Instigating Victorian Morality: The Clapham Sect And The Reformation of Manners Campaign (thesis)

Abstract

In the reformation of manners campaign the Clapham sect attempted to apply universal moral principles to the different classes of British society in different ways. Bifurcated methods of engagement with the upper and lower classes rooted in both strategic necessity and theology invited charges of hypocrisy and created a deep-rooted legacies for the treatment of the poor in social reform movements in British society. This impact proved both deep rooted and durable, sparking a change in perspective that helped mark the transition from the Hanoverian to the Victorian age. The group’s campaign to increase the morality of British society through a reformation of manners took various forms, both public and private, and had long lasting impacts that helped to create the social and theological roots of what became Victorian morality. [From Introduction]