Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria is famous for being the longest ruling monarch of Great Britain, and controlled the regime of imperial colonization and economical growth. Alexandrina Victoria was born on the twenty fourth of May, 1819 in Kensinton Palace. She inherited the royal throne at the age of 18 due to the three possible successors, her father’s (George III, Duke of Kent) three brothers died without claims upon the throne. In her life time she was attempt assassinated seven times. She had nine children and forty two grandchildren, and she was the last British Monarch under the House of Hanover.
She was allowed to be declared the monarch due to the Regency Act passed in 1830. Her childhood was relatively lonely, due to the over protectiveness of her mother, and restricted her from seeing those she deemed as objectionable. In 1836, Victoria’s Uncle, Leopold the First of Belgium, wished to match his nephew, Albert, with Queen Victoria, to gain influence and power. But her mother wished for Victoria to marry Prince Alexander from the Netherlands. Victoria seemed to have favored Albert, as shown in her diary.
On 20 June 1837, the previous King of England, William IV died and she inherited the throne. She was coroneted on 28 June, 1838. Yet she was no elegible to be the queen of England until she had her first child, under Salic Law ( A series of traditional laws that were continued and updated since the middle ages.) She married Albert in 1841. During her life time she was greatly influenced by two men, one was the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. During the 1950’s, she maintained a good relationship with Robert Peel and John Russell, the next succession of Prime Ministers, but was at odds with Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, who believed the main object of Britain was to increase Britain’s power over the world. This would require the adoption of polices that are conflicting to the original residents of the foreign land, which both King Albert and Queen Victoria opposed. In the 1855, Palmerston became the Prime Minister. From 1941 until 1957 she bore nine children with Prince Albert.
In 1861 Prince Albert died of typhoid fever, December, age 42. The loss devastated Queen Victoria, both emotionally and politically, as her husband was one of her greatest advisors and dominated influence over her decisions. From this day on, she was depicted as wearing black. She withdrew from public eye and rarely lived a secluded life. She finally opened Parliament in 1866 and 1867, but she was still living behind the scenes. With the private urging and encouragement of her family, along with the concern of the Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, she began to draw out of her depression. She also influenced the decisions on not getting included in the wars in Europe, and in 1875 helped to avert a second Franco-German war. She believed that they should have good relationships with other countries rather than take with influence and force. Her popularity grew when imperial sentiment appeared in the 1855 and up, such as the Great Mutiny in India. She has existing influence today as she was the first to develop the idea of a constitutional monarch, a monarch who sits above political parties. After the Second Reform Act of 1867, her influence decreased over the positioning of political occupations. Thus, William Gladstone successfully ascended much to her disapproval. One of the reasons she had a lot of respect from her people was due to the increase and adoption of technology and transportation, allowing her to appear in public during travels many of the times. Photography and newspapers also spread her deeds across England. Sge died on 22 January 1901 in the Osborne House, claiming the longest reign in British history, for 64 years. She was buried at Windsor beside her husband.
1. a) Which main topic does the artifact relate to:
It is mainly Nationalism and Liberalism since that was a constant conflict between Queen Victoria and the various Prime ministers. It also has to do with race relations as there was a lot of anti-Semitism due to colonization and imperialism, which Queen Victoria just happen to be in charge of.
b) Which other main topics does it also relate to:
It has to do with gender roles, as Queen Victoria did have issues with the voting of women (suffrage), it also has to do with the balance of power, as the monarch gradually lost rights over ruling and the passing of laws.
2. Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and/or processing it:
I took about an hour with Queen Victoria, and it was picked by our WONDERFUL teachers :D:D.
3. What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact
It sheds more light upon the political system of Great Britain during this time, where as the facts were obscure before I researched.
4. Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas Why, or why not
I’m not sure if this is about the facts I listed, but it was fun to do, and out of the three choices I believe this person had the most influence.
5. Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5(0 is neutral) for the following 4 criterion:
a) Impact on the quality of your Portfolio
4
b) Impact on your level of happiness/enjoyment
Dry text research, but you do discover certain interesting facts on the way 2
c) Impact on your learning
Sometimes reading is the best way to learn 4
d) Level of creativity and originality
I’d say around 0, facts are facts.
6. Any additional comments.
I did Queen Victoria because I have an obsession over late 19th century writing. This gave me more insight.
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