The Victorian Age

The Victorian

AgeJulie CarrKerry YoungHolly Carlson

Amanda YoungKrista Bugenhagen

Queen Victoria• June 20, 1837 – Queen• The Reform Act of 1832 had

set the standard of legislative authority residing in the House of Lords

• Married Prince Albert, strong political views

• Stayed out of the public eye• Focused on what was good for

the public• Dependent on Lord Melbourne

(P.M.) for political advice

Queen Victoria cont’d

• She wished to be informed of political matters, although she had no direct input in policy decisions

• Prince Albert replaced Melbourne as the dominant male influence in Victoria's life

Prince Albert

Queen Victoria cont’d• Victoria & Albert had nine

children together• supported peace and

reconciliation• her letter to German

Emperor helped to avert a second Franco-German war

• “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist”

Imperialism

• British imperial policy stayed the same throughout the Victorian era

• No planned expansion• Lord Roseberry (liberal prime minister) “sane

imperialism, as distinguished from what may call wild-cat imperialism is nothing but this- a larger patriotism”

Cause• Between 1870 and 1900 the British

empire rapidly expanded to four million square miles

• Why?– Combination of many factors– Industrial revolution – need to protect the economy– Technology advances

Important People• forceful plans were only followed by men

such as Bartle Frere – Bartle Frere- spent most of his career in India

and was the Governor of Bombay in the 1860’s• Disraeli

– Great pro-active imperialist– Unite the classes under one empire– Purchased four million pounds worth of the

Suez canal (1875)• Prevented France from taking control of trade route

– interested in Afghanistan as a safeguard state between Russia and India

– Decided in 1876 to make queen Victoria empress of India

• William Gladstone promoted international morality, which acknowledged the equal rights of nations.

Effects on Colonial People•  As trading spread- affected cultures of

the colonial peoples• Believed that British “customs and

institutions are the wonder of the world”• Many Indians were unhappy with British

control• Cash crops left natives starving• Artificial borders created tensions

between ethnic tribes

Individual Colonies• Queen Victoria was Queen-

Empress of more than two hundred million people living outside Great Britain

• European powers and competition for colonies between 1876 and 1914– ¼ of the globes land surface was

distributed as colonies among six countries

• Australia, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia

Industrial Revolution: Innovations and Inventions

Textiles• Richard Arkwright’s Water Frame• James Hargreaves’s Spinning Jenny• Samuel Crompton’s Spinning Mule

Steam Power• James Watt’s steam engineTransportation• Railways, improved roads, and

canals for trade expansion Joseph Bazalgette’s sewage system

in London

Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Negative• Overpopulation• Pollution• Disease• Child Labour• Poverty

Positive• Growth in technology and

invention• Efficient production• Urbanization

Intellectuals • Some of the traits/ideas of a Victorian

Intellectual; • QUESTIONED EVERYTHING • Many Intellectuals questioned the exploitation of the

earth and the less advanced people. • Questioned the idea that material goods could make

one truly happy • Questioned how life really began (Creationism vs.

Evolution)• Empiricism• Utilitarianism• Smith’s ideas of a laissez-faire policy of government

Important People • Charles Darwin-Scientist • Karl Marx- German-Jewish

Political Philosopher • Ideas of John Locke- British

Political Philosopher • Ideas of Adam Smith-

Scottish Moral Philosopher • Some important Scientists

like; Marie Curie, Humphrey Davy, Baron Larry, and Von Liebig.

Darwin (1809-1882)• Contributed to Science

in multiple ways. • Wrote, On the Origin of

Species• Wrote, The Dissent of

Man • “The preservation of

favorable variations, I call Natural Selection, or survival of the fittest”-(On the Origin of Species)

Karl Marx (1818-1883)• The creator of Marxism, a form

of socialism. • Wrote, The Communist

Manifesto• “The development of Modern

Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. ”   - (The Communist Manifesto)

John Locke Ideas • Locke’s ideas became a

significant source of interest to the Victorian people.

• Tested what the human limits were.

• Was one of the first Empiricists.

• Wrote, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

• “Fashion for the most part is nothing but the ostentation of riches” –Locke

Ideas of Adam Smith • Smith’s ideas involved a

very limited government. • This idea was called

Laissez’-Faire . • Wrote, Theory of Moral

Sentiments • Wrote, The Wealth of

Nations • “I have never known

much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good”-Smith

Significant Accomplishments

• Pierre and Marie Currie discovered radium

• Multiple vaccines were created (Small Pox, Cow Pox)

• Humphrey David discovered Nitrous Oxide.

• Baron Larry developed multiple methods of medical care.

• Von Liebig discovered chloroform

Social & Political Reform• Protests against gov’t policies

that kept price of bread/food high

• Deprivation of voting/representation in Parliament to most working men, all women

• 1832 First Reform Bill– Right to vote- men who owned

property worth 10 pounds or more• 1867 Second Reform Bill

– Right to vote- men, except agricultural workers

Revolution & “Progress”• 1848: Year of Revolution• Material condition of people in

social classes• Trade with other countries & the

growing empire• Cheap postage, newspapers,

clothing• Corn Laws=intended to protect

English farmers from cheap foreign imports of grain after the Napoleonic Wars

• economic spiral: not buying manufactured goods, lay off workers, difficulty finding employment

• Progress= agitating for better conditions and for improved educational opportunities

• Schools state-supported• Population moving from rural

to cities• 1900- more that 90% literate• Advances in science &

technology– Hope for resolution of

disease, poverty, immorality

Victorian Fashion• Women’s Fashion– Crinoline hoops get

progressively smaller; the bustle with long train develops

– Uncomfortable corsets and stays

– Invention of sewing machine and new dyes gave way to vivid colors and the addition of superfluous fabric (such as taffeta, lace, silk, ribbons)

– Accessories such as parasols and gloves considered essential

Victorian Fashion

• Men’s Fashion– Drab suits of blues,

browns, blacks, and plaids

– Accessories such as hats, canes/umbrellas, and gloves

Ladies and Gentlemen• Victorian Ladies

– A ladies’ place is in the home– Marriage is the only suitable

career– Skilled in music and

entertaining, innocent, dutiful, virtuous, quiet.

– “All Victorian women were expected to be weak and helpless, a fragile delicate flower incapable of making decisions beyond selecting the menu and ensuring her many children were taught moral values.” (www.Fashion-Era.com)

• Victorian Gentlemen– Chivalrous and refined– Leave domestic duties to

women as the men brave the world and make money

– Gentlemen through birthright

Victorian Literature • Reassured readers that the world made sense• The time of the great Novel• Literature addressed social and political issues• Became more skeptical of divinity/religion in

the universe– “The Sea of Faith

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shoreLay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.But now I only hearIts melancholy, long, withdrawing roar…”

Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach

Victorian Literature• Emily Brontë’s Wuthering

Heights• Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre• Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of

Dorian Gray• Charles Dicken's

• Oliver Twist• Great Expectations• Highlighted social problems

• Prominent Poets– Alfred, Lord Tennyson– Robert Browning

Victorian Art• Most notable art movement was the

controversial Pre-Raphaelites• Founded 1848• Prominent artists include Holman Hunt,

John Millais, and Dante Rossetti• “Idealized medieval life in imaginary

ethereal scenes” (Victorianweb.org) • Modeled after medieval artists prior to

Raphael

Victorian Art

Ophelia, by John Millais

Victorian Music• Composers no longer ‘employees’; began to

write music from the heart• Part of Romantic music era (1820-1910)• Music and dancing and appropriate way for

men and women to interact• Composers: – Richard Wagner – Franz Liszt– Pyotr Tchaikovsky– Johannes Brahms– Claude Debussy– Gilbert & Sullivan