Who is Victoria and Why Does She Get an Era?
When was the Victorian era and what was it all about?
In a very tiny nutshell, the Victorians lived from 1837 to 1901 during the reign of Queen Victoria of England. She ruled for 64 years. So, who exactly was this woman that got an entire era named after her?
Victoria was quite a woman. She was only 18 years old when she was crowned monarch of the United Kingdom and Ireland. She was a snippet of a woman, barely five feet tall. But that didn't mean she lacked for confidence.
The woman proposed to her husband, Prince Albert, which was nearly an unheard of thing back in the day. But technically, he couldn't propose to her, because she was queen. They did marry, however, and she went on to bear 9 children. When Albert died from typhoid fever in 1861, she sank into a depression that she never really recovered from. She wore black for the rest of her life. Even so, she was indeed a strong woman. She survived at least six assassination attempts, most of which were while she rode in a carriage.
As for politics of the day, during Victoria's years, Britain adopted one of the earliest constitutional monarchies in the world. What that means is that as queen, she held a respectful position but had limited power in comparison to former monarchs. She didn't make daily decisions for how to run the country, but was there to give advice to Parliament or counsel with the Prime Minister (an elected official) if needed.
Historians often say the middle years of this era, specifically 1850-1870, were Britain's Golden Years. There was much prosperity, not necessarily due to Victoria per se, but she gets the credit for being in charge during the industrial age. It was also a time of huge population growth, the census calculating 13.9 million in 1831 and rising to 32.5 million by 1901.
All in all, the Victorian era was a time of dramatic change, positioning England to it's highest point of development as a world power.
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