1. The Origin and Growth of Liberalism

2. Let’s go over this one more time...
The word liberal comes from the Latin liber, meaning ‘free’. It was first used as a political term in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. The ideas of liberalism are older than the name and they emerged in the 1700’s during the Enlightenment. Individuals such as Locke, Smith, Jefferson, Montesquieu wrote about personal freedom, limited government (economically and socially) consent of the governed, yet these writers never called themselves liberals. Their beliefs laid the foundation for what is now called classical liberalism. Modern liberalism includes the political beliefs and social rights of classical liberalism, yet it rejects some of the economic beliefs of classical liberalism

3. Historical Background
Medieval Period: agrarian; feudalism
Crusades: growth of towns; led to merchants (bourgeois). Influence on economic policies
Renaissance
Humanists: questioning of authority and church teachings
Protestant Reformation
Contact with Indigenous peoples(non-Christian)
Europe was in turmoil
Cities grew as overseas trade grew
Enlightenment or Age of Reason (late 17th-18th) . The rise of Classical Liberalism focused on allowing citizens the right to freedom in their economic, political, and social lives

4. Principles of Classical Liberalism
Individual Rights and Freedoms
Humans are reasonable
Private property and free markets
Protection of civil liberties
Limitations on Gov’t by constitution

5. The Age of Reason

6. Thinkers
Hobbes
Locke
Montesquieu
John Stuart Mill

7. Laissez-Faire Economics
Adam Smith

8. Origins Agrarian economy overtaken by industrial one
Movement away from subsistence to surplus; farm to factory
1. As an island, Britain had advantages
2. Parliamentary gov’t and constitutional monarchy; Enclosure Acts
3. Enlightenment
= Modern Industrialization

9. Rise of Capitalism and the Individual
New middle class led the way to promote laissez-faire and criticize Mercantilism
Pursuit of self interest

10. Adam Smith
Every individual looks after themselves thereby helping everyone else
Government role: maintain rule of law; ensure contracts are followed; provide public works