Reforms and Scandals

Queen Victoria

Reined as British Queen 1837-1901:known as the Victorian Age

She was the symbol of her time: duty, thrift, honesty, hard work and respectability

Queen has little political power- Britain’s power is in the Parliament

Parliament= House of Lords (appointed nobles) and the House of Commons (elected citizens)

British Suffrage

By 1880 there was universal male suffrage throughout the nation.

Additionally, the Secret Ballot was accomplished throughout the nation.

Women’s vote took more work…

Women’s SuffrageBritish women were torn over the right to vote. Even the Queen said the struggle was a “mad, wicked folly”

Even the women who supported the vote couldn’t decide on an approach to achieve suffrage.

Women who supported and marched for suffrage were often imprisoned.

Two famous suffragists were Lady Constance Lyton and Emmaline Pankhurst

Famous Suffragists

Lady Constance Lytton

Imprisoned for working with the suffragist movement to organize marches. She attempted a hunger strike in prison to draw attention to the cause.Her imprisoners force fed her using a tube.

Emmaline PankhurstOvertime Pankhurst and other suffragists became convinced only aggressive tactics would bring victory. They attacked property; smashed windows and burned buildings.

Suffragists started by hosting nonviolent gatherings, collecting petition signatures and sponsored marches.

Ireland

Rebellion against the British was common.

Nearly ¾ of Ireland’s crops were exported to England including wheat and oats.

Meanwhile the Irish lived on Potatoes.

In the 1100s the British began taking over Ireland. Absentee landlords controlled large swaths of land and charged high fees of the Irish farmers.

The Great Hunger1845- Irish Potato crops were struck by a blight, ruining the harvest

Only potatoes were affected, but the British still demanded the wheat and oats, leaving the Irish to starve.

Over 4 years, one MILLION Irish died from famine. Millions more emigrate to Canada and the US.

Why did the British do nothing to help the Irish?

How do you think the Irish felt about the British during/after the

Great Hunger?

France’s Scapegoat

Scapegoat- someone who takes the blame, often unfairly

After being defeated by Bismarck’s Prussian/German forces France had many different governments, all riddled with corruption and scandal.

The Alfred Dreyfus Affair was most disturbing.

Alfred Dreyfus

-France charged him with being a spy for Germany-The Military court claimed to have written evidence, but they refused to show it due to security concerns.

-He was convicted and sent into exile on an island off South America.

Real Reasons:-The military hated Dreyfus because he was Jewish-He made a convenient Scapegoat, or person to take the blame.

J’ AccuseEvidence suggested that the true traitor was Ferdinand Esterhazy, a known drinker and gambler, he was also a noble Frenchman.

Writer Emile Zola wrote an article accusing the government of knowingly condemning an innocent man; Dreyfus.

In 1899 Esterhazy confessed and Dreyfus received a new trial. He was still found guilty but pardoned by the president.

This scandal highlights anti-Jewish feelings spreading around the world.

Effects

The Dreyfus affair highlights anti-sematic feelings across Europe.

Some Jews talk about reclaiming the holy homeland setting up a Jewish State near Jerusalem. This movement is called Zionism.

The Jewish state of Israel is finally achieved after 50 years.

United States

Expansion1800- The US was from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River

1803- Thomas Jefferson buys Louisiana from Napoleon and the French

1850- most of the continent was controlled and being settled by the Americans.

Manifest Destiny- Americans have a right to spread across the continent

Expansion

Westward expansion forced Native Americans off their lands and to the West.

As the US expands conflicts rise over voting rights, states’ rights and slaves.

These conflicts lead to the American Civil War from 1861-1865

American IndustryBy the 1900’s America’s Industrial society led the world in Industrial and Agricultural production.

Industrialization brings corruption and corporate abuse; bosses paying little but making huge profits.

City slums were also full of disease, poverty and unemployment.

In an effort to clean up American Industry the Progressive movement sought bans on child labor, limits to working hours and giving voters more universal suffrage

Explain why Manifest destiny led to American expansion?

ReviewWhich term refers to the Jewish movement to create a homeland in Palestine?

1. secularism

2. Marxism

3. animism

4. Zionism

Review One reason for the mass migration of many Irish to North America in the 19th century was 1. a series of crop failures2. enforcement of a military draft3. civil war in Ireland4. an outbreak of malaria