The Victorian Age was characterized by Queen Victoria's reign from 1837-1901 and significant industrialization and urbanization in Britain. London's population grew as the center of a vast British Empire. The railway system connected cities and supported industry and commerce. Charles Darwin published works challenging religious views and establishing the theory of evolution. However, industrialization also led to problems like poverty, poor working conditions, and pollution. Reforms attempted to address these issues through acts regulating child labor, education, and welfare.

1. 1837 - 1901

2. 
 Ruled England from 1837-1901
 Exemplified Victorian qualities:
earnestness, moral
responsibility, domestic
propriety
 Characterized the whole period
with her energy and high
moral values
Queen Victoria

3. 
London became the most
important city in Europe.
Its Population expanded
from two to six million
A Time of Changes
London

4. 
 The poor lived in slums, horrible quarters
characterized by squalor, disease and crime. The
atmosphere was polluted and that caused a
disastrous effect especially on children’s health
 Law and order were among the major problems of
the urban environment. The Prime Minister Sir
Robert Peel founded the Metropolitan Police, known
as “bobbies” from the name of their founder.
Urban habitat

5. 
Industrialism gave a great
impact in shaping the new
world. Britain was by this
time an urban and
industrialized society. Even
agriculture began to be
mechanized
A Time of Changes
Industrialization

6. 
The Railway system
 By 1850, railway lines
connected England’s major
cities
 Liverpool and Manchester
Railway was the first public
railway line in the world.
Early Victorian Period
1837 - 1948

7. 
The Railway system
 The railway transformed
England’s landscape,
supported the growth of
commerce, and reduced the
distance between cities.
Early Victorian Period
1837 – 1840

8. 
 Erected to display the exhibits of modern industry
and science at the 1851 Great Exhibition
 One of the first buildings constructed according to
modern architectural principles
The Crystal Palace

9. 
 An iron framed glass
building, originally built
in Hyde Park to house
the Great Exhibition of
1851, and was moved to
Bromley in 1854, where
it stood until 1936.
The Crystal Palace

10. 
 an idea dreamt up by Queen
Victoria's husband, Prince
Albert, to display the wonders
of industry and manufacturing
from around the modern
world.
 conceived to symbolize the
British industrial, military and
economic superiority of Great
Britain.
The Great Exhibition 1851

11. 
 The British Empire extended from North America,
Africa to Asia. Many British people saw the
expansion of empire as a moral responsibility
A Time of Changes
The British Empire

12. 
 The period saw an increase of wealth and knowledge
which gave rise to an optimistic belief in progress
 Information and knowledge were the key words of
this period: there was an increase in the number of
newspapers, periodicals, and books.
A Time of Changes
An optimistic view

13. 
 Political, social and economic doctrine
based on the ideas of Jeremy Bentham
and his disciple James Mill, the father of
John Stuart Mill.
 The key idea is utility
 Promoted the greatest good for the
greatest number of people
Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill

14. 
 What distinguishes an action is the
consequences it produces
 A good action produces good consequences
 A bad action produces bad consequences
 Since the overall happiness of the nation
depended on the overall productivity,
industrialism was considered the engine of
the entire welfare of the nation
Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham

15. 
 Utilitarianism required rationality and mathematical
approach in every aspect of life
 There was a stupendous amount of importance
given to 'facts'.
 Negated the concept of 'fancy', imagination and
human emotions depriving people of enjoying they
personal qualities
Utilitarianism

16. 
Charles Darwin
“The Origin of Species”
“The Descent of Man”
Scientific developments

17. 
 Proposed a theory of evolution
based on natural selection.
 Organisms will continually give
birth to offspring that carry
variations, some of which are
advantageous and some of which
are not.
Charles Darwin
‘The Origin of Species’ 1869

18. 
 Advantageous variations are naturally selected and
become perpetuated through successive generations
 organisms carrying these advantageous variations
will diverge from the original species, eventually
becoming a species of their own.
Charles Darwin
‘The Origin of Species’ 1869

19. 
 Darwin’s theory challenged the faith in divine
creation
 Darwin explicitly denied the validity of natural
theology, which posited that species’ adaptations to
their environments was proof of their “intelligent
design” by a creator.
Charles Darwin
‘The Origin of Species’ 1869

20. 
 Extending his studies on evolution
Darwin concluded that man had
discended from apes
 Shocked the sensitivity of tose who
believed that man was a
dophisticated and superior being.
Charles Darwin
‘The The Descent of Man’ 1871

21. 
 Darwin’s influence is far from limited to science. His
work has influenced a wide range of topics including
political and economic thinking.
 Natural selection was often used to reinforce existing
ideas and prejudices considering some men
Charles Darwin
‘The The Descent of Man’ 1871

22. 
 Unemployment
 Poverty
 Rioting
 Slums in large cities
 Terrible working conditions for women and children
 Pollution
The dark side f Victorian Age

23. 
 Extended the right to vote to all
males owning property
 Excluded the working class from
the right to vote
First Reform Bill - 1832

24. 
 Chartists presented several
charts and petitions to the
governement in order to
demand the right to vote for
all men
 Violent clashes against the
forces of law and order
Chartism

25. 
 Gave the right to vote to alla male workers –
labourers, farmers and miners.
 It was only in 1918 that all men regardless their
occupation, would have theright to vote (men over
21 and women over 30)
The third Reform Bill - 1884

26. 
 In 1833 the Factory Act limited the working hours of
children
 Children aged 11–18 should work a maximum of 12
hours per day
 Children aged 9–11 a maximum of eight hours, and
children under the age of nine should no longer be
permitted to work
 This act, however, only applied to the textile
industry
Victorian Reforms

27. 
 In 1842 a law was passed to ban women and children
working in mines
 In 1847 the Ten Hours’ Act limited the working
hours, for adult workers too, to ten a day
 In 1870 the Education Act established the right of all
children to schooling
 The 1880 Act obliged all children between the ages of
5 and 10 to attend school
 In 1891 education becomes free for every child
Victorian Reforms

28. 
 The Poor Law Act of 1834 ensured that poor people
could get relief unless they went to live in special
workhouses. The idea was that the poor were helped
to support themselves. They had to work for their
food and accommodation.
Victorian Reforms
Caersws workhouse

29. The
Victorian
Age
Industrialization
The railway
system
The
British
Empire
London
Optimistic
view
Utilitarianism
Charles
Darwin
Reforms