Nineteenth Century Liberalism

by Adina Lopatin

The word "liberalism" comes from the Latin root "liber," which means free. Though Liberalism has many different connotations in different settings, nineteenth century liberalism has a very specific meaning. Rooted in Locke, Rousseau and French Revolution philosophy, nineteenth century liberalism reached its crux in industrial England. Nineteenth century liberalism is characterized by a focus on individual liberties, and an aim to limit the role of government in all areas, without advocating anarchy. Liberals focused on laissez faire capitalism, and equated government intervention in the economy with tyranny. Adam Smith (1723-1790) provided the economic basis for laissez faire capitalism in his book, An Inquiry into the nature and causes of the Wealth of Nations, which outlined the laws of the market: economic cycles, laws of supply and demand, laws of population, accumulation, and wages. Smith's definition of the emerging laissez faire capitalist economy is the basis of modern economic thought. Utilitarianism was another form of liberalism. Yet another was the English parliamentary Liberal party. The first clearly liberal administration was that of William Gladstone in 1868. The Liberal party, associated with Gladstone and Lord John Russell, was defined by its reform agenda. The party established a national education system, legalized trade unions, enfranchised the rural working class, reconstructed the army, reformed the judicial system, and implemented voting by secret ballot. After a faction of unionists abandoned the Liberal party in 1886, it lost power which did not substantially regain until 1906. The Liberal reforms date back to the Catholic Emancipation Bill of 1829 which extended certain civil rights to Irishmen and the Reform Act of 1832 which redesigned representation in Parliament and franchise requirements, in keeping with the Liberal commitment to increased individual liberty and power. The Repeal of the Corn Laws (1846) demonstrated important Liberal goals in providing for increased economic freedom and weakening of aristocratic control of Parliament. The Liberal Party, the utilitarians, the laissez faire economists were all liberals: they all valued individual freedoms.

Picture Sources

A. http://www.utdallas.edu/~harpham/adam.htm