The Victorian Age (Il periodo Vittoriano)

Materie:	Riassunto
Categoria:	Inglese
Download:	671
Data:	18.03.2008
Numero di pagine:	2
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The Victorian age
Victoria was barely eighteen when she became queen in 1837. During her reign, which lasted 64 years,it was a time of great industry development and scientific and technological progress. The application of steam to railways and ships made travel reliable and fast, and the invention of the telegraph and the telephone transformed communication. Moreover, a long period of peace and the enormous expansion of the empire contributed to make Britain the most powerful nation on earth. Factory owners and new businessmen mostly interested in profits and all too often they did not care about their workers. Despite progress and reform the living conditions of the poor remained miserable. There was a marked division of society into three classes; the aristocracy, the middle class(upper and lower)and the working class(the poor). The Victorian age marked the triumph of the industrial middle classes, with their confidence in progress and optimistic view of life, their. A new set of values was established, which emphasised hard work, family life, religious observances, honesty in public life, self-control and respectability. A widespread movement in defence of women's right and emancipation was formed. Three reform acts extended the right to vote to sections of the working classes, making parliament more fully representative of the nation. Slavery was abolished thought the British Empire. Factory laws were passed which regulated factory working conditions and limited the use of children in factories. in 1870 education became compulsory and free for all children until the age of 13. Communications became and more rapid and efficient. In 1833 Britain's first railway reached London, and 30 years later the London Underground Railway was opened. News swiftly spread because of the postal service and newspapers. The British Empire was born in the 16th century when Britain started to compete with other European countries for control of the seas and of the riches of unexplored continents. Other colonies were originally penal colonies, like Australia. During the 18th century Britain colonised much of North America, Africa and Asia, and colonial expansion continued steadily thought the 19th century.