The Victorian Era

The Victorian Era

"The sun never sets on England"

In the history of the United Kingdom, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period, leaving behind its rationality and gearing more towards a romantic view of religion, social values and arts, and preceded the Edwardian period, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe. The period is characterised as one of relative peace among the great powers, thanks to the supremacy of the English Royal Navy, increased economic activity (England dominated the Global Trade), "refined sensibilities" and national self-confidence for Great Britain.

The political agenda was increasingly Liberal, with the two big main parties remaining Liberals and Conservatives: this era saw a shifting in the direction of industrial and political reforms; it also saw a suffrage widening, mostly due to the increase of England's, Wales', and Scotland's population, while Irland's population decreased drastically due to immigration and the Great Famine. 

The industrial revolution 

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840, even though many historians still debate on its exact date of beginning and ending. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system. With the use of steam power, and the invention of new machines, important developments in transportation and communication began to appear, including the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio.

Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and capital invested; the textile industry was also the first to use modern production methods, such as the spinning jenny.

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, and many of the technological innovations were British. By the mid-18th century Britain controlled a global trading empire with colonies in North America and Africa, and with some political influence on the Indian subcontinent, through the activities of the East India Company. The development of trade and the rise of business were major causes of the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way: in particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth, but, with the increase of urbanization, it saw the growth of poverty and child labour too. Some economists say that the major impact of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history, although others have said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Life in the Victorian Era

The Victorian Era saw a quick growth in the number of people living in the city, everyone, including children, in desperate need for work: this justified low wages and horrible working and livind conditions, with overcrowded situations and slum housing; many people died because of starvation and destitution, living a lot of children homeless and living on the streets, and causing them to turn to stealing, while many desperate women turned to prostitution, which became known as "The Great Social Evil".

Because of all the social unrest, poverty, and injustice, the Victorians felt obliged to create a strict code of values which reflected the world as they wanted it to be.

Social Class

The Victorian society was divided into nobility Upper Class,Middle Class, and the Working Class. The Victorian Upper Class consisted of the Aristocrats, Nobles, Dukes, other wealthy families working in the Victorian courts.

The Upper Class was in a powerful position giving them authority, better living conditions, and other facilities. 

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Victorian Era Society and Social Class Structure

How was the Victorian society structure?

The Victorian society was divided into nobility Upper Class,Middle Class, and the Working Class. 

The Victorian Upper Class consisted of the Aristocrats, Nobles, Dukes, other wealthy families working in the Victorian courts.

The Upper Class was in a powerful position giving them authority, better living conditions, and other facilities:; it was by inheritance a Royal Class: many Aristocrats did not work as for centuries together their families had been gathering enough money for each generation to live a luxurious life. However, there were a number of aristocrats who managed large industries like mining or shipping, etc. In terms of education also those belonging to the rich families got the best tutors to provide education. The fact that they represented the royal class gave these people an advantage at everything. They could buy expensive clothes imported from Europe, or afford other riches of life that was beyond the scope of others

Victorians Middle-class life

The Middle class was the next in social ranking. The Victorian period was very prosperous for the middle class. Middle-class people also owned and managed vast business empires. The middle-class population at the very start of the Victorian era was limited to a few.

The Industrial Revolution in the mid-century of the era brought about drastic changes in the standard of living of the Victorian Middle-Class people. These revolutions opened the doors for more job opportunities and earn a decent living. This, in turn, had a positive impact on the education of children.

Victorian Working class

The lowest among the social hierarchy were the working class. This class remained aloof to the political progress of the country and was hostile to the other two classes. This working class was further categorised as the skilled workers and the unskilled workers. Due to the revolution, the industrial workers got jobs thus improving their living conditions. However, the unskilled workers who were placed below the skilled one remained unemployed and were vulnerable to the exploitation.

Development in Science and Technology

• photography
• telegraph, telephone, cars, aircraft
• sewage system and water pipes in London
• water supply, gas network for heating and lighting
• study of natural history (On the origins of species, Darwin)
• steam ships,  and steam trains on railway lines