1. Victorian England and the Age of Mass Politics

2. Queen Victoria Ruled England from 1837-1901
Exemplifies Victorian qualities: earnestness, moral responsibility, domestic propriety
The Victorian Period was an age of transition
An age characterized by energy and high moral purpose

3. Change in Victorian England
London becomes most important city in Europe
Population from two million to six million
Shift from ownership of land to modern urban economy
Impact of industrialism
Increase in wealth
World’s foremost imperial power
Victorian people suffered from anxiety, a sense of being displaced persons in an age of technological advances.

4. “Victorian” social conduct is governed by:
Strict rules
Formal manners
Rigidly defined gender roles
Relations hampered by sexual prudery
Intense obsession with a public appearance of propriety (private facts were often the compete opposite!)

5. Early Victorian
By 1900 , England had 15,195 lines of railroad and an underground rail system beneath London.
The train transformed England’s landscape, supported the growth of commerce, and shrank the distance between cities.
Reform Bill of 1832 extends the vote to all male property owners
Signs of trouble
Unemployment
Poverty
Rioting
Slums in large cities
Working conditions for women and children were terrible

6. Middle Victorian ( )
A time of prosperity, improvement, stability, optimism
1851: The Great Exhibition
The Crystal Palace
Showcases the triumphs of Victorian Industry
Empire begins to expand

7. Political Shift Political parties realigned between 1850-1865
Tory = Conservative
Benjamin Disraeli ( )
Whig = Liberal
William Gladstone ( )
After 1865 democracy expands

8. Benjamin Disraeli
Aggressive foreign policy & Expansion of the British Empire
Democratic reforms
Influenced by John Stuart Mill's On Liberty
Utilitarianism
Reform Bill of 1867
Expanded suffrage to include almost all men over 21
Redistribution of seats in parliament
1875: Reduced regulation of unions
Improved sanitation

9. Late Victorian (1870-1901) Erosion of Victorian values
Imperialism
Bismarck's German becomes a rival power
As does the US
Economic depression = mass immigration
Rise of socialism

10. William Gladstone Irish home rule, free trade, and opposed imperialism
1872: the secret ballot
Reform Act of 1884
Extends suffrage to men in the countryside
2 million added to the franchise

11. Women's Rights and Suffrage
Organized to amend marriage and property laws
1890s: suffrage seem as the key to solving women's rights issues
Suffragettes = middle class women
Educated
Had servants to take care of the house while they organized
Working class and socialist women worked independently

12. Women's Rights and Suffrage
Organized to amend marriage and property laws
1890s: suffrage seem as the key to solving women's rights issues
Suffragettes = middle class women
Educated
Had servants to take care of the house while they organized
Working class and socialist women worked independently

13. Key Suffragettes Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929)
Leader of the National Union of Women Suffrage Societies
Demanded universal female suffrage
Grew the movement at home and abroad
Emmeline Pankhurst
Militant. Founded the Women's Social and Political Union
1907: WSPU begins to uses violence
Large scale protests, arrests, hunger strikes, etc.
Women get the right to vote in 1918 and 1928

14. -A newspaper quote on the Death of the Queen in 1901
The End of an Era
"Few of us, perhaps, have realized till now how large a part she had in the life of everyone of us; how the thread of her life [bound] the warp of the nation's progress."
-A newspaper quote on the Death of the Queen in 1901

15. During the tumultuous time, The Queen ultimately came to represent:
England & Empire
Stability & Continuity
Duty, Family, & Propriety
A stern, conservative, durable symbol of her dynamic, aggressively businesslike realm.

16. The Liberal Agenda 1905-1920s Parliament Act of 1911 Welfare state
House of Lords loses powers
House of Commons is now the seat of national power
Life of parliament reduced from 7-5 years
Welfare state
Unions get the right to strike
Gov't workers insurance
Unemployment insurance and pensions
School attendance become compulsory

17. What about the Irish? 1848: Young Ireland Movement
Nationalist
Gladstone unable to get Irish Home Rule through
Ulster (protestant North) opposed to Home Rule
1914: Home Rule passed but Protestant refuse to accept it
1916: Easter Rebellion crushed by British troops
1922: Ireland independent. N. Ireland still British