Religion In The Victorian Era

In the 1700s the extent of religion was not very vast and many people were prosecuted for their religious beliefs, however there were colonies that allowed people to have their own beliefs and this helped pave the way for religious freedoms in the colonies.

The world today consists of children roaming the streets, technology taking over the world, and being able to work wherever you'd like but, could you imagine a life without all these things? Believe it or not there was a time in life where these things were very uncommon to see. This would be known as the victorian era. This time period was between 1837 and 1901. Daily life was very different from now. Health, social classes, and fashion are just three examples of how daily life was different in the victorian era.

“They are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance, and makes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness.” Was the way people thought about religion in 1800s. Although religion is one of the most common topics it has changed during time but some actions have not.It has been difficult for people to gain respect on their own beliefs. However, not everything today has changed, people are still considering others people's beliefs are lower than theirs. Religion from the present time compared to the 1800s has changed drastically.

“Manifest destiny”, the effects of industrialization, and the addition of millions of immigrants to American ranks mark America as it stood in the 1800’s. The introduction of a plethora of differing cultures and traditions meant that ideas of what it meant to be American were still forming as the country surged into its position as a global powerhouse. The “wild, wild West” had made its appearance as the Homestead Act of 1862 beckoned large numbers of landless citizens seeking to remedy such circumstances (Peopling of the West, 51). At the same time, Victorian standards for dress and poise still permeated the American middle-class. These strange cultural amalgamations of America in the 1800’s proved to be catalysts for the change that the turn of the century brought in – the millions of Americans on whose back the country had flourished sought recompense in the form of leisure to match their work. While the 1800’s had been chock full of Victorian values and industrious yearnings, the 1900’s entered with a demand for less rigorous social expectations. The Victorian values instilled in middle-class Americans were faced with a sudden challenge in the form of amusement parks that offered overburdened workers a respite from their dreary work days. While this new entertainment excluded some races, it allowed more classes and ethnicities to intermingle, enticed women from their traditional roles in the home, and disregarded the standards Victorian values had set for respectable

“These scholars note that Victorians often bowed to conformity, concealing their true natures and tastes and pretending to adhere to social norms. Some Victorians passed themselves off as more pious or moral than they really were. But in reality, pornographic literature and prostitution were common phenomena during the late nineteenth century, showing that some Victorians only pretended to lead chaste lives.”(Joyce Moss)

During the Colonial Period, religion was an extremely important aspect of many people’s lives; it was so central that it drove many to make the voyage to the New World. As shown by John Winthrop’s Reasons for Emigrating to New England in 1631, moving to America “appeares to be a worke of God for the good of his Church.” Once the English colonists reached America, however, they discovered that the conditions were much harsher than they expected. People experienced poverty, disease, and famine like they had never before. Now religion became one of the only things on which the people could rely.

Victorian Morality - during the time of Queen Victoria the word Victorian morality was used to characterize the moral of the people. It is defined as a set of values that dominate sexuality, have little or no tolerance for crime and a robust ethics. Victorian values from where men would be the bread winner, wage earner and involve in politics, while female would be homemaker and child bearer.

Religion has influenced an entire range of changes in the elongated history of the world. The alterations that have taken place in the past are clear and concise evidence that the underlying and ultimate influence is religion. Religion has been apart of a plethora number of events in the past because, religion gives humans a clear source of origin of the universe, and carries an everlasting assurance that provides protection and happiness among the permutations in life. Religion also served its purpose in all aspects of life, especially during the events between the 1600’s and 1800’s.

During the 1600s, England’s inhabitants were forced to believe and follow the rules and laws of the official religion of the country. The lack of religious freedom angered many people within England, but news of a new beginning arose and created hope for many. News of new land caused encouragement and left no excuse for anyone to stay and continue to be oppression that was dealt out daily throughout the lives of many in England. In 1620, a group of people called the Pilgrims voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean seeking salvation from the violent grip of England. The Pilgrims, as they are known today, escaped England in search of religious freedom, specifically to be able to freely follow and live in Christianity. It has resulted in America being created on a religious foundation. Yet, this apparent fact was one that ultimately stalled America as a society. Today in the twenty-first century, people have taken religion and the Bible and corrupted it. Large amounts of people have taken the Bible and religion and are using it for their selfish goals of spreading propaganda. Many social issues that are present today, such as the treatment of the LGBT community, abortion, racism, feminism, gender roles, and war, has been created or instigated by people’s misinterpretation of the Bible or ignorance of religion. The ultimate truth is that man and women alike have been dictating the lives of many and one’s view

The British colonies were rooted in religion, as many of their settlers were people looking for religious freedom. The thought of the new world gave the early settlers as chance to escape what they though to be a corrupt land of England. The early settlers were a mixture of Puritans and Quakers. Each of these group had their on belief of how life should be.

Religion during the Colonial Period was a new outbreak to many of the people traveling to the United States. Some people were traveling to the United States for a better life and some were traveling in search of fortune. Religion became a pivotal part of the survival of Mary Rowlandson and Cabeza De Vaca. Their religious views helped them in numerous ways, such as, to heal others, to escape from pain, and to survive the tortures they endured. The use of religion between Mary Rowlandson and Cabeza De Vaca was diverse in several ways during the Colonial Period, yet similar in the ways we use it today.

Eric J Evans, The Shaping of Modern Britain: Identity, Industry and Empire, 1780 – 1914,

Many believe that there were many religions in this era. There were only two major ones.

The Victorian Period was a great influence to the authors who composed novels at that time where distinctions between social classes as well as between men and women were strongly marked. During this period, it was precisely a woman who ruled. Alexandrina Victoria who was born on May 24, 1819 became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death on January 22, 1901. Victoria’s reign was one of the longest of a female in history. At only the age of 18, after her uncle William Henry IV died, she began a span of 63 years of reign. In spite of her independence and power, Victoria fell into a deep depression when her husband died in 1861 and ever since she wore black every day for the rest of her

The Victorian era was one of transition, and it was this transition, the removal of old beliefs, to be replaced in new, that resulted in the lack of something definite to believe in (Houghton 2,14). The Victorians believed they were breaking with the medieval world, yet at the same time they idealized it. In fact there were a few extremists who, according to Matthew Arnold, "hoped 'to retain or restore the whole system of the middle Ages'" (Houghton 2). In an England that was continually pushing forward, expanding its boundaries and dabbling in the science and