1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: a show that flips through the pages of history to 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: deliver old news in a new way. I'm Gabe Louisier, 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: and in this episode, we're looking at the time New 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: Zealand put the rest of the world to shame by 7 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: becoming the first country to enfranchise women. The day was 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: September David Boyle, the Governor of New Zealand, signed a 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: landmark piece of legislation that gave women the right to 10 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: vote in parliamentary elections. This act made New Zealand the 11 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: first self governing nation in the world to make women's 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: suffrage the law of the land. In other democracies, including 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: the United States and Britain, women did not win the 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: right to vote until nearly three decades later. The women 15 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: of New Zealand got there first, in part because of 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: the country's relatively small size and population, but also because 17 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: it's society was more malleable and open to change than 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: traditionalist europe Social movements that began abroad found more purchase 19 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: in the young nation of New Zealand than they did 20 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: on their own shores. But that said, the fight still 21 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: wasn't easy. When British colonists first took control of New 22 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: Zealand in the mid eighteen hundreds, they brought with them 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: the all too common idea that only men were suited 24 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: for the world of politics. As a result, the social 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: order of New Zealand quickly snapped into alignment with that 26 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: of European societies, with women and minorities firmly at the bottom. However, 27 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: by the end of the century, an international movement began 28 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: to shift the balance of power. Some women started pushing 29 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: back against a world view that excluded them from public life. 30 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: Throughout Europe and the United States, women found new opportunities 31 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: outside their homes. Some began attending high schools and colleges. 32 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: Others found careers in nursing or started taking on church 33 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: and charity work. Gradually, the conversation shifted to women's political rights, 34 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,399 Speaker 1: and the fight for the vote was on New Zealand's own. 35 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: Suffragists took inspiration from these foreign campaigns. They agreed with 36 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: British feminists that women should have equal rights, and they 37 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: agreed with American temperance groups that society was in need 38 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: of moral reform and that women would need the vote 39 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: to make it happen. In eighty five, the leader of 40 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: a US based temperance group visited New Zealand to help 41 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: set up a local branch. The result was New Zealand's 42 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: first national women's organization, which ultimately provided a platform for 43 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: the women of New Zealand to secure their right to vote. 44 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: By the early eighteen nineties, prominent New Zealand suffragists Kate 45 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: Shepard and her fellow campaigners were ready to take the 46 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: fight to Parliament. In eighteen ninety one, they organized the 47 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: first of three petitions, gathering more than nine thousand signatures. 48 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety two, a second petition garnered almost twenty 49 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 1: thousand signatures. Meanwhile, opponents of women suffrage warned that upsetting 50 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: the natural order would have dire consequences for society. The 51 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: local liquor industry shared this conviction and even launched its 52 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: own counter petitions, Probably because women voters were more likely 53 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: to support the prohibition of alcohol, the suffragists did find 54 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: some support among male members of Parliament when their petitions 55 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: were submitted. Both in eighteen ninety one and eighteen ninety two, 56 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: the House of Representatives passed electoral bills that would have 57 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: given women the right to vote. Unfortunately, on both occasions, 58 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: the bills failed in Parliament's more conservative upper house, the 59 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: Legislative Council. Refusing to give up, the suffragists presented their 60 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: third petition in eighteen ninety three. This time they had 61 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: a mass nearly thirty two thousand signatures, a quarter of 62 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 1: the population of European women in New Zealand. With public 63 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 1: opinion clearly on their side, a bill supporting the measure 64 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: was easily passed in the House for a third time. 65 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: The big question was whether the Legislative Council would once 66 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: again reject the bill. Suffragists held huge rallies to show 67 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: how many people backed their cause, and they flooded members 68 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: of the Council with telegrams urging their support. Opponents tried 69 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: several ways to sabotage the bill, but in the end 70 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: it was passed on September eighth, eighteen ninety three, with 71 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: a narrow margin of twenty votes to eighteen. Opponents of suffrage, 72 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,679 Speaker 1: including some members of Parliament, tried to convince the governor 73 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: not to sign the bill, but he totally did. On 74 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,119 Speaker 1: September nine, the law went into effect and all women 75 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: who were citizens aged twenty one and over, including Maori, 76 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: became eligible to vote. Suffrage just throughout the country and 77 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: across the world celebrated the victory. That November, the women 78 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: of New Zealand went to the polls for the first 79 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: time in a national election for women. In many other countries, 80 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: the fight for voting rights would continue for years to come, 81 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: but the change in New Zealand gave hope that their 82 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: own struggle would not be in vain. I'm gay, Bluesier, 83 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 84 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you have something on 85 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: your mind you'd like to share, you can send it 86 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: my way at this Day at i heart media dot com. 87 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 88 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: you as always for listening. I'll see you back here 89 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another Day in History class. For more 90 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 91 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.