HIS263Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Victorian Society
Document Summary
Lecture 19 economy and society in the mid 19th century. A number of major themes dominated the society of these years: A sense of major geographical movement, mainly out of the older and more settled rural areas. Class structure of society began to take shape and to solidify. An enormous expansion of voluntary organizations of all sorts occurred. Many families would uproot constantly up to 10-20 times and constantly changed jobs. The need for a sense of belonging in an era of change helps explain the expansion of private associations devoted to non-occupational and non-economic goals. The temperance movement crusaded against drunkenness, but it was also a way of reacting against new immigration, mainly irish, and asserting a sense of protestant hegemony. Rural overpopulation produced some migrants who would settle and tame undeveloped regions and others who would provide a labour force for industrialization. The urbanized workforce quickly turned into the landless working class.
