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The Victorian Age
1837-1901
Social and cultural background
Historical background
Economic background
1838 Chartism
industrialization
they asked for :
- universal male suffrage
- equal electoral districts
- abolition of property qualifications for MPs
- payment for MPs
photography
1867 second Reform Bill
the invention of the stamp: letters were pre-paid by the sender
electricity
became popular
male householders in towns
could vote
constant expansion
of industrial areas
big factories were built
the flushing toilet
appeared
1871 Trade Unions
were legalised
democracy was growing
bicycles
became popular
the invention of the telegraph
made communication much faster
wide use
of machinery
cotton mill
1875 third Reform Bill
all householders
could vote
hospitals became more efficient (smaller rooms and qualified doctors) and cleaner to avoid the danger of spreading disease
hospitals and surgery
tarmac was invented
mining
progress
1888
Local Government Act
women could vote
in local elections
iron foundry
coal mine
shops
means of transport
improved
pollution
they created a shop window to show their goods and they put labels with prices on them
1851
The Great Exhibition
Crystal Palace
Brighton
the development
of the means of transport
made holidays and seaside resorts become popular
Blackpool
1834
Poor Law Amendment Act
workhouses were built
with the aim of helping the very poor
employment of women and children in mines was banned
liberalization
1842
Mines Act
non-interference with industry or economy allowing free trade and free competition
Policy of laissez-faire
The Corn Law
was abolished
women and children couldn't work for
more than ten hours a day
1847
Ten Hours Bill
houses had to have running water
and a drainage system
the greatest happiness for the greatest possible number
Public Health Act
living conditions were improving
happiness consisted in having employment, being fed, housed, avoiding illness, receiving a factual education
utilitarianism
Education Acts
what was considered useful to society was considered good and what was useless was considered bad
more comfortable living conditions
for the middle and the upper classes
- School became compulsory and free from 5 to 10 and later from 5 to 12
- Health inspections
it encouraged a reductive, rationalist and materialistic view of man
slums
different
life conditions
The Metropolitan Police was established by Prime Minister Robert Peel
drunkenness
criminality
harsh living conditions
for the working class
and the unemployed
diseases
murders
pickpockets
imperialism
Britain established
an enormous colonial Empire
women could keep
their personal properties after they got married
workhouses
and all over the world
in Europe
bedroom
Married Women's
Property Act
dining hall
The Empire was important for:
divorce was decided by civil courts instead of by ecclesiastical courts and both men and women could ask for it in case of adultery
Matrimonial causes Act
hard working conditions in factories
polluted environment
- strategic reasons
- commercial reasons
Marx's influence:
the spread of socialist ideas
- economic reasons
colonialism was considered
a moral duty.
It meant
the exportation of civilization and the Christian religion.
Hong Kong became part of the British Empire
The Opium Wars with China
The British were proud of:
pride
1854-1856
Crimean War
Balaclava
- their world power thanks to their huge colonial Empire
- their economic growth thanks to industrialization and trade
- their technological progress
- their democratic political system
- their good living conditions and good manners
- their moral values
- their religion
a massacre for heroic
British soldiers
Crimea was strategically important
for British trade
1869 The Suez Canal
was opened
Britain was increasing its power
1876 Queen Victoria was titled
Empress of India
the scramble for Africa
1899-1902
The Boer War
conformism
sex was a taboo
religiosity:
church going
and doing charity
elegance,
good manners,
propriety
sense of duty
and hard work
large families
she had 9 children
Queen Victoria was
an example of respectability
she always wore black clothes after her husband's death as a sign of mourning
they had to be good mothers
looking after the children
respectability
and morality
they had to be good hosts
entertaining their guests
they had to be good wives taking care of their husbands and the house
the role of the woman
women were not independent;
they depended on men
croquet was a popular sport for women
sewing
playing the piano and singing
women's education
speaking French
the suffragettes
at the end of the century
women
of the lower classes
Not all women
were considered respectable
prostitution
and the concept
of fallen women
the tendency to avoid
taking definite positions
and the consequent
co-existence of opposites and the presence of many contradictions
poor people were considered lazy, stupid and unable to improve their social conditions
wealthy people used to do charity and
at the same time they felt contempt for the poor
stray children
Puritan attitude
towards wealth and poverty
the Victorian
compromise
factory owners and employers exploited the poor
and at the same time the government approved some laws aiming at social reform
On the one side there was liberalization for the economy of the country, on the other side
the government established more protective rules and social legislation
Darwin's evolutionism vs the belief in the biblical version of the creation of the world
on one side great importance was given to science and progress, on the other side religion seemed to be in contrast with scientific theories.
materialism coexisted with spiritualism
and religiosity
hypocrisy
importance was given to appearances
and consequently faults were hidden