1. Victorian Summary
English 223, Spring 2019

2. The English Victorian Period might best be characterized via its many controversies
We might begin with the various competing religions of the Victorian period.

3. Church of England
The Church of England, established by Henry VIII in the 16th century, remained the official church of England through the Victorian Period.
Catholics gained civil rights in 1829.
Other competing sects included Baptists, Methodists, & others

4. Jews, Deists, & Atheists
The Jewish population grew from ~15,000 (1800) to ~180,000 (1900)
Significant minorities in England became Deists, essentially placing their faith in science instead of revelation.
And a number of free-thinkers became atheists, often in secret.

5. Forces working against religion, the Sciences
On the Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin.
Uncovering the geologic record, which pushed back the history of the earth by millions of years, and uncovered fossils of animals no longer extant.
Astronomy was advancing, extending the size of the universe.

6. Biblical Analysis
Beginning in Germany, scholars began to treat the Bible as an historical artifact, not as a book of revelation.

7. Political Controversies: External
The Irish Question. From the 16th to the 20th century, Ireland was ruled by England.
The Irish fought for independence through the Victorian age.
Irish Famine, , led to drastic decline in Irish population via starvation and immigration.
IRA bombings at the end of the Victorian P

8. External Political Controversies
Colonial competition, which England dominated.
Economic competition from Germany and the US.

9. Internal Controversies
Rising power of the working classes led to three Reform Bills: 1832, 1867, and 1884.
Increase in literacy and availability of books, newspapers, and magazines, which increased social mobility.

10. Women’s Rights In 1832, first women’s suffrage petition.
In 1870, women earned the right to control their property in marriage.
The struggle for voting rights increased through the period, succeeding in 1928.
Like the Fenians, women seeking the right to vote sometimes resorted to direct confrontation.

11. Emmeline Pankhurst

12. Pankhurst
Led the movement, forming the Women’s Social and Political Movement in 1903.
The movement only succeeded after direct confrontations, which included women chaining themselves within Parliament, arrests, and hunger strikes.
Suffragette Emily Davison Killed