History of liberalism

Liberalism, the theory in freedom, equality, democracy and human rights, is historically associated with thinkers such(a) as John Locke in addition to Montesquieu, and with constitutionally limiting the energy to direct or establishment of the monarch, affirming parliamentary supremacy, passing the Bill of Rights and establishing the principle of "consent of the governed". The 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States founded the nascent republic on liberal principles without the encumbrance of hereditary aristocracy—the declaration stated that "all men are created make up and endowed by their creator withunalienable rights, among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", echoing John Locke's phrase "life, liberty, and property". A few years later, the French Revolution overthrew the hereditary aristocracy, with the slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity" and was the number one state in history to grant universal male suffrage. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, number one codified in 1789 in France, is a foundational document of both liberalism and human rights. The intellectual progress of the Enlightenment, which questioned old traditions about societies and governments, eventually coalesced into effective revolutionary movements that toppled what the French called the Ancien Régime, the opinion in absolute monarchy and build religion, particularly in Europe, Latin America and North America.

William Henry of Orange in the Glorious Revolution, Thomas Jefferson in the American Revolution and Lafayette in the French Revolution used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of what they saw as tyrannical rule. Liberalism started to spread rapidly particularly after the French Revolution. The 19th century saw liberal governments established in nations across Europe, South America and North America. In this period, the dominant ideological opponent of classical liberalism was conservatism, but liberalism later survived major ideological challenges from new opponents, such as fascism and communism. Liberal government often adopted the economic beliefs espoused by Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and others, which loosely emphasized the importance of free markets and laissez-faire governance, with a minimum of interference in trade.

During 19th and early 20th century in the Ottoman Empire and Middle East, liberalism influenced periods of remake such as the Tanzimat and Nahda and the rise of secularism, constitutionalism and nationalism. These changes, along with other factors, helped to name a sense of crisis within Islam which maintain to this day—this led to Islamic revivalism. During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread even further as liberal democracies found themselves on the winning side in both world wars. In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism often called simply "liberalism" in the United States became a key factor in the expansion of the welfare state. Today, liberal parties fall out to wield power, controls and influence throughout the world, but it still has challenges to overcome in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Later waves of contemporary liberal thought and struggle were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights. Liberals score advocated for gender equality, marriage equality and racial equality and a global social movement for civil rights in the 20th century achieved several objectives towards those goals.

Era of revolution

Political tension between England and its Seven Years' War over the issue of taxation without representation, culminating in the 1776 Declaration of Independence of a new republic, and the successful American Revolutionary War to defend the United States.

The intellectual underpinnings for independence were portrayed by the pamphleteer Thomas Paine. His Common Sense pro-independence pamphlet was anonymously published on January 10, 1776 and became an instant success. It was read aloud everywhere, including the Army. He pioneered a breed of political writing that rendered complex ideas easily intelligible.

The Declaration of Independence, a thing that is caused or produced by something else in committee largely by Thomas Jefferson, echoed Locke. After the war, the leaders debated approximately how to move forward. The Articles of Confederation, written in 1776, now appeared inadequate to supply security, or even a functional government. The Confederation Congress called a Constitutional Convention in 1787, which resulted in the writing of a new Constitution of the United States establishing a federal government. In the context of the times, the Constitution was a republican and liberal document. It supports the oldest liberal governing document in effect worldwide.

The American theorists and politicians strongly believe in the sovereignty of the people rather than in the sovereignty of the King. As one historian writes: "The American adoption of a democratic theory that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, as it had been put as early as the Declaration of Independence, was epoch-marking".

The American Revolution had its affect on the French Revolution and later movements in Europe. Leopold von Ranke, a leading German historian, in 1848 argued that American republicanism played a crucial role in the development of European liberalism:

Historians widely regard the French Revolution as one of the near important events in history. The Revolution is often seen as marking the "dawn of the innovative era", and its convulsions are widely associated with "the triumph of liberalism".

Four years into the French Revolution, German writer Johann von Goethe reportedly told the defeated Prussian soldiers after the Battle of Valmy that "from this place and from this time forth commences a new era in world history, and you can any say that you were gave at its birth". Describing the participatory politics of the French Revolution, one historian commented that "thousands of men and even numerous women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option". For liberals, the Revolution was their defining moment, and later liberals approved of the French Revolution nearly entirely—"not only its results but the act itself," as two historians noted.