Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist. She was born on July 15th, 1858 in Manchester, England to very politically active parents. Emmeline Pankhurst was a leader of the women's suffrage movement which helped give women the right to vote. She was introduced to this life at the age of 8 thanks to her parents. Emmeline married Richard Pankhurst in 1878 and they had 3 daughters and 2 sons together over the next 10 years. Richard Pankhurst was a big supporter of his wife and she admired that very much of him. In 1903, 5 years after Emmeline's husband died, she founded the Women's Social and Political Union, which is also known as the WSPU. The WSPU became known for political confrontations. Pankhurst, her daughters, and other members received repeated prison sentences. Eventually Emmeline Pankhurst's oldest daughter Christabel took leadership of the WSPU. Emmeline Pankhurst also founded the Women's Franchise League in 1889, which advocated suffrage for both married and unmarried women and also fought for them to vote in local elections.
On November 13th, 1913 in Hartford, Connecticut Emmeline Pankhurst delivered a very memorable speech known as "Freedom or Death." The speech is often considered to be the start of the Western feminist movement's urgency to advocate for its rights. It also had a large role in women gaining the right to vote and have a proper place in society. Many people believe that the reason for this speech was to advocate the right for women to vote. However, that was not the main reason of this speech. Emmeline Pankhurst said while speaking, "I am here as a soldier who has temporarily left the field of battle in order to explain - it seems strange it should have to be explained - what civil war is like when civil war is waged by women." The purpose of "Freedom or Death" was to explain why the movement had turned to more aggressive and violent means to achieve its ends.