Victorians had no shortage of causes to which to dedicate their efforts. Poverty, crime, the plight of orphans, prison reform, child welfare, temperance - this was an age of social issues and causes. The Victorian era saw the founding of numerous agencies that were the first organized attempts to end certain types of abuses, or bring relief to those in need. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (founded in 1824) survives to this day as the RSPCA. Societies were formed to prevent the abuse of children, and eventually to reduce the abuses of children forced into various types of labor.
At the same time, one can't help but get a sense of "us" (the privileged Victorian reader) and "them" (those unfortunate but clearly "not our class" folks who live in poverty. One might expect this in the more class-conscious world of Victorian Britain, but it surfaces in American articles on poverty as well.
Victorian women's magazines encouraged ladies and girls to practice Christian charity simply because it was the "Christian" thing to do, but again, one senses the impression of a vast gulf between those providing charitable acts and those on the receiving end. Articles on how to be a district visitor, for example, point out that not every poor family appreciates having a well-meaning lady barging in upon them and telling them how they ought to live!
One major movement in Victorian days was the temperance movement. William Jennings Demorest, publisher of Demorest Magazine, was a key figure in the American temperance movement, so, not surprisingly, Demorest ran numerous articles on temperance. But the notion of temperance was equally popular in Britain; one of the key arguments for opening museums and other attractions on Sunday was so that the working man could do something other than visit a tavern on his one day off. Temperance enthusiasts often organized groups of children into "bands of hope" to spread the message of temperance in music and song.
Finally, this section looks at the issues of Victorian crime, criminals, and law enforcement, along with a few articles on significant crimes of the day. This was, after all, the era that brought us Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes - and fingerprinting!
- Victorian Causes, Social Issues, & Charities
- Living in Poverty - London
- Living in Poverty - America
- Charitable Organizations & Programs
- Children's Charities & Services
- Child Workers
- Help for the Working Man
- Missions & Ministries
- Opportunities for Personal Charity
- The Temperance Movement
- Victorian Crime & Criminals
- Victorian Crime & Law Enforcement Techniques
- Victorian Criminal Cases
- The Life of the Tramp
- See also...
- People: Philanthropists
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