stomach. Usually the tube would go down the mouth but occasionally they would do the nose just to scare the woman even more and make them want to eat. This process was extremely painful for the woman. The tube would scrape up the inside of their throat and cause bleeding but when the tube was pushed through the nose it was unbearably painful to the point where the doctor and nurses would have to stop the process because the women would be in so much pain.

Often times the liquid food that was poured through the tube and into the stomach was leftover food from the jail that had gone bad and would have been thrown away. Mixed with whatever liquid the doctors could get their hands on, the food was well blended until smooth. These feedings would go on twice to three times a day per suffragist. It was an event every suffragist dreaded. Many times after a force feeding woman would vomit up the liquid because of either how foul it was on their empty stomach or by the severe trauma they experience during the feeding. Even after starving themselves and forcible being fed through tubes, woman still continued their hunger strike. 

They did all of this so to gain the attention of Americans, turning their views of woman voting into something that should be allowed. When articles published the abuse these women were being put through sent a feeling of sympathy and anger into the American heart and slowly but surely helped change their views on women voting. On November 27 and 28 of 1917 all the suffragists were released from jail due to the public pressure on the government. And in 1920 woman voted for the first time in the presidential election, thanks to the help of the suffragists who went on hunger strikes. 

Woman getting to vote for the first time

My vote counts!

     I find it unbelievable that woman would starve themselves and endure such pain for the right to vote. I use to take the right to vote for granted but now that I have researched this topic I realize how important and what a privilege it is to vote. From now on when I vote I will think about what these woman went through in order for me to have a say in the country that I live in!