Pride and Prejudice

1. Pride and Prejudice Everyday Life: Family and Education

2. Family Proprieties • Father was head of the family • His wife and children respected him and obeyed him • Until 1882 all a woman's property, even the money she earned, belonged to her husband • Divorce was made legal in 1857 but it was very rare in the 19th century • Families were much larger than today. This was mostly because death of infants during birth was more likely • People had many children and accepted that not all of them would survive.

3. Issues and Struggles of Families • For many children in the early 19th century things grew worse. • The industrial revolution created a huge demand for female and child labor • Children had always done some work but at least before the 19th century they worked in their own homes with their parents or on land nearby • Children's work was largely seasonal so they did have some time to play

4. Issues and Struggles of Families • When children worked in textile factories they often worked for more than 12 hours a day • For working class women life was an endless round of hard work and drudgery. • As soon as they were old enough they worked on farms and in factories. • Even when they married and had children housework was very hard without electricity or modern cleaning agents.

5. Living Conditions • Miners with big families and some friends lived in granite or cob cottages possessing only two or three rooms. • In 1861, many lodgers employed in the mining industry were accommodated in the houses of fellow miners. • Some occupied cottages on farmlands and had access to a few acres of land, some in rows of cottages which might have gardens where food for the table could be grown. • The majority lived in towns which held gardens that were either small or replaced by courtyards offering little opportunity of giving the family with garden produce.

6. Living Conditions Cont. • The sleeping arrangements in many cottages were often complicated. • Sometimes several children were sleeping in one bed. • There wasn’t any indoor water supply or bathroom, the bathroom being an earth closet outside, and the only heat that from an open fire or an iron made Cornish range. • Housing big families in damp overcrowded cottages with a lack of adequate sanitation meant a daily struggle to maintain standards of respectability, a challenge for even the most creative housewife.

7. Living Conditions Cont. • Small businessmen, entrepreneurs and mine captains were able to rent or purchase a more spacious residence. • Some would even boast about the luxury inventions of the modern industrial age. • Upward social mobility meant that new money was able to move to more attractive areas of towns and villages. • The landed classes, many of whom made huge fortunes form the mining industry, were keen to reflect their success and status. • During the expansive period of industrialization many new estates were built.

8. Children in the 19th Century • Wealthier children throughout the Victorian period were made aware of the suffering of the poor through the moral and religious education they received at Church Sunday Schools. • Those more comfortable off were encouraged to help those less fortunate than themselves by donating their money and time to charity. • Poorer families greatest fear was ending up in the workhouse, where thousands of homeless and penniless families were forced to live. • If your family was taken to the work house you would be split up, dressed in uniform, and have your hair cut short. • This could happen to a family if the father were taken ill and unable to work.

9. Children in the 19thCentury • Lots of children in poor families died of diseases like scarlet fever, measles, polio, and tuberculosis which are curable today. • These were spread by foul drinking water, open drains, and lack of proper toilets. • By the end of the 19th century, the government had passed laws relating to the specific needs of children. • This new attitude helped children to develop their own identity. • They were no longer officially seen as “miniature adults” but treated as a distinct social group with their own needs and interests which deserved special laws and treatment.

10. Their Family to Ours 19th Century Family 21st Century Family Both parents run the household. Possessions belonged to the one who had it before marriage. Divorce is very common nowadays. Household is now more of a Parliament. Children have to listen to parents. Families are smaller now that mortality of infants are less common. • Father is head of the house. • All wife’s money and objects belonged to husband. • Divorce was unheard of in a social environment. • Wife and Children were forced to listen to the Father/Husband. • Families were bigger due to infant mortality rates.

11. Problems Now and Then 19th Century 21st Century In today’s world, children are viewed as children and are treated as such. However, ever since the creation of gangs, children have been involving themselves creating more problems for business’s. Violence has very much involved itself into the minds and lives of some children in the United States. • Children living in the 1800’s would have to work in factories for at least 12 hours a day • Children were seen as miniature adults • In the eyes of the higher authority, children were no more than profit in the industrial world

12. Comparing solutions for youth problems 19th Century Solutions 21st Century Solutions Thanks to law enforcement, children involved in violence can be sent to a Juvenile Correction Facility They have also installed a program for certain ages in grade school to help prevent gang violence and drug use. • The government had passed laws relating to the specific needs of children • They made sure that children had time to develop an identity of their own • More children became educated and became more successful as they grew up into adults

13. Education for Children in the 19th Century • In the early 19th century the churches provided schools for poor children. • From 1833 the government provided them with grants. • There were also dame schools. They were run by women who taught a little reading, writing and arithmetic. • However many dame schools were really a baby sitting service. • The state did not take responsibility for education until 1870. • Forsters Education Act said that schools should be provided for all children. • If there were not enough places in existing schools then board schools were built. • In 1880 school was made compulsory for 5-10 year olds. • However school was not free, except for the poorest children until 1891 when fees were abolished.

14. Education for Children in the 19th Century • From 1899 children were required to go to school until they were 12. • Girls from upper class families were taught by a governess. • Boys were often sent to public schools like Eaton. • Middle class boys went to grammar schools. • Middle class girls went to private schools were they were taught skills such as music and sewing. • Discipline in Victorian schools was savage. • Beatings were common although in the 19th century the cane generally replaced the birch. • Children who were struggling with their lessons were humiliated by being forced to wear a cap with the word 'dunce' on it.

15. Education System 19th Century 20th Century No fee for a public educations and more lenient on unfortunate children Beatings are banned from schoolsand help is provided for children who struggle An array of different difficulties are provided in each core class (science, math, english, reading, and social skills) • Very strict and came with a fee unless extremely poor • Children were beaten or were made to wear a ‘Dunce’ cap if they struggled with their lessons • Simple math, reading, english, science, and social skills were provided

16. Work Cited • http://www.localhistories.org/19thcent.html • http://www.ourwardfamily.com/children_of_the_1800's.htm • http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/story/living.htm • http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/bluetelephone/html/health.html • http://www.localhistories.org/19thcenturychildren.html