Why did a campaign for women's suffrage develop in the years after 1870?

Why did a campaign for women’s suffrage develop in the years after 1870?

Throughout history men have mainly dominated society, but it was through the Suffrage Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that Britain began to see a shift in the balance of power. The shift of power was made possible by pressure groups that gradually changed their tactics to convince the government that women deserved enfranchisement. But before 1870, a large-scale movement had not happened. Women suffered from a number of restrictions: both laws which were made to restrict their freedom and what the contemporary society thought a woman’s role and qualities should be. John Ruskin wrote in Sesame and Lilies 1865, ‘The qualities a nineteenth century ideal wife should have are that she should accept that she has a lower status than man (especially her husband) as she is less intelligent, and weaker.’
In the 19th century women had almost no property rights, very little employment opportunit...