24th Annual Student Research Conference
Organized Sport in Victorian Public Schools: A Reflection of Changing Ideals of Morality and Manhood
Emily M. Cain
Dr. David Robinson, Faculty Mentor
During the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a revolution swept over Britain and changed an agrarian country into the industrial powerhouse that became the biggest empire in the world, fundamentally changing many areas of British society. This paper focuses on specific social changes that accompanied the Industrial Revolution. The growing Victorian middle class created a new set of moral ideals and at the same time, many modern sports began to take their modern shape. This paper attempts to uncover the relationship between the British Industrial Revolution and organized sports, asserting that the development of organized sports, especially varieties of football, mirrors the larger social developments of British society. This paper also seeks to show how British public schools were instrumental in spreading middle class ideals, not only in the classroom, but on the playing fields. The paper finishes by studying how these moral values affected ideas of British Empire.
Keywords: Industrial Revolution , Great Britain, Sports, Rugby
Topic(s):History
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 42-2
Location: MG 2001
Time: 3:00