Victorians Workbook.Pdf

Home , Phosphorus (horse)

Existing Knowledge Somewhere in this Victorian scene are ten anachronisms - things that are out of place and do not fit in this time. Can you spot the modern products and services hidden?

Session 1: Who were the Victorians?

Key Knowledge

 The Victorians were the people who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria, from the 20 June 1837 until the date of her death on the 22 January 1901. Victorians were about orderliness. People knowing their place and behaving correctly. They worked hard and valued learning.  It is remembered as a time of exciting discoveries, inventions and exploration.  The Great Exhibition, housed within the ‘Crystal Palace’, was Prince Albert’s vision to display the wonders of industry from around the world.

Key Vocabulary

 Coronation: special event making a person king or queen of a country  Abdicate: stop ruling a country, give up being king or queen  Assassinate: kill  Empire: where one country controls and rules lots of other countries  Prefabricated: made in a factory and taken to a site to be put together  Navvies: workers  Innovation: new thing or new method of doing something

Task: Which of these two pictures do you think is most useful for us in finding out about Queen Victoria? Why? Explain your ideas.

Queen Victoria and her family, painted in 1846. Queen Victoria towards the end of her life.

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Victoria and Albert

Victoria was born in 1819, in Death of Albert Kensington Palace, London. She did Albert died in 1861, probably from not expect to rule – she was fifth in line typhoid carried in the bad drains of to the throne – but in 1837, at the age Buckingham Palace. Victoria was of 18, she became Queen. She devastated. She mourned Albert for the continued to rule until her death in rest of her life. She refused to carry out 1901. In 1840, she married her cousin any royal engagements for many years. Albert, a German prince. They were It is recorded that she wore nothing very much in love, and had nine but black after her husband died. children, although Queen Victoria hated being pregnant and was a very Jubilee strict mother. She was very short, only In 1887, Victoria celebrated her Golden 1.5 metres tall, but when she was Jubilee. Over 50 kings and princes young, she was very attractive. The from around the world were invited to royal couple were very popular. Over London to join the celebrations. The 400,000 visitors came to London for event showed how powerful Britain Victoria’s coronation. She was the had become while Victoria was Queen. first monarch to live in Buckingham The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Palace, and the first to use the new procession on 22 June 1897 followed a anaesthetic chloroform, while giving route 10 kilometres long through birth to her son Leopold in 1853. London and included troops from all Victoria had a very unhappy childhood, over the empire. There were vast totally controlled by her mother, so crowds of spectators. After the Jubilee, was determined to do things her way. she became increasingly unwell, and She was in control. For example, she died in January 1901 at one of her threatened to abdicate several times favourite places- Osbourne House. when she could not persuade her prime Because many of her children married minister, who ran the Government, to into the royal families of Europe, she do exactly as she wanted! There were became known as ‘the grandmother of at least six attempts to assassinate her. Europe’.

Task: Why do you think the young Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were so popular? ______

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The Great Exhibition

The Crystal Palace In 1848, it was decided to hold a ‘Great Exhibition’ to highlight Britain’s new The Great Exhibition industrial wealth. Prince Albert was The exhibition contained 100,000 heavily involved in the process. A exhibits, about half from Britain and competition was held to design a the rest from across the whole world. building. There were over 240 entries, Inventions like the electric telegraph but no one won! In the end Joseph were on show, as was the Koh-i-Noor Paxton was asked to design and build diamond – at the time, the biggest in his Crystal Palace. It was 562 metres the world. One of the strangest exhibits long and 124 metres wide. It was was a folding piano, suitable for sailors prefabricated and used 300,000 to use on their yachts. The exhibition sheets of glass. Over 5000 navvies was supposed to show off Britain’s were employed building it. It had to be industrial expertise. Instead, new built around a huge tree after agriculture machines from America, complaints about chopping it down! precision engineering from Germany, and watches from Switzerland grabbed much of the attention of visitors. Task: Why do you think Joseph Paxton’s building became known as the Crystal Palace?

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______The Koh-i-Noor diamond. ______

Visitors The Exhibition ran from May to October and in that time over 6 million tickets were sold. On the opening day admission was £1. Then until 22 May, it cost 5 shillings (25p) to get in; after that, it was 1 shilling (5p) except on Fridays, when it cost 2 shillings and 6 pence (12.5p) and Saturdays, when the price was 5 shillings (25p). The different prices were designed to keep The Royal Albert Hall. rich and poor people separate. One old lady walked all the way from Penzance, Profits in Cornwall, to London to see the Great By October 1851, the Great Exhibition Exhibition. (As a comparison, typical had made a profit of £186,000 (£16 worker’s wage at this time was about 16 million in today’s money). This was shillings, or 80p, per week.) enough money to buy land in South Kensington, London and build the museums that stand there today, as well as the Royal Albert Hall. Many of the exhibits formed the first collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and can still be seen there today. The Crystal Palace was moved to South London, where it remained in use until it burned down in 1936. The Great Exhibition is a perfect symbol of the Victorian age – innovation in industry, confidence and wealth, and trading with countries across the world. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A).

Task: What do the admission prices for the Great Exhibition tell us about Victorian Britain? ______

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Task: Do you think the Great Exhibition was a success? Why? Write your answer in a diary entry of a visit you might have made to the Exhibition. What would you go see? ______

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Session 2: How did the Victorian countryside change?

Key Knowledge

 Most people lived outside of cities, in villages in the countryside working the land. They did everything by hand and were paid very little. Even children had to work.  Technology developed allowing farmers to use machines to do the jobs quicker. More food was needed so there was more work, but the pay was still very low. Food started to arrive from other countries which caused more competition with British farms so food dropped in value.

Key Vocabulary

 Communally: together, agreeing what to do  Poach: steal  Mechanisation: when machines are included in a process  Live in: have a room or bed in the house of the farmer who employed them  Domestic System: making things, like wool, at home on a small scale  Census: counting everyone who lives in the country  Traction Engines: vehicles used to pull heavy loads  Broth: a soup made of meat or vegetables cook in stock

Knowledge Quiz

1. When did Queen Victoria die?

1837 1840 1887

2. When did Victoria become Queen?

1837 1901 1840 1887

3. When did Britain and Victoria celebrate the Golden Jubilee?

1837 1901 1840 1887

4. When did Victoria marry Albert?

1837 1901 1840 1887

5. What opened in 1848?

Royal Albert Hall Victoria & Albert The Great Buckingham Palace Museum Exhibition

Task: What would it be like living in houses like these farm labourer’s cottages in 1846?

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The Victorian countryside cheese, with the odd bit of meat and any vegetables they could grow. Sugar and tea were very expensive, because they came from other countries. People depended on their gardens to keep them in vegetables and fruit throughout the year.

When Queen Victoria was born in 1819, around 75 per cent of Britain’s population lived in the countryside.

Child labour Children worked too – very few went to school for long enough to learn to read. Picking up stones, chasing Perhaps 50 percent working in away birds and helping with the farming. There were still some harvest were tiring jobs that might traditional open-field villages dating earn a child 6d (2.5p) a week, but back to the Middle Ages, where every every little helped, especially when it field was divided into strips, with came to be finding the money for a each farmer working strips in each new pair of boots. Most children field. People worked communally, wore hand-me-down clothes. so everyone had to grow the same There was little or no crops and harvest them at the same mechanisation, so most jobs were time. done by hand. Harvesting, for Wages were low. In some areas in the example, was done using a scythe or south of England, men earned 8 sickle, which was back-breaking shillings (40p) a week, perhaps a work. Horses pulled the ploughs and little more at harvest time. This the carts and were probably treated meant that food was in short supply much better than the workers. Many – many labourers rarely ate any meat workers were hired for one year, at at all, unless they could poach a hiring fairs. Once hired they would rabbit from the woods. As wages live in for the year, get bed plus were so bad, people could not afford lodging, plus a small sum of money to pay much rent, so housing was at the end of the year. bad. Most people lived on bread and

The domestic system In some areas, women also spun wool into yarn, and some people – mostly men – would weave the yarn into woollen cloth. Merchants would come to the village bringing wool and return later to collect the cloth. This brought in extra money, especially in the winter.

Task: Would you have enjoyed living in the countryside in Victorian times, where a horse might be treated better than you? Explain why. ______

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Change… for the better? were sold for thousands of pounds. New farmyards were built, incorporating the latest technology. Mixed farming benefited both animals and crops. New Machines

Increasing demand Between 1801 (when the first census was held) and 1871, the population of New machines, like McCormick’s Britain doubled to 21 million people. reaper, made harvesting much easier, More people meant more demand for and steam power came to the farm. food. The railways meant that food Ploughs, threshing machines and could be carried and sold over a wood saws could all be powered by much wider area, so it was a good traction engines that travelled time to own a farm. The remaining from farm to farm. They speeded up open fields were made into separate the job. However they put many men farms. The cost of hedges and ditches out of work in autumn and winter meant many small farmers lost their after the harvest. It was a good time land and became labourers. to be a farmer – high prices and high However, this did mean that farmers rents, and easy money to borrow to could grow what they wanted when buy new machinery. they wanted. Labourer’s wages Changing times stayed low. In the 1880s, farmers faced Changes in farming practice competition from imported food New crops were grown, including from abroad – wheat from the USA, turnips and clover, which were used canned and frozen beef from South to feed animals. This mean there America and Australia, lamb from were more animals. More animals New Zealand and butter from meant more manure on the fields, Denmark. These goods were all and this in turn meant better crops. cheaper than British-grown food. Fields were drained using mass- Some farmers went bankrupt. Others produced clay pipes. Animals were changed to growing vegetables and improved by selective breeding. fruit for the people in the new towns Sheep were now bred for meat rather or selling milk and cheese. Once again, than wool. Prize winning animals it was hard time for farming.

Task: What was the impact of steam power on farming? Were all jobs done by steam power? ______

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Task: Why did imported food make life harder for farmers? ______

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Session 3: How did the Victorian towns change?

Key Knowledge

 For workers, living in the cities and towns often meant sharing a room with a whole family. There was no running water or rubbish collections. The quality of life was low.  Some factory owners did build towns for their workers which improved the conditions. Giving them more space and access to toilets.  A lot of work in the cities was dangerous, especially for children.  Later in the 19th Century, improvements came from people concerned about workers’ lives.

Key Vocabulary

 Water closets (WC): flushing toilets  Sanitation: providing clean drinking water and removing wastewater  Compensation: payment for causing an injury  irregular: from time to time, not full time  Unadulterated: not had other things added to it  acts: new laws  biographers: authors who write someone’s life story

Knowledge Quiz

1. At the start of the Victorian age where did most people live?

Cities Coast Desert

2. Children worked, as well as adults, in the fields.

True False

3. In some areas, women spun ______into yarn.

Cotton Wool Silk Rope

4. What speeded up the harvest and replaced the jobs of workers?

Horses Bulls Machines Children

5. What powered the new traction engines?

Electricity Steam Sunlight Nuclear Energy

Task: In Victorian times, which of the houses would you have preferred to live in – the one in Glasgow or the one in Saltaire? Why?

A court of houses, in Glasgow, 1860s. Edward Street, Saltaire, Yorkshire How did they dry their washing? photographed in 1990.

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Going to live somewhere else Many people, especially younger and Towns and cities in Victorian Britain more skilled workers, left the grew very rapidly. Manchester, for countryside to go and live in the towns example, had 90,000 people in 1801 and work in the new factories. Wages and 544,000 when Queen Victoria died were better there. Of course, the new 100 years later. There were no town factories made life worse in the planning laws, so factories and houses countryside. Those spinning and were built close together. Builders weaving under the domestic system (in would squeeze as many houses on a their own homes) lost their jobs, plot as they could. There was often no because new factory cloth was much running water, and there might be one cheaper. toilet in the yard for 100 houses. There was no rubbish collection either, so rubbish piled up in the streets and yards. So many people need somewhere to live that most people shared houses.

Disease Living like this meant it was difficult to keep clean and tidy. Wages were low so people were often under nourished. Lots of children died before they reached the age of five. Cholera, typhoid, measles, chickenpox and tuberculosis were all killer diseases, and there were few doctors. Doctors knew little about the causes of disease, even if the sick could afford one.

Some people lived better. Skilled workers, for example, earned higher wages and could afford houses for their Birmingham and built a town, called families. Richer people often paid to Bournville, for their workers. The have running water installed in their owner of Pears’ Soap, Lever Brothers, homes, and towards the end of the built a town called Port Sunlight. Titus century water closets became Salt, a cloth manufacturer in Bradford, increasingly popular. Some towns built built the town of Saltaire for his public baths so people could pay to workers. People in these towns were have a wash or a bath. lucky to have a much nicer place to live. Gradually, laws passed by the Were all towns the same? Government that made improvements Some factory owners were very in houses and sanitation. Therefore, concerned about how their workers by the time Queen Victoria died, many lived. The chocolate-producing people lived in better conditions. Cadbury brothers, for example, moved their factory out of the middle of

Task: What were living conditions like in the towns and cities?

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workers’ hours were very long. People who could read and write sometimes worked as clerks in offices. There were no computers, so everything had to written out by hand, including copies of documents. Children had to work to bring in some money for the family Working in the new factories budget. Young boys sometimes worked At this time, England became known as as chimney sweeps. They would have the ‘workshop of the world’, because of to climb up inside a chimney, which the new factories producing cotton and was sometimes still hot, and sweep the woollen cloth. These huge buildings soot off the inside. employed thousands of workers – men, women and children.

Steam-powered machines could, if necessary, run 24 hours a day. It was hot, dusty, noisy and dangerous work, and accidents were common. There was no compensation if you were injured and could no longer work. Children as young as seven or eight would be made to crawl under the moving machines to keep them Uncertain hours of work running. Cotton cloth was sold all over Much of the work was irregular. For the world. Men, women and children example, thousands of workers would often worked 14 hours a day, six days a turn up at London docks every week. morning at 6:00 am and wait to see if they had any work that day, loading or Other types of work unloading ships. They only got paid if There was plenty of other work too. they worked. If a factory ran out of Steam power needed lots of coal, so orders, or the raw cotton was late in coal mines employed many people. arriving from America, all the workers Iron and steel production grew. All would be told not to come back until these people in towns needed food, so there was work for them. It was uncertain there was more work in shops. As there – workers never knew how much money were no fridges or freezers, people they might earn from one week to the next. would shop for food every day, usually That made budgeting for rent and food in the evening after work. Shop very difficult indeed.

Labourers at East London Docks hoping for a day’s work, at 2p an hour.

Task: Where would you rather work – the docks, a cotton factory, a farm or as a chimney sweep? Why?

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Making things better… Smiles published a best-selling book on the subject in 1859. Some people tried Self-help hard to improve their own lives. In the 19th century, most people believed that if you were poor it was your own fault. You must have wasted your money on immoral things instead of food or saving for the future. Samuel

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Government help Increasingly, some people felt that self- help was not enough. Government would have to intervene. Slowly the Government was persuaded to do something. In the 1830s and 1840s, Parliament passed acts to control Some people in Rochdale, Lancashire, working in factories and coal mines, set up a cooperative shop in 1884. They and to build houses. The 1848 and owned the shop and kept prices low 1875 Public Health Acts made councils and fair. They shared the profits. They improve drains and sewers, to make also made sure that the foods they sold towns better places to live in. Slowly were unadulterated. Other things were getting better. shopkeepers often mixed dust with tea, or chalk with flour, in order to make Women’s rights more money. Other examples of self- In Victorian times, women had very help were building societies, where few rights. Their father (and then their people saved up until they had enough husband) controlled their money, their to buy their own house; and burial children and their education. Some societies, where people paid 1p per women thought this was unfair and week so they would have enough began to demand changes. Caroline money to pay for their funeral. Norton was one of these women. She played a large part in getting new laws Why might adulterated foods Task: passed that gave women much more be dangerous to eat? control over their own lives. ______

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Social reform Many other people worked for change. Dr Barnardo set up schools and homes for homeless children, Seebohm Rowntree investigated poverty in York, Florence Nightingale made hospitals safer. But perhaps the most important reformer was Lord Shaftesbury, who spent his whole life demanding improvements in factories, in coal mines, in schools, in stopping young boys working as chimney sweeps, and much more. One of his biographers wrote, ‘No many has in fact ever done more to lessen the extent of human misery or to add to the sum total of human happiness.’ Lord Shaftesbury – the greatest reformer?

Task: What did most to improve people’s lives: self-help, social reformers, or the Government? Why?

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Session 4: How did Victorians travel?

Key Knowledge

 Steam powered railways made travel much quicker and much cheaper for Victorians.  Time became standardised across the whole country for the first time  Horsepower was still responsible for a lot of travel and was still slow, smelly and busy  The London Underground was the first railway built underground and connected commuters from the countryside to the city.

Key Vocabulary

 Stationary engine: steam engine that is fixed in one place, that can’t move, that has no wheels  suburbs: parts of a town or city that away from the centre  commuter: someone who travels to work every day

Knowledge Quiz

1. Saltaire, built by Titus Salt, was a…

Machine Town City

2. Chimney sweeping was a job usually done by…

Men Women Boys Girls

3. Which disease did Victorians, living in cities, not have to worry about?

Cholera COVID-19 Typhoid Chickenpox

4. Living conditions for workers improved by the time Queen Victoria died.

True False

5. Who did try to improve the living conditions of the poor workers?

Lord Shaftesbury Caroline Norton Samuel Smiles Joseph Paxton

Task: What do you notice in this picture of Blackpool Pier, Lancashire 1895? How do you think people travelled to the seaside? Why?

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carriages. By 1875, the railways were carrying over 450 million passengers each year.

Illustration of the railway, 1830. First-class train carriage. On 15 September 1830, the first train ran on the Liverpool and Manchester Impact of the railway Railway. Things would never be the Everything was so much faster! By the same again. Previously, people and 1890s, trains were regularly running at post travelled by stagecoach, which 110 kilometres per hour or more. was expensive and slow. Before, goods Before the railway, 16 kilometres an travelled by river and canal, which was hour in a coach was fast, and most even slower and still expensive. ordinary people walked everywhere. In 1745, it took two weeks to travel by The Liverpool and Manchester Railway coach from London to Edinburgh. was the first to be powered solely by However, by 1901, you could do it in steam engines and was, in effect, a nine hours by train. proper railway. The Stockton and Railways created thousands of jobs – Darlington Railway (opened in 1825), either building or running the railway. for instance used horses to pull its New towns like Swindon and Crewe passenger coaches, and used a grew up, building railway engines and stationary engine to pull coal trains all the equipment a railway needed. up a steep hill. The railway was so successful that, by 1872, there were 25,500 kilometres of railway in Britain. Every town and village wanted their own railway!

Early railways made their money carrying coal, and first-class passengers (that is, wealthy people). But it wasn’t long before they realised, they could make money carrying ordinary people in third-class Workmen wait to get the train to work, 1884.

People could live further away from where they worked, either in new Railway time suburbs or in commuter towns. Perhaps one of the most interesting People could eat better, because food effects of the railway was ‘railway reached the towns and cities more time’. Time used to be set in England quickly, making it cheaper and fresher. by the rising and setting of the sun which, Cornwall, might be 10 minutes Finally, the railways led to the growth earlier or later than in London. People of Seaside resorts, like Margate, quickly realised that, to run a railway, Skegness and Blackpool. People could everyone needed to use the same time. cheaply and quickly travel to spend This is when time across the whole time at the sea. The seaside holiday country was standardised. was born!

Task: Do you agree that the railway ‘changes everything’? What would you say was the main impact of the railway?

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Travelling in towns and Every street was covered in horse cities droppings. Children could earn a Horses, horses everywhere… penny sweeping the streets. Whether people lived in towns or the countryside, they depended on horses. Rich people kept horses for riding and had a carriage or two as well, so they needed stables and servants, including a carriage driver, to look after all these horses. In towns, people used horse taxis and buses of all descriptions to get around. This one, owned by the London and North Western Railway, was used to take first-class passengers from the station to where they were going. Trams and trolley buses From the 1860s, people began to use horse-drawn trams. Later, around 1900, electric powered trams were developed. These were usually supplied from overhead cables and ran on rails laid in the middle of the street. The routes were expensive to build but could carry people quickly and cheaply across towns. Soon, every town and city wanted its own electric trams and Streets were full of delivery carts. trolley buses. It meant that people no Cattle and sheep, ducks and geese, longer had to live right next to where were walked to the butcher’s to be they worked, or no longer had to walk slaughtered, but everything else had to several kilometres each day to and be carried by hand or was delivered by from work. These changes made huge cart. differences to life in Victorian towns and cities.

The first underground railway in the world opened in 1863. It ran under the streets of London. Carriages were lit by gas and the trains were pulled by steam engines. It was all very noisy and dirty! The first electric train arrived in 1890. Soon, underground lines reached out into the countryside and commuters could easily travel from there into the

Underground train near Paddington, 1863. middle of London to work. Land around London began to be built on, and houses near an underground station were very popular indeed. London underground Task: Why were there so many horses in Victorian times?

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Task: Why were electric trams and trolley buses so much better than horses?

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Task: What were the consequences of the London underground being built?

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Task: Imagine living in a town or city in the 1870s. Describe what you might see, hear and smell as you make your way to work. How similar, and how different, would your journey to work be today?

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Session 5: Why did Britain want an Empire?

Key Knowledge

 Britain ruled an empire of 450 million people, covering 56 different colonies around the world in 1921.  The Empire allowed Britain to trade around the world and become very rich from this  Some countries were unhappy being under British rule and wanted to change. Some did this successfully and others were not.

Key Vocabulary

 Surplus: more than is needed of something  Emigrate: leave your own country to go and live in another country  Pax Britannica: Peace, overseen by Britain  Sepoys: Indian soldiers in the British arm in India  Revolt: rise up against those in charge with no planning  Mutiny: planning to rise up against those in charge  Reprisals: acts of revenge  Colony: country controlled by another, part of an empire

Knowledge Quiz

1. The first steam powered train ran on 15 September…

1930 1863 1836

2. In nine hours, you could travel by train from London to…

Manchester Liverpool Edinburgh Cornwall

3. Early railways made their money carrying:

Coal Ordinary People Wealthy People Horses

4. Before the railways it was not the same time across the country.

True False

5. The first underground railway in the world opened in…

1930 1830 1863 1836

Task: What is the same and what is different between the British Empire and the Islamic Empire?

The British Empire at its peak in 1921

The Islamic Empire at its peak in 750

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By 1900, Britain ruled an empire of Cotton from Egypt kept the textile 450 million people, covering 56 factories in England busy, rubber was different colonies around the world. imported from Malaysia and palm oil People said, ‘the sun never set on the from West Africa was used in making British Empire’. margarine and soap. The colonies were also an important market for British Task: From looking at the map, can goods – textiles, coal iron and steel, for you work out why they said this? example.

______Emigration As we have already seen (Session 3) many people in Britain were poor. ______Politicians argued that Britain had

‘surplus’ people. People were ______encouraged to emigrate to colonies like Canada and Australia and could ______sometimes even travel there for free.

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Political Power At the time, people thought you needed an empire to be a superpower. Britain kept some places for protection – Gibraltar, for example, was a huge navy base at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Similarly, South Africa protected the trade route into the Indian Ocean.

John Speke, explorer. Discovery and exploration Much of the continent of Africa was unknown to Europeans in 1850. Exploration societies were set up to fill in the gaps on the map. One of the most famous was John Speke, who tried to find the source of the River Nile. Mary Kingsley explored West Trade Africa in the 1890s. Successful Britain needed to import food and raw explorers became famous in Britain – materials – foods like frozen meat and everyone wanted to read and hear butter from Australia and New about their travels. Zealand, and wheat from Canada. 32

Task: Which of the reasons for having an empire a. Do you think were most important? b. Do you think people at the time thought were most important? Why?

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The jewel in the crown? Revolt or mutiny? British India in Victorian Times Britain’s army in India was made up of Britain wanted India’s silk, spices, British soldiers (mostly officers) and cotton, tea and coffee. It sold textiles, Indian sepoys. Some were treated well coal, iron and steel to India. Gradually by the British, and some not so well. In Britain gained more and more control 1857, a huge revolt broke out among over India until, by the time of Queen many of the Indian troops, Victoria, Britain ruled most of India. complaining about harsh British rule, Around 40,000 British officials ran the although some remained on the side of whole country. They lived a luxurious the British. No one knows exactly how lifestyle, with lots of servants and many died in the fighting, or in the summer houses in the hills at places reprisals afterwards. British women like Simla, to avoid the heat of the and children were killed by the plains. mutineers, and the British wanted revenge.

Historical interpretations Historians have written lots about the events of 1857, and what they say often depends on where and when they lived. If you are pro-British, then 1857 is often seen as a mutiny or rebellion against British rule. IF you are pro-

Indian, then 1857 is seen as a war of European-style education was independence, the first attempt to win introduced. People learned to play India back from the British. cricket. English became the language After 1857 of government and business. The Victoria railway station, Mumbai British built 3,700 kilometres of roads opened in 1888, now it is known as and 4,600 kilometres of railways, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway opened 2,900 schools and increased station, after an emperor from the 17th the area of farmland from 1,620 square century. kilometres to 13,000 square kilometres. When Queen Victoria came Some people argue that Britain was to the throne, there were no hospitals good for India. Canals and railways in India, but by 1900 there were 65. were built, farms were improved, and

Task: Why do historians have different names for events in India 1857? Do you think it matters what the events are called?

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Task: Why do you think the British called India the ‘jewel in the crown’? ______

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Was the British Empire a railways and canals, to transport good thing? goods back to Britain. But the routes were always to the coast, for overseas Pax Britannica trade. Schools were built educating In many colonies Britain brought people to work in the administration peace and order, an end to fighting of the colonies, although these people between different peoples. Britain’s weren’t given too much power. leaders referred to this as ‘Pax Natives were used as cheap labour to Britannica’ – peace brought to the be abused. Prices were fixed in area by Britain, its armed forces and Britain’s favour rather than in favour its administrators. However, many of the colonies. Any opposition was people in the colonies didn’t want treated harshly, as in Zanzibar. Britain and its peace. They wanted to be left alone and to run their own affairs. Good for Britain? Other countries were sometimes scared by the size of Britain’s armed forces, especially its navy. Few countries dared to oppose Britain, and small countries especially were easy to defeat. For example, in 1896, The shortest war in history – Zanzibar, Zanzibar in East Africa was defeated 1896. in a war lasting 38 minutes! Britain What do historians say about thought the new ruler of Zanzibar the British Empire? was too pro-German, so insisted he Professor Niall Ferguson says that was replaced. When he refused, the Britain put lots of money into Royal Navy bombarded the palace developing the economies of Africa until ruler fled. and India. Modern technology like the telegraph messaging increased as the British Empire grew. He also argues that British rule was usually honest, which is uncommon in empires. Professor Simon Schama argues that the British Empire was based on a lie. He believes that the British talked about freedom, good government and free trade without actually doing it. They took most of the profits, not Good for the colonies? allowing the majority of the people in As we have seen in India, Britain the empire any benefits. built new ports, connected to

Task: Complete this balance sheet of the British Empire, with all the good things on one side and all the bad things on the other side. Which list is longer?

Good things about the Empire Bad things about the Empire

Task: How do the two historians disagree about the British Empire? Who do you think benefited most from the Empire – Britain or the colonies? Why? ______

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Session 6: How did Victorian’s rights change?

Key Knowledge

 Most Victorians were not able to vote so they had little power of their work, their homes or their money  Women fought the longest for the right to vote, and it didn’t happen until after Victoria died  Many workers stopped working to protest the poor conditions and low pay they received

Key Vocabulary

 Democracy: where everyone can choose the government  Hustings: open-air voting, where everyone can see and hear what is going on  Illiterate: can’t read or write  Suffrage: the right to vote in political elections  Phossy-jaw: disease that affects skin and bone

Knowledge Quiz

1. People said the ____ never set on the British Empire.

War Sun Trains

2. In 1857 ______soldiers revolted and attacked British soldiers.

Australian South African Indian Zanzibaris

3. Britain kept a huge navy base in Gibraltar at the entrance to the ___.

Mediterranean Sea Indian Ocean North Sea Pacific Ocean

4. The British Empire controlled more land than the Islamic Empire.

True False

5. The war in 1986 between Britain and Zanzibar lasted ___.

38 seconds 38 minutes 38 days 38 years

Task: Make a list of every person you think is allowed to vote in a general election today, when we choose the government that runs Britain. Then make a list of people you think could vote 200 years ago. Will they will be the same or different?

People who can vote in 2020 People who could vote in 1820

Who could vote? get better, because people would only vote for someone who promised to Today, everyone over the age of 18 help them to get a better life. The can vote in elections to choose the Government did not like this idea. government that runs Britain. The Some Chartists were sent to prison, Prime Minister runs the country and other were transported to because more people voted for their Australia. The Chartists failed to get party than for any other party. If we their way. don’t like what they do, then we can vote for someone else in the next Task: Why did the Chartists want election. Everybody over the age of everyone to have the vote? 18 can be involved in deciding who ______runs the country in Britain. But it wasn’t always like this. ______

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More people can vote Gradually the idea grew that it was a good idea if more people took part in

A Chartist Meeting, 1848 elections to choose governments. In The Chartists 1867, more men were given When Victoria became Queen, only the vote 33 percent of adult about 450,000 men could vote, and males could now vote) and, no women at all. in 1884, some working These men (14% of men were given the population) were rich and vote. By now 66 percent of controlled the country – all men could choose and they were not keen to the government. Voting was done at give up power to the rest of the a large public meeting, so everyone population. In the 1830s and 1840s, knew how you voted. It was quite thousands of people joined together common, for example, to lose your to support an organisation called the job if you voted against your Chartists. They wanted everybody to employer’s wishes. In 1872, the be able to vote. They thought if secret ballot was introduced, so everyone could vote, then life would nobody would know how you voted. be fairer – wages would go up, and Slowly, Britain’s Government was living and working conditions would becoming more democratic.

What about women? Task: Do you think Mrs Beeton’s book was aimed at rich or poor people? In the house Why? Most Victorians believed that men and women were different. They ______thought that men were best suited to work, the army and politics. The ______woman’s job was looking after the home and children. Rich women had ______lots of servants to run the home for them. Poor women had to work and ______also look after the house and children. When Queen Victoria came ______to the throne, women could not own a house or have legal control of their Women get more control over own children. their lives Education Several changes were made during Girls were expected to be educated the 19th century. Women were given differently to boys. Rich girls were control of their children, they could taught at home. They were expected divorce husbands who behaved badly to be able to sing and play the piano, to them (but this cost a great deal of sew, and make polite conversation. money and was difficult), and in But, most importantly, girls were 1884 they could own property and taught to run the home. In 1851, Mrs keep control of their own money. Yet Beeton published Book of Household they still could not vote. Management, which contained recipes but also tips on how to keep the house running smoothly. In 1840, over 60 percent of women were illiterate, but gradually schools for girls opened and some girls even went to university.

Dessert page from Mrs Beeton’s book.

Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst campaigning for women's suffrage.

Votes for women The Manchester Society for Women’s Suffrage was set up in 1867 to try to get women the vote, but this was refused. From then on there were

many protests aimed at changing the many people – men and women – law. In 1897, the National Union of opposed the idea. Queen Victoria and Women’s Suffrage Societies set up, Florence Nightingale were just two uniting all the different groups famous women who opposed women working to get women the vote, but getting the vote.

Task: Why were women educated differently to men?

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Task: Why did women want the vote?

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How did workers’ lives get better?

Protest march during the matchgirls’ strike,1888

The London Dock Strike, 1889 Every morning, around 12,000 labourers turned up at the gates of Matchgirls making matches the London Docks, hoping for work loading or unloading ships. Only Stopping work to get better 5,000 of them might get some work. conditions They might be employed for the day, Matchgirls worked 70 hours a week for half a day or for a couple of hours. making matches in London and They were only paid for the hours earned 5 shillings (25p) a week. The they worked, so they might stand work involved dipping small sticks around outside the docks for half a into a mixture containing day before earning anything. On phosphorus. The work was average, they were paid less than 2p dangerous – quite often they would an hour. Many were lucky to get get ‘phossy jaw’. Which made the work for three hours a day. flesh fall off their faces and gave them brain tumours. Of course, there In 1889, partly inspired by the was no sick pay like there is in matchgirls, they stopped work. They Britain today. Eventually the workers demanded a minimum of half a day’s had had enough. Led by Annie pay each day, and to be paid at 2.5p Besant, a lady who believed everyone an hour. The dock owners refused should have a decent wage and good their demands, so the dockworkers working conditions, the matchgirls stayed away from work for over five went on strike for five weeks. weeks. Food was rotting on the ships, Eventually their employers, Bryant & shops were running out of supplies, May, gave in and agreed to introduce people were getting angry. Finally, better working conditions and the dock owners gave in. They agreed increase pay. It was the first ever to pay 2.5p an hour. Ordinary people successful strike by women in were doing something for themselves Britain. to improve their lives.

Task: Why did the matchgirls of Bryant & May and the London Dock labourers go on strike? Why were they successful?

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Task: Which was the best way to improve pay and living conditions – voting in Parliament or stopping working?

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In these sessions you have learned that most people in Victorian times were poor and lived in horrible conditions. Many of the sessions talk about Changes. Historians talk about the Victorian times as the ‘great changes.’ You should now be in a position to decide for yourself whether there were great changes or not.  Sort your ideas into two sections ‘Life did get better’ and ‘Life didn’t get better’.  Next, you need to structure your ideas to make the best argument you can.  Finally, you need to reach a conclusion. Essay Question: Did life get better for everybody during Queen Victoria’s reign?

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