Liberaliam
Norman Davies describes liberalism as "being developed along two parallel tracks, the political and the economic. Political liberalism focused on the essential concept of government by consent. In its most thoroughgoing form it embraced republicanism, though most liberals favored a popular, limited, and fair-minded monarch as a factor encouraging stability." (A History of Europe, p.802) At the core of liberalism was the idea of freedom of thought and expression. People were now not only able to think for themselves, but also express those same thoughts. Popular sovereignty was also a very strong tenet of liberalism. Popular sovereignty advocated that government derives its power from the ...
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solid citizenship." (A History of Europe, p.802) However, property soon became defined as a natural right.
Davies expresses, "economic liberalism focused on the concept of free trade, and on the associated doctrine of laissez-faire, which opposed the habit of governments to regulate economic life through protectionist tariffs. It stressed the right of men of property to engage in commercial and industrial activities without undue restraint." (A History of Europe, p.802) Hence, both economic and political liberalism had the right of property as a core ingredient. Property was a major element in the minds of the liberals because it enabled them to be known as a citizen.
The liberals were the working middle classes, those with money but no birthright. Liberalism was translated into a pursuit of wealth by the middle class. "The principal concern of early-nineteenth-century liberalism was protecting the rights of the individual against the demands of the state", explains Davies. (A ...
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is standing up for the people's natural rights, in that, if an action harms a person, it should be eliminated. Also, in The Subjection of Women, "he made the clearest of arguments for the feminist cause, maintaining that there is nothing in the many differences between men and women that would justify their possession of different rights." (A History of Europe, p.803) In a time when only the women in two countries, Finland and Norway, Mill thought that all women, who are men's equal, should be allowed to vote in their country and have a say in government.
Another example of a liberal was the British political theorist, Thomas Hill Green.
Green "urged legislation to promote better ...
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Liberaliam. (2004, October 4). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Liberaliam/15384
"Liberaliam." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 4 Oct. 2004. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Liberaliam/15384>
"Liberaliam." Essayworld.com. October 4, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Liberaliam/15384.
"Liberaliam." Essayworld.com. October 4, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Liberaliam/15384.
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