History Controlled Assessment Essay

Controlled Assessment Before 1914, some women were discriminated against and were seen as second class citizens. The ideal job for the working class women were found in and around the home, which was greatly related to domestic jobs. They were known as â€Å"domestic servants† as they had to do all of the house chores and obey the orders of the house owners, for example, the mother, the father, the son or even the daughter. They had a really low paid job as they had no skill in which they could rely on to get a job, meaning that they were forced to stick with the domestic jobs. However, they were guaranteed food, shelter and clothes, depending on the generosity of the employer the servant would gain more or less. In this controlled assessment I will be talking about 5 sources that explain to us how women’s lives were affected by World War I. During the World War, some British women’s lives had completely altered. Looking at the source, it tells us that the munitions girls were always good company. It also tells us that they were very generous and kind, since the girls offered to pay for the soldier. The source is a secondary source as it was an interview for a book made up of personal memories, which was written in 1990. Also, this interview was with H.V. Shawyer, a soldier during WWI. The purpose of this source is to educate people that want to know people’s personal memories and how their lives were changed by the war. This source is reliable as it was created for a book, made to educate people and since it is a book, it will contain many similar stories relating to the war and the munitions girls. Source 4 is a primary source and is a poster. It’s also an image of a woman ploughing on a farm. The source implies to us that women can do most things that are meant for men to do; therefore women are equal to men in most ways. The poster was created in 1917, which was during WWI. It was created by the Government, who were seeking recruits for the Women’s Land Army. Since the men were at the World War, the Government called for the women to take over the men’s jobs but were only paid minimum wage. For example, out of 260,000 women needed for the jobs, only 48,000 volunteered. This is because the jobs the women faced did not appeal to them, meaning that most of the women wouldn’t take up the jobs. The purpose of this propaganda poster was to persuade women to join the Women’s Land Army since the men were too busy at the war. This third source was taken from a website focused at GCSE History students, most likely created by a historian. It was created in 2006 and is aimed at GCSE History students; it is also a secondary source as it was created after the World War occurred so it also gains the benefit of hindsight. The purpose of this source was to inform and educate GCSE students studying for History. This source is quite trustworthy since it’s from BBC, a trusted website. Also, it was most likely created by experienced Historians, willing to educate students for their exams. It is also quite useful as it informs you about World War I, and how it proved to be a turning point for women. This next source I will be talking about is a secondary source and is a letter. It is taken from a letter by Mrs H. Felstead, who was writing it in to the Imperial War Museum. It was a letter created in 1976. The Imperial War Museum asked for memories from women that were involved in the War. The source was created to inform people on what women gained during the war. The source is actually fairly reliable as it informs us on what women gained during the War; however, there isn’t enough knowledge on who she is so this makes the source fairly reliable. This source is quite useful to somebody studying on how women’s lives were affected during the War as it gives us personal stories from these women, and is written from their own point of view. The last source I will be talking about is a secondary source and is an extract from a History book talking about women’s rights. The source was created in 1932 and is an extract from a History book. The source was also created by a woman named Sylvia Pankhurst. The source was created to persuade people to allow women’s rights, such as the vote. However, this is not enough as Sylvia wanted more women’s rights. The source is fairly reliable as she is trying to campaign for women’s rights by using detailed facts about women, however, she could be lying by creating false facts to help gain rights for women. The source is also quite useful to women wanting to know about women’s rights and who campaigned to gain women’s rights.