The Victorian Age

The Victorian Age (1837-1901) was a period of significant reform in Britain, following Queen Victoria's accession to the throne (1837). In this period, monarchy gained a new image of duty to its subjects. A strengthened National identity and a faith in progress, alongside a shift in morality, industrialization, expansion of the British Empire and the triumph of free trade defined this period. Also worthy of mention is the American Civil War which saw the Confederacy defeated by the United States of America, therefore leading to the abolition of slavery.

Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, at 18 years old. Throughout her reign, she retained a sense of duty and detachment from politics, making her the ideal head of a constitutional monarchy. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whom she relied on significantly during her reign for advice and help and eventually gave the title of “Prince Consort”.

During this period, several reforms took place, which extended the suffrage therefore promoting democracy, and improved the quality of life and protections for workers:

• First Reform Act (1832): voting privileges were extended to industrial towns
• Second Reform Act (1867): voting privileges were extended to a significant chunk of the urban male workers, as well as Welshmen
• Factory Act (1833): prevented children from being employed for more than 48 hours in a week
• Poor Law Amendment Act (1834): ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed
• Ballot Act (1872) the secret ballot was introduced

Workhouses, which were primarily ran by the Church¹⁾, had extremely harsh life conditions, especially due to the strict regimentation of work and the scarcity of food. This was however in accordance with the Puritan ideals of hard work, frugality and duty, incentivizing an ambition for a higher living standard through progress and class ascension.

In 1838, a movement called Chartism was born out of a People's Charter of working-class radicals demanding:

• Equal electoral districts
• Universal²⁾ suffrage
• Yearly Parliamentary elections
• Abolition of property requirements for membership

Due to bad weather and a plant disease, in 1845 most potato crops in Ireland were severely affected, leading to the so-called Irish Potato Famine. Many were pressured to emigrate to America in search of a better life. To the light of the crisis, in 1846 Corn Laws were abolished, thus lifting the sanctions on corn which kept price of bread artificially high.

England experienced significant industrialization, bringing about a wave of economic, cultural and architectural progress. Many important museums and expositions were born and had free entry, such as the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Great Exhibition, organized by Prince Albert at Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, had more than 15,000 exhibitors from all over the world show their goods to millions of visitors, setting up a great display of Britain's economic and social power, as well as its cultural influence over Europe and the entire world. The London Underground began to be built, along with railways interconnecting distant cities in England, and allowing quick and inexpensive transportation of passengers and goods. This expansion of the infrastructure marked the beginning of leisure travel, and allowed middle class workers to live in the suburbs instead of the center.

England fought two Opium Wars against China, the first between 1839 and 1842, and the second between 1856 and 1860 with France on England's side. England gained Hong Kong and access to five Chinese ports. With the Indian Mutiny in 1857 against England's power over India, the Indian administration was taken away responsibilities. Britain also stood in support of Italian independence from Austrian rule, and fought against the Ottoman Turks in the Crimean War (1853-1856).

The term “Victorian compromise” is often used to highlight the great contradictions and the enormous unprecedented change that took place within this time. Despite all of the progress in the instance of political stability and reforms during the period, it was a dark age for class mobility, poverty and justice. The belief in God, which brought about Evangelical and Charity movements, was juxtaposed to a sense of optimism over scientific and political progress.

The sense of respectability, borne of a new morality but also of a hypocritical veil over the corruption of the time, became important, along with a sense of social status and an assiduous focus on appearance, education and hygiene. These ideals spanned the entirety of society, including the worker class. Women were seen as physically inferior but morally superior beings, and a lot of emphasis was put onto the value of chastity, while within this new moral framework sexuality or even its very mention was generally repressed, even in language and imagery.

During the Victorian Age, many movements were born sharing many of the same core tenets as their basis. The most significant is doubtlessly Evangelicalism: it held that moral conduct was the test of the “Good Christian”. Evangelicals supported:

• Literal interpretation of the Bible
• A strict code of morality precluding many forms of recreation
• Humanitarianism and social reform

Another important movement was Utilitarianism, centered around Jeremy Bentham's principles and roughly based on Epicurean philosophy: this worldview holds true that an action is morally good if its consequences lead to happiness. This ideology defines a rational scope through which all human institutions should be examined, and was very popular among the Victorian middle class.

Other intellectuals, however, firmly disagreed with the Utilitarian disregard for human and cultural values. One of Utilitarianism's main proponents was John Stuart Mill, who was critical of Bentham's vision and he maintained that:

• Happiness is a state of the mind and the spirit, not just the pursuit of selfish pleasures
• Legislation should promote the expression of the potential of human individuals
• A good society is one where there are no barriers between individuals
• Education and Art are fundamental to progress
• Reforms for popular education, trade union organization and cooperatives, representation and emancipation of women were crucial issues

The new scientific discoveries, such as Darwin's Theory of Evolution, discarded creationism and thus the literal interpretation of the Bible embraced by Evangelicals. This lead to a reaction by British Catholics willing to return to the original doctrine, called the Oxford Movement.

The American Civil War began due to the extreme political, economic, cultural and ideological tensions between the North and the South of the United States. While the North had become heavily industrialized and benefited from commercial sanctions while seeing no value in keeping slavery around, the economy of the South was still largely based on exports from tobacco and cotton plantations, wherein Black slaves worked. The South was also much more culturally and ethnically uniform, and was a mostly rural territory with a rigid aristocracy still carrying the banner of traditional values long-gone in the North. Abolitionist movements kept gaining steam in the North, where many intellectuals and politicians of the time started to refer to slavery as the deprivation from slaves of dignity, family and rights, and a form of extreme cruelty at the hands of slave owners.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential Election, leading to the secession of 11 southern States from the Union and to the birth of the Confederate States of America, under the presidency of Jefferson Davis. The Civil War lasted between 1861 and 1865, after the defeat of the grey Confederates at the hands of the blue northern troops commanded by General Grant. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was passed, outlawing slavery, but the battle for civil rights, equality and racial justice was far from over, and still isn't to this day.^{[citation needed]}

At this time, a new vision of the American Dream sparked life into the ambitions of entrepreneurs to seek fortunes, and in the North many a financial empire was born, especially through the exploitation of natural resources. On the flip-side, the majority of the workers didn't benefit directly from these improvements. In 1866 the AFL (American Federation of Labor) was born. Meanwhile, the discovery of gold in California led to the gold rush and with the 1862 Homestead Act gave free soil to the first occupants. This led to the extermination of buffaloes and the subsequent starvation of American Indians, who were also mass-deported and in part brutally exterminated.

After Prince Albert's death in 1861, Queen Victoria withdrew from society to spend the following ten years in mourning. In this period, the state of British politics underwent significant changes: the Whigs, along with some Radicals and many businessmen, gathered under one party — the Liberal Party — led by William Gladstone. On the other hand, Benjamin Disraeli was the leader of the Conservative Party, representing the interests of the former Tories.

Benjamin briefly became Prime Minister in 1868 and regained office later in 1874. He passed a Labourers' Dwellings' Act (1875) which allowed authorities to clear the slums improved living condition of the poor. He also passed the Public Health Act (1878) and a Factory Act (1878).

During William's three terms (starting in 1868) he reformed education laws, with his 1870 Education Act starting a National system of “board schools” in poorer areas. He also pushed the Trade Union Act and, in 1872, the Ballot Act, which introduce the secret ballot at elections. In 1884, he extended the suffrage to all male householders with the Third Reform Act. He unsuccessfully attempted three times to concede to the Irish Parliamentary Party's demand to have self-governance, which Ireland only gained after WW1.

In 1880, following Britain's recent occupation of the Boer Transvaal in South Africa, the originally-Dutch Boer settlers rebelled and started a series of wars which eventually Britain won.

In 1877, Queen Victoria was awarded the title “Empress of India” due to the control Britain had gained on the Indian territory, which however had become progressively harder to control. In the Victorian Age, due to free market economics, the British Empire had destroyed traditional farming in India and caused its de-industrialization, rendering it a primary importer of British cotton.

The Victorian Age saw its end with the death of Queen Victoria, in 1901. Queen Victoria was buried next to her lover at Windsor Castle.

• 1832: First Reform Act (industrial towns vote)
• 1833: Factory Act (children no longer work for more than 48h/week)
• 1834: Poor Law Amendment Act (the poor are provided with accommodation in workhouses and primary goods)
• 1837: Queen Victoria ascends to the throne
• 1838: Chartism
• 1839-1860 Opium Wars against China
• 1840: Victoria marries Prince Albert
• 1845: Potato Famine
• 1846: Corn Laws repeal
• 1853: Crimean War against Ottoman Turks
• 1867: Second Reform Act (urban male workers & Wales vote)
• 1872: Ballot Act (secret ballots)
• 1880: Boer Wars (Britain occupies Transvaal)
• 1901: Queen Victoria dies

• 1860: Lincoln is elected president of the USA
• 1861: CSA is born, Civil War begins
• 1862: Homestead Act (California occupants were granted free soil)
• 1865: Grant defeats the grey Confederates, winning the Civil War; the 13th Amendment is passed
• 1866: American Foundation of Labor is born