Concetti Chiave
- The Victorian Age was marked by political, social, and religious unrest, alongside significant technological progress, with poor conditions for the working class.
- The Chartists, a major workers' movement, proposed the "People’s Charter" in 1839, demanding universal suffrage and other political reforms; their attempts were ultimately unsuccessful but influential.
- The Reform Bills progressively democratized Britain, redistributing parliamentary seats and extending voting rights, culminating in the inclusion of all male workers by 1884.
- Significant social reforms included the Factory Acts, the Ten Hours Act, and the Mines Act, which improved working conditions and restricted child labor.
- Other reforms such as the Education Act, Public Health Act, and Trade Union Act, addressed education, health, and workers' rights, marking strides in social progress.
Victorian Age and Chartists
It was a complex age marked by political, social and religious unrest, but also marked by the technological progress, in which the working class still endured very poor conditions, aggravated by crises in industry and agriculture. Workers’ meetings and demonstrations were common.
The largest organized worker’s movement was that of the Chartists, which, in 1839, presented Parliament with a petition of six points called “People’s Charter” asking for: 1 universal suffrage, 2 vote by ballot, 3 annual Parliament, 4 payments of members of Parliament, 5 abolitions of the property qualification and 6 equal electoral districts.
The Chartists failed, in fact the Charter was rejected three times, but their ideas continued to circulate.
Reform Bills and other social reforms
In the Victorian Age there was a progressive democratization, ruled by the Reform Bills:
The First Reform Bill was passed in 1832: about 150 seats were taken away from the so-called rotten boroughs and given to the new industrial towns. The rotten boroughs were country boroughs, traditionally under the influence of the crown and the nobility, which had the right to send representatives to Parliament; corrupt or rotten because they were bought and sold easily.
Moreover the right to vote was enlarged to great part of the middle class.
In 1867 the Second Reform Bill was passed: it gave the right to vote to the town workers but still excluded agricultural workers and miners.
In 1884 the Third Reform Bill was passed: the right to vote was extended to all male workers, and allowed that many representatives of the working class could enter the House of Commons.
-The Factory Acts which improved the conditions of workers in factories;
-The Ten Hours Act which limited the working hours to ten a day;
-Adoption of the famous English Week;
-The Mines Act forbidding the employment of women and children in mines;
-The Education Act which re-organized elementary education;
-Parliamentary Reform, through the introduction of secret ballot;
-The Emancipation of Religious Sects which allowed Catholics to hold government jobs;
-The Public Health Act which improves public health conditions;
-The Trade Union Act which legalized the activities of unions of workers.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual era l'obiettivo principale del movimento dei Chartists durante l'Età Vittoriana?
- Quali furono le principali riforme sociali e politiche introdotte dai Reform Bills nell'Età Vittoriana?
- In che modo le leggi come il Factory Acts e il Mines Act influenzarono le condizioni lavorative durante l'Età Vittoriana?
Il movimento dei Chartists mirava a ottenere riforme politiche attraverso la "People's Charter", che includeva sei punti chiave come il suffragio universale e il voto segreto.
I Reform Bills portarono a una democratizzazione progressiva, ampliando il diritto di voto e ridistribuendo i seggi parlamentari, mentre altre riforme sociali migliorarono le condizioni lavorative e l'istruzione.
Il Factory Acts migliorò le condizioni dei lavoratori nelle fabbriche, mentre il Mines Act proibì l'impiego di donne e bambini nelle miniere, contribuendo a una maggiore tutela dei lavoratori.
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