liberalism

(noun)

A political philosophy based which sees individuals as entitled to freedom and legal equality and which argues that government must derive from the consent of the governed. Liberalism, as developed by Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Smith and Paine, has been a central part of American political culture and was a major influence on the Founding Fathers.

Related Terms

  • anarchism
  • Emerson's greatest expression of individualism is contained in his essay Self-Reliance. It contains his
  • transcendentalism
  • existentialism

Examples of liberalism in the following topics:

  • Classical Liberalism

    • Classical liberalism is a political philosophy committed to limited government, the rule of law, individual liberties, and free markets.
    • Hence, classical liberals believed that individuals should be free to pursue their self-interest without societal control or restraint.
    • Classical liberalism determined that individuals should be free to obtain work from the highest-paying employers.
    • Classical liberals also saw poor urban conditions as inevitable, and therefore opposed any income or wealth redistribution.
    • Classical liberals extended protection of the country to protection of overseas markets through armed intervention.
  • Reform and the Election of 1872

    • In response to President Grant's federal patronage, in 1870, Senator Carl Schurz from Missouri, a German immigrant and Civil War hero, started a second party known as the Liberal Republicans.
    • The Liberal Republicans thought that the Grant Administration, and the president personally, were fully corrupt.
    • The Liberal Republicans successfully ran B.G.
    • Grant also favored amnesty to former Confederate soldiers like the Liberal Republicans.
    • Horace Greeley was soundly defeated as the candidate of the Liberal Republican Party during the election of 1872.
  • War of Black Liberation

    • The Civil War is sometimes referred to as The War of Black Liberation because the Civil War resulted in the end of slavery.
    • The Civil War is often referred to as "The War of Black Liberation", because it eventually resulted in the end of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation and the passing of the 13th Amendment.
    • The Civil War then became known as a War of Black Liberation; however it was fueled by a mix of political, economic, and moral motives.
    • Explain why the Civil War is often referred to as the War of Black Liberation.
  • The Beats

    • The publishers won, and publishing in the United States was liberalized.
    • Spiritual liberation, sexual revolution or liberation (i.e., gay liberation, which somewhat catalyzed women's liberation and black liberation);
  • Blue Water Imperialism

    • The dominant 17th and 18th century British imperialist ideology was founded on a liberal conception of freedom and commerce—however, this freedom was only conceptualized in terms of white Anglo-Saxon men.
    • Furthermore, Catholicism was the traditional state religion of Spain and France—nations that, according to British liberals, were traditionally ruled by authoritarian, despotic, monarchical power.
    • British liberals viewed representative government as a hallmark of Protestantism because it counteracted the despotic, authoritarian, and "Catholic" tendencies of monarchy and arbitrary power.
    • Hence, for liberals, "maritime" meant using the navy to establish British superiority over the seas so that commerce and colonization could occur, as they perceived, peacefully.
    • Freedom in blue water empire ideology was the defining characteristic that reconciled the inherent tensions between the notion of empire and liberty for 18th-century British liberals.
  • Social Change

    • Young women in the 1920s took part in a liberation of sexuality and education that redefined their generation, while minority groups such as African-Americans and homosexuals began to emerge from the shadows of traditional American culture.
    • Fueled by ideas of sexual liberation, however, dating underwent major changes on college campuses.
    • The relative liberalism toward homosexuality was publicly demonstrated by the actor William Haines, regularly named in newspapers and magazines as the top male box-office draw, who lived in an openly gay relationship with his partner, Jimmie Shields.
    • With the return of a conservative mood in the 1930s, the public once again grew intolerant of homosexuality, and gay actors were forced to choose between retiring or agreeing to hide their sexuality, even in the relatively liberal safe haven of Hollywood.
  • The New Right

    • For these and other efforts, Reagan was attacked by liberals at the time as a dangerous warmonger, but conservative historians assert that he decisively won the Cold War.
    • I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals—if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories.
  • Gay and Lesbian Rights

    • Various communities have worked together, but also have worked independently of each other, in various configurations including gay liberation, lesbian feminism, the queer movement, and transgender activism.
    • Even in a time of unprecedented societal change and burgeoning liberal views and policies, homosexuality was still widely publicly stigmatized throughout the 20th century.
    • Lesbian feminism emerged around the same time that gay liberation groups were forming.
    • Many women of the gay liberation movement felt frustrated at the domination of the movement by men and formed separate organizations.
    • Shortly thereafter, the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists’ Alliance were formed and began to protest discrimination, homophobia, and violence against gay and transgender people, promoting LGBT liberation and pride.
  • The Federal Reserve Act

    • In contrast to the Republicans, the liberal Democrats opposed all banking schemes and strenuously denounced private banks and Wall Street.
    • The final Federal Reserve Act passed in December 1913, and most bankers criticized the plan for giving too much financial control to Washington, while liberal reformers claimed that it allowed bankers to maintain too much power.
  • American Indians and the War Effort

    • Over the course of the war, American Indian men fought across the world on all fronts, and were involved in many of the most critical battles involving American troops, including Iwo Jima, the Invasion of Normandy, the Liberation of the Philippines, the Battle of the Bulge, the Liberation of Paris, and the Liberation of Belgium.
    • American Indians were also among the first Americans to enter Germany and played a role in the Liberation of Berlin.
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