Victorian Age

Queen VictoriaThe Chartist Movement

The Corn Laws

English History Queen Victoria and VictorianEngland

(1837-1901).

Only 18 when she came to the throne, Victoria oversaw England at the height of its overseas power. The British Empire was established in herreign, and it reached its greatest expanseunder her. Things did not start off smoothly, however.

The Chartist movement began in 1839 withdemands for electoral reform and universal male suffrage. The movement was taken over by radical reformersand was dealt with very harshly by the authorities. The Anti Corn Law League was another voice forsocial reform. They advocated total free trade, but itwas not until 1846 that the Corn Laws werecompletely repealed(abrogata)

The Chartist movement

The Great Exhibition

Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, was the main backer of the 1851 Great Exhibition. This was the first "world's fair", withexhibits from most of the world's nations. The exhibition was held in Hyde Park, and the showpiece was the Crystal Palace, a prefabricated steel and glass structure likea gigantic greenhouse, which housed the exhibits.

The Crimean War

Overseas England became involved in the CrimeanWar (1854), which was notable only in that itprovided evidence of military incompetence and the material for the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade", by Alfred Tennyson. One positive that came out of the war was the establishment of more humane nursing practicesunder the influence of Florence Nightingale, the courageous "Lady with the Lamp".

The Indian Mutiny

India had been administered by the East India Company with government co-operation. The spark for the Mutiny was provided when the army introduced new rifle cartridges which wererumoured to have been greased with lard. Any Hinduwho bit off the end of the cartridge, which wasessential practice when loading a gun, wascommitting sacrilege. The army rebelled and massacred many Britishofficers, administrators, and families. After the Mutinywas put down the administration of India was takenover by the government of Britain

Late Victorian EnglandA tale of Two Prime Ministers

This era could be subtitled 'The Gladstone and Disraeli Show' for the two politicians who dominatedit.The two men, Gladstone and Disraeli, could not havebeen more dissimilar. Gladstone was liberal, humanitarian, and devout. Queen Victoria found him stuffy. Disraeli, on the other had, was imperialist, nationalistic, and charming to boot. The queenenjoyed his company, for he could make her laugh.

The Irish Question

This was also the age of the 'Irish Question', the question being whether or not the Irish should beallowed to rule themselves. Gladstone was a constant activist for increased Irishautonomy, but his views were not widely supported, and Irish extremists began a campaign of terrorism.

Victorian literature

In this age before TV's, computers, and Nintendo, the most common form of entertainment was readingaloud.Writers like Dickens, Tennyson, and Trolloppe werewidely read and discussed. The advent of universalcompulsory education after 1870 meant that therewas now a much larger audience for literature.

Victoria's Empire

In 1876 Victoria was declared Empressof India and the English Empire wasconstantly being expanded. The prevailing attitude in Britain wasthat expansion of British control aroundthe globe was good for everyone .

Urbanization

On the home front the Industrial Revolution acceleratedthe migration of the population from country to city. The result of this movement was the development of horrifying slums and cramped row housing in the overcrowded cities. By 1900 80% of the population lived in cities. Thesecities were 'organized' into geographical zones based on social class - the poor living further away from the city core. This was made possible by the development of suburbanrail transit. Some suburban rail companies were requiredby law to provide cheap trains for workers to travel intothe city centre.

Seaside Resorts

The growth of rail transit also gave birth to thatVictorian mainstay (important aspect for its relevance), the seaside resort. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, working hours decreased, and the introduction of BankHolidays meant that workers had the time to take trips away from the cities to the seaside.The seaside resorts introduced the amusement pier

(pontile) to entertain visitors. Some of the more famous resorts were at Blackpooland Brighton.

The new aristocracy

The Industrial Revolution also meantthat the balance of power shifted fromthe aristocracy, whose position and wealth was based on land, to the newlyrich business leaders. The new aristocracy became one of wealth, not land,and remained sociallyimportant in British society.

The Corn Laws

The Corn Laws were a series of statutesenacted between 1815 and 1846 whichkept corn prices at a high level. This measure was intended to protectEnglish farmers from cheap foreignimports of grain following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Note: in this context "corn" meansgrain of all kinds, not simply the vegetable corn

Who Benefited?

The beneficiaries of the Corn Laws werethe nobility and other large landholderswho owned the majority of profitablefarmland. Landowners had a great interest in seeing the Corn Laws remain in force. And since the right to vote was notuniversal, but rather depended on land ownership, voting members of Parliament had no interest in repealing

Who suffered?The urban working class who had to spend theirincome on corn just to survive. Since they had no income left over for otherpurchases, they could not afford manufacturedgoods. So manufacturers suffered, and had to lay off workers. These workers had difficulty findingemployment, so the economic spiral worsened foreveryone involved.

Chartism (The Chartist Movement)

The charter was a public petition aimedat redressing omissions from the electoral Reform Act of 1832. It quicklybecame a rallying point for working class agitators for social reform, whosaw in it a cure-all for all sorts of social ills. For these supporters the People's Charter was the first step towards a social and economic utopia

Demands of the People's Charter

The People's Charter outlined 6 major demands for reform. These were:Institution of a secret ballotGeneral elections be held annuallyMembers of Parliament not be requiredto own propertyMPs be paid a salaryElectoral districts of equal sizeUniversal male suffrage

Why did Chartism fail?

Chartism failed for a number of reasons; most obviously, it failed to gather support in Parliament - not surprising when you consider the threat it posed to the self-interest of those in power. Equally important, it failed to gather support from the middle-classes. The demands of Chartism were too radical for manyof the middle-classes, who were comfortable enoughwith the status quo. The repeal of the Corn Laws helped improve the economic climate of Britain, and there was lessinterest in radical reform.

Why was it a success?

Although the Chartist Movement failed to directlyachieve its aims, the movement itself was not a failure at all.It increased awareness of social issues and created a framework for future working-class organisations.Many of the demands of the Chartists wereeventually answered in the electoral reform bills of 1867 and 1864.It also seems likely that the agitation for reform was responsible for the repeal of the Corn Laws and othersocial reforms.