THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Not long before this century began, Britain lost its most important colonies (north American ones) in a war of independence. But nevertheless, it controlled the biggest empire the world had ever seen.

One section of this empire was Ireland. Another part of the empire was made up of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, where British settlers had become the majority population. Another was India, an enormous country with a culture more ancient than Britain’s. Tens of thousands of British civil servants and troops were used to govern it. Large parts of Africa also belonged to the empire. Except for South Africa, where there was some British settlement, most of Britain’s African colonies started as trading bases on the coast, and were only incorporated into the empire at the end of the century. As well as these areas, the empire included numerous smaller areas and islands. Some, such as those in the Caribbean, were the result of earlier British settlement, but most were included because of their strategic position along trading routes.

The growth of the empire was encouraged by a change in attitude during the century. Previously, colonization had been a matter of settlement, commerce, or military strategy. The aim was simply to possess territory, but not necessarily to govern it. By the end of the century, colonization was seen as a matter of destiny. During the century, Britain became the world’s foremost economic power. This, together with long years of political stability unequalled anywhere else in Europe, gave the British a sense of supreme confidence, even arrogance, about their culture and civilization. The British came to see themselves as having a duty to spread this culture and civilization around the world. Being the rulers of an empire was therefore a matter of moral obligation.

· The White Man’s Burden. Here are some lines from the poem of this title by Rudyard Kipling 1865 – 1936).

Take up the White Man’s Burden –

Send forth the best ye breed –

Go, bind your sons to exile

To serve tour captives’ need;

To wait in heavy harness

On fluttered folk and wild –

Your new-caught, sullen peoples,

Half-devil and half-child.

Other races, the poem says, are ‘wild’ and have a ‘need’ to be civilized. The white man’s duty is to ‘serve’ in this role.

There were great changes in social structure. Most people lived in towns and cities. The owners of industries and the growing middle class of tradespeople and professionals held the real power in the country. Along with their power went a set of values which emphasized hard work, thrift, religious observance, the family, and awareness of one’s duty, absolute honesty in public life, and extreme respectability in sexual matters. This is a set of values which are now called Victorian.

· Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901. During her reign, altogether the modern powerlessness of the monarch was confirmed (she was sometimes forced to accept as Prime Minister people, whom she herself personally disliked), she herself became an increasingly popular symbol of Britain’s success in the world. As a hard-working, religious mother of ten children, devoted to her husband, Prince Albert, she was regarded as the personification of contemporary morals. The idea that the monarch should set an example to the people in such matters was unknown before this time and has created problems for the monarchy since then.

Slavery and the laws against people on the basis of religion were abolished, and laws were made to protect workers from some of the worst excesses of the industrial mode of production. Public services such as the post and the police were begun. Despite reform, many people lived and worked in very unpleasant surroundings.

· In 1829 Robert Peel, a government minister, organized the first modern police force. The police are still sometimes known today as ‘bobbies’ (‘Bobby’ is a short form of the name ‘Robert’).

· 1833. The first law regulating factory working conditions limits the number of hours that children are allowed to work.

· 1868. The TUC (Trades Union Congress) is formed.

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1511