Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, when she was just 18 years old.

She reigned for almost 64

years and this era of progress is named after her.

The queen remained apart from politics, but thanks to her sense of duty, she provided stability to the
kingdom.

In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxony and they had nine children.

Prince Albert was an intelligent man and Victoria relied heavily on her help and for this reason in 1857 he
obtained the title of Prince Consort with which her importance was recognized throughout the country.

An age of reform

The nineteenth century was the era of reforms. The First Reform Act (1832), called the Great Reform Act,
had transferred voting privileges from small towns to large industrial cities, such as Birmingham and
Manchester.

The Factory Act (1833) limited the working hours of children aged 9 to 13 to 48 hours per week, and
prohibited persons aged 13 to 18 from working more than 72 hours per week.

The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) had reformed the old poor laws.

Workhouses

Workhouses were run by the Church and life there was terrible due to their regimentation system, hard
work and monotonous diet. The poor had to wear uniforms and their families were divided.

This rigidity was probably caused by a belief in progress and the puritanical virtues of hard work and duty.

The idea behind the workhouses was to stimulate the poor to try to improve their conditions.

Chartism

In 1838 a group of working-class radicals wrote a Charter calling for universal male suffrage, secret ballot
and other reforms of the electoral system.

But no one was ready for such democracy and the Chartist movement failed. However, the movement laid
the groundwork for the Second Reform Act which allowed for the first time part of the male working class
to vote and in 1872, secret ballot was introduced with the Ballot Act.

The Irish Potato Famine

Due to bad weather and an unknown plant disease from America, potato crops in 1845 were destroyed.
Ireland depended on those crops and faced a terrible famine, which led to the deaths of many people and
the migration to America of others.

The Irish crisis forced the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, to abolish the Corn Laws, the laws which imposed
tariffs on imported corn and kept the price of bread high.

Technological progress

In the mid-19th century, England experienced a second phase of industrialization that brought about
economic, cultural and architectural changes.

While the European monarchies were eliminated with the motions of 48 but in England it did not happen.
To celebrate the power of Great Britain, Prince Albert organized a Great Exhibition in 1851 whose main
attraction was the Crystal Palace in which steam engines (designed by Sir Paxton) were exhibited.

Another major innovation is the London Underground. Its construction began in 1860 and the railways
changed the landscape and people’s lives.

Foreign policy

In the mid-19th century, England was embroiled in two opium wars against China, which wanted to
suppress the opium trade.

England gained access to five Chinese ports and control of Hong Kong. The most profitable colony of the
British Empire was India.

In 1857, a rebellion, known as the Indian Mutiny, began against British rule. Eventually the Indian
administrative system was given fewer powers. Britain has also supported some liberal causes such as
Italian independence from the Austrians.

The Liberal and Conservative parties

When Prince Albert died of typhus in 1861, Queen Victoria withdrew from society and spent the next ten
years in mourning.

She still remained an important figure for the people, but politics was changing and parties were forming:

The Liberal Party was led by William Gladstone and included former Whigs, some radicals and some
businessmen.

The Conservative party had evolved from the Conservatives in the 1830s and was led by Benjamin Disraeli.

Benjamin Disraeli

Disraeli’s governments passed: Dwellings Act which allowed public authorities to clean up slums and
provide housing for the poor; a Public Health Act that provided toilet facilities and running water;

Factory Act which limited weekly working hours.

William Gladstone

Gladstone was Prime Minister four times.

The reform focused on education. Primary schools were organized mainly by the Church and with the
education law of 1870 boarding schools were introduced in the poorest areas of the cities. In 1880,
elementary education became compulsory.

Important were the Trade Union Act, and the introduction of the secret ballot in elections in 1872, with the
Ballot Act.

The Irish Parliamentary Party met in Westminster (Charles Stewart Parnell) to demand self-government for
Ireland, the so-called “Home Rule”.

Gladstone believed that Home Rule was the way to bring peace to Ireland and tried to persuade
Parliament, but an Irish government was only granted after the First World War.

The Anglo-Boer Wars In South Africa, in 1870, the British controlled two colonies, Cape Colony and Natal,
while the Boers (Dutch settlers) had the two republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. When
Britain captured the Transvaal in 1877, the Boers revolted and war broke out, ending in 1902 with a British
victory.
Empress of India

In 1877 Queen Victoria received the title of Empress of India. In the last decades of the 19th century, the
British Empire was very large and becoming more difficult to control. The white man had the task of
spreading Christian civilization, encouraging tolerance and communication and at the same time promoting
commercial interests because India was an important market for British goods

The end of an era

The Victorian Age ended with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. It was a symbol of stability and fodza
and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees for 50 and 60 years on the throne were celebrated with large public
parades and for the his funeral the streets of London were filled with mourners.