Victorian Period
 99 years without major war, Waterloo to WWI
 Industrial Revolution continues with:
New Products, Faster production, Better goods,
More jobs
 People born poor could work hard and get
rich quick
 Middle class gains political power
Queen
Victoria
1837-1901
II. Clean up the place
 Recognized the filth they lived in and they
changed it
 Pave & name streets, number houses, drain
away sewage/blood etc., lights at night and
organized a better police force.
 Plan cities so that slums/wealthy areas don’t
co-exist
 Educate everyone
III. Depression
 Millions out of work
 Irish potato famine-crop blighted
 A. One million people die
 B. 20% emigrate to England or U.S.
 C. English slums swell-12 people to a room
with only 2 toilets for 250 people!
V. Reforms Begin
 Life improved for all classes
 Goods cheaper for everyone because of factories
and trade
 Reform to improve housing conditions
 Camera and War Correspondent invented
 Right to vote extended further and further but not to
all women until 1928
Children laboring in a textile
factory in Victorian times.
Girls in textile factory
VI. Factory Acts
 The hours children could work was limited to
10. Children received half of the day on
Saturday off, and the entire day on Sunday
off.
VII. Education
 1859
40 % of couples signing
marriage licenses couldn’t sign own
name
 1870 State supported schools
 1880 Mandatory school
 By 1900- 90% were now literate
VIII. Moral Victorians
Progress means we’re morally superior!
 1. Censored literature- all things must
be moral w/out sex, corruption.
 2. Male authority still the norm
 3. A woman’s job was to create a nice
home for her hardworking husband.
Moral Victorians cont.
4. Many unmarried women were called
“redundant women.” This means
unmarried women were considered
unnecessary.
5. Many men were waiting to earn a lot of
money before marrying. This means
there were many women waiting to be
married.
IX. Intellectual Progress
Science makes progress
 1. Darwin – Origin of Species
 2. Industrial revolution now depends upon
scientific advances
 Science offers rational explanations instead of
religions spiritual revelations
 Before-people believed and tried for ideal human
comfort- (their goal) Comfort = Happiness
 During the Victorian Era, people questioned the
meaning of “true happiness.”
 Exploitation of the earth- resources-pollutions
 Does comfort equal happiness, or is it
something else? Bronte, Dickens and Austen
address this issue.
FUN FACTS
-Many men used macassar oil to slick back their
hair. Crocheted doilies, called antimacassars, were
put over the backs of chairs to keep this grease from
staining the furniture.
-For a lady to show her ankles was considered very
risque!
-To control insects, many people kept a
HEDGEHOG in the basement. It curled up and slept
in the day, but roamed around the dark kitchen at
night eating cockroaches and other insects.
-Children rarely saw their parents. A special
trip was made to the nursery each evening, and
the visit lasted about an hour.
-Women made pictures, wreaths, and bouquets
from their own hair or the hair of a family
member to be framed and displayed in the
parlor.
-Some rocking chairs were designed to
disguise a chamber pot. People had to be
careful not to rock too quickly!
When a woman entered a room, it was
considered rude for a man to offer his
seat to her because the cushion might
still be warm.
People thought food digested better in
the dark, so a dining room located in the
basement was considered the best spot in
which to eat.
 A glance into a bedroom was considered
improper if viewed by a visitor, so
bedrooms were located on the second
floor.
 People were shy about having water
closets, so they disguised fixtures as
dressers and cabinets. Tubs were
enclosed in wooden boxes that resembled
large chests. People went to great lengths
to hide toilets from view. In some homes,
they were behind a curtain or screen, or
even in a room of their own.
The End