Progress and Prosperity in Mid-19^th c. Britain

I. Introduction

II. Stability of the ‘Mid-Victorian Period’

A. Reasons for Stability

B. Contemporary Explanations

C. Fluid Political Alliances

III. The Great Exhibition of 1851

A. Idea Behind the Crystal Palace

B. Inside and Outside

C. Visitors

IV. Underlying Economic Success

A. Measures of Prosperity

B. Agriculture

C. Occasional Slumps

D. Role of ‘invisible exports’

V. Other signs of Prosperity

A. Rising Population

B. Geographic Mobility

- National – Local – Regional

C. Civic Pride

VI. Improvements for the Working Class

A. Rising Wage Rates

B. Upper, middle, and lower levels of the Working Class

C. Other Signs of Prosperity

V. Conclusion: Not Just a ‘Labor Aristocracy’

Key Terms

Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution (1867)

Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

Prince Albert

Crystal Palace

‘invisible exports’

suburbs

sea-side resorts

Henry Mayhew

labor aristocracy

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