3.1 Overview Origins of Liberalism


 
In the past, individuals lived mostly in societies based on limited individual rights and freedoms. Liberal minded people demanded that individual rights and freedoms be created and written into law. The equal and democratic government practices of the Haudenosaunee First Nation of North America, which some people believe influenced modern political thought, was often used as a model for government constitutions.

The cartoon on the left is from the French Revolution.It shows a peasant from the Third Estate carrying a clergyman from the First Estate and a nobleman from the Second Estate on his back. Before the French Revolution, people from the Third Estate had few individual rights and freedoms. Liberal ideas from Enlightenment philosophers prompted the Third Estate to make changes to French society that would include individual rights and freedoms for all French citizens.

The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers laid the foundations of our liberal ideologies and developed into what is known as classical liberalism. Classical liberalism has evolved into a modern form of liberalism that ensures political freedom and protects economic individualism. Individualism and liberalism has a great influence over the way we live as a society today.


In this unit you will explore the development of classical and modern liberalism and their impact on society by examining the following issue question:

Is resistance to liberalism justified?


Unit Three: List of Assignments, Self-Quizzes, Forums, and Exams

Assignments, Forums, and Unit Review Exam will open as you work through the unit sequentially.

 
3.9 Freedom or Safety? Forum

 
3.10 Classical Liberalism Self-Quiz

 
3.11b The Origins of Classical Liberalism Assignment

 
3.16 Responses to Classical Liberalism Self-Quiz

 
3.17 The Impacts of Liberalism in the 19th Century Assignment

 
Unit 3 Review Exam