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Part 2: The Two Treatises of Government Continued
Lock concluded that if the government is not acting within the people's wishes then they have broken the social contract and have every right to overthrow the government. This document inspired the Founding Fathers to write the Declaration of Independance because they believed that the British had broken the social contract between them and the colonies. John Locke's two main ideas are now core principle of Liberalism. -
Part 1:Two Treatises of Government
"Two Treatises of Government," is a historic document written by John Locke, which directly influenced Liberalism and the Founding Fathers of the United States. This document outlined John's belief that the law of nature is that man's natural form is where every man is equal under God. From this John expands an idea that the only legitmate forms of governent are those that are responsible to the people's wishes through a social contract. -
Part 1:Wealth of Nations
"The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith was a defining book that introduced many of the ideas of economic liberalism through Laissez-Faire economics, or capitalism. At the time Capitalism was a radical idea because almost all the governments in Europe used mercantilism as their economic system. His ideas of the invisible hand of the market and what an individual does for the good of themselves is for the good of the society revolutionized economics. The change didn't come without it costs though. -
Part 2:Wealth of Nations continued
Within one hundred years many countries adopted capitalism, especially industrialized nations, and this system made people very wealthy and countries very rich. However, the majority of people did not have much wealth and did not feel the increase in prosperity because there weren't any government regulations protecting the majority of people working for the factories in the Industrial Revolution. -
Part 2:United States Declaration of Independence
The United State Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents that influenced Liberalim. This document was heavily influenced by John Locke's ideas of Natural Law and a government's relationship with the people being a social contract. The Founding Fathers created this document because they were protesting taxation without representation, but were ignored by King George II. They believed that this broke the social contract between subjects and rulers. -
Part 1:United States Declaration of Independance continued.
The U.S Declaration of Independance's influence on liberalism was that it was one of the first documents that guarunteed some rights and freedoms for its citizens, which are the central principles of liberalism. -
Tennis Court Oath
This was one of the first meetings of the National Assembly in the first few days of the French Revolution. At this meeting they took an oath that said that they would not disband and would reassemble wherever necessary until France had a constitution. This was the first time the citizens of France formally opposed King Louis XVI. It was one of the defining moments of early liberalism because this was one of the first times that people were actively seeking liberalism through a constitution. -
Part 1:John Stuart Mills
On May 20, 1806 J. S. Mills was born. Throughout his life, he helped change liberalism from government essentially leaving individuals to fend for themselves, to a role where it protects individual rights and freedoms. One of his most important ideas was the concept of the harm principle, which was that individuals should be free to do what they want as long as they don't harm themselves or others. -
Part 1: The Chartist's General Strike
On August 13, 1842, the Chartist Movement directly and indirectly, spurred one of the largest strikes of the 19th century. In protest to the brutal work conditions of industrial Britain, three and a half million people stopped working and signed a petition sent to the British Parliment. In the petition they asked for: universal suffrage for all men, equal sized electoral districts, voting by secret ballots, the end to property qualifications for parliament, pay for MPs and annual elections. -
Part 2: The Chartist's General Strike Continued
The petition was again ignored by parliament, like the others, even with three and a half million signatures, and as a result, on the 26th of September, 1843, the last strike ended. Even though the Chartists were unsuccesful in their attempts to change parliament, their action inspired others to fulfill all of their aims except for annual elections. -
Part 2:J.S. Mills continued
Another important principle of his was called Tyrrany of the Majority, which was for limiting the power of a leader and protecting individuals through rights and freedoms. The principles have had a major effect on liberalism and pushed liberalism more towards what we know today as modern liberalism. J.S. mills died on May 8, 1873.
