The Victorian Age

•·         Queen Victoria ascended the throne of Great Britain in 1837. She facilitated the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.

•·         First part of Victoria's empire were characterized by the social problem derived from industrialization. In the second part the reign entered in a period of depression due to increased competition from other industrial countries.

•·         The empire covered a quarter of the earth's land surface. However the most important colony of the empire was India. It offered a lot of row materials that were fundamental for the British industry.

•·         Machineries are the symbols of the industrialization. The people migrated to the industrial areas in search of job. Moreover  in this period of industrialization was born a lot social problems because the worker had to work in bad condition, they worked more 10 hours in a day but they received low wages.

•·         The separation between poor and rich became more a more deep. The Parliament approved a reform that increase the wages and the condition of workers.

•·         In  the first part of the century in England dominated the economic theory of "free trade". The theory wanted to find a balance between individual freedom and state intervention. The  economy policy believed in unlimited competition. On  the contrary the state had to be separated from the economy.  However, the theory have a problem because it subordinated the laborers' human interests to those of industry and commerce.

•·         The government tried to improve the condition of the lower class. It introduced a protective tariffs on the Corn. In this way  the cost of bread decreased. Moreover the parliament approved the Education act that opened the school to men of all creeds.

•·         Before Victoria's reign the society was divided :

1)aristocracy(landowners who held power in Parliament)

2)middle class(merchants and financers and bankers)

3)working class(factory workers and rural laborers)

Industrialization advantaged the position of middle class. Class distinction become more commercial than heredity.

•·         The families of the middle-class were based to :good manners, thrift, duty.

The families were usually large and the father had the authority because he earned money. On the contrary women had to bring up child. The Victorian middle classes were very proud of the nation triumphs.