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The dawn of the Victorian Age (1837-1861) (An age of reforms (1834 (The…
The dawn of the Victorian Age
(1837-1861)
Queen Victoria
Victoria became queen at the age of eighteen in 1837.
She ruled for almost 64 years.
Her sense of duty
made her the ideal head of a
constitutional monarchy
.
She provided her country with stability.
Victoria and Albert
Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
married
in
1840
.
They had nine children and their family life provided a model of
respectability
.
Albert supported reform but in December
1861
he
died
suddenly at the age of 42.
In 1857 Victoria gave Albert the title of Prince Consort, in recognition of his importance to the country.
In memory of her beloved husband she had the
Albert Memorial (1876)
built in London.
An age of reforms
1834
The Poor Law Amendment Act
established a system of workhouses for poor people.
1846
Abolition of the Corn Laws
1833
The Factory Act
regulated child labour in factories.
1867
The Second Reform Act
extended voting privileges to part of the urban male workers.
1832
The First Reform Act
extended voting privileges
to the middle classes and industrial cities (rotten boroughs)
1872
Ballot Act
introduced the secret ballot.
1884
Third reform bill
= Vote to all male workers, also in rural and mining areas. (from 8 million voters now we have 16 million voters, mostly workers)
Workhouses
Workhouses were institutions
where, often in return for
board and lodging, employment
was provided for
the poor;
the orphans;
the physically and mentally sick;
the disabled;
the elderly;
unmarried mothers.
The government, in the fear of encouraging
laziness, made sure that
people feared the
workhouse
and would do anything to keep out of it.
Workhouses were
designed to separate groups
:
families were split up;
people in the same family could meet
during meals or in the chapel but they
were not allowed to speak to each other;
all meals were taken in silence;
the official diets were so meager that
they were described as a slow
process of starvation
.
Chartism
In 1838 a group of working-class radicals
drew up a
People’s Charter
demanding:
universal male suffrage
equal electoral districts
voting by secret ballot
pay for Members of Parliament
annual elections of Parliament
The Chartist movement failed, although their influence was later felt in the Second Reform Act in 1867 and in the Ballot Act in 1872.
The Irish
Potato Famine
Causes
Rise in population in 1845.
Dependence on potato crops.
Destruction of crops because of bad
weather and unknown plant disease.
What was done?
1846: Prime Minister Peel abolished
the Corn Laws, which imposed tariffs
on imported corn, keeping the price
of bread high to protect the landed interests.
Results
1 million died of disease and starvation.
2 million emigrated by 1851.
Decline of Irish language.
New Catholic landlords.
Hatred for Britain.
The Great Exhibition
Housed at the Crystal
Palace, in Hyde Park, 1851
What?
It showed the increasing
power of the middle classes.
Why?
It was built so other countries
could show off their scientific
and technological developments.
Who?
Everyone from all over the
British Empire gathered there to see
the pride of the nations.
Inside there were
many exhibits from several countries
, including China, America, Canada and many more.
On each industrial country’s exhibit they showcased their biggest designs, fabrics and their latest creations to show that their home nation was better than any other.
Foreign policy
In the mid-19th century
England was involved in
Indian mutinity
Crimean War
Two Opium Wars
England gained access to
five Chinese
ports
and
the control of Hong Kong
after
the Second Opium War.
British rule acquired
greater responsibility
after the Indian Mutiny
.
Florence Nightingale led a team of 38 nurses
at Scutari base hospital during the Crimean War.
Once back to England, she formed an institution
for the development of the nursing profession.
The Victorian compromise
The Victorians were great
moralisers
-> they supported personal duty, hard work, decorum,
respectability
, chastity.
Respectability -> a mixture of morality and hypocrisy. The unpleasant aspects of society – dissolution, poverty, social unrest – were hidden under outward respectability.
‘
Victorian
’, synonymous with
prude
, stood for extreme repression; even furniture legs had to be concealed under heavy cloth not to be ‘
suggestive
’.
The powerful middle-class was obsessed with gentility and decorum.
Decorum
->
strict ideas about authority
Victorian private lives dominated by an authoritarian father.
Women were subject to male authority; they were expected to marry and make home a ‘refuge’ for their husbands.
Single women with a child were marginalised as ‘fallen’ women.
Early Victorian thinkers
Evangelicalism
Strict
code
of behaviour.
Dedication to
humanitarian causes
and
social reform
.
Base of Victorian emphasis upon
moral conduct
.
Darwin and the theory of evolution
All living creatures have developed their forms through a slow process of change.
Favourable physical conditions determine the survival of a species, unfavourable ones its extinction.
Man evolved from a monkey.
Darwin’s theory
discarded the version of creation
given by the Bible.
Empiricism
Legislation
should try to
help
men develop their natural talents.
Progress came from
mental energy
.
Supported popular
education
, trade union organisation, extension of
representation
to all citizens, and the
emancipation
of women.
The Oxford Movement
A reaction to the challenges of science.
Revival of religion.
Utilitarianism
Neglected
human
and
cultural values
.
Any problem could be overcome by
reason
.
Usefulness, happiness,
avoidance of pain
.