early classical

• When did liberalism begin to take shape?

  mid-late 17th century, influenced by the Enlightenment’s focus on individualism and progress and the changing political landscape
• Who was a key to the emergence of Liberalism?

  John Locke
• How did Locke contribute to the emergence of liberalism?

  His idea presented a major challenge to the understanding of society and the political system at the time and contributed to significant changes to how British state acted and how politics and society were understood
• What did Locke argue?

  In the state of nature, there were natural societies in which individuals enjoyed natural rights and freedoms. In this context, the state was a threat to these freedoms and rights and should be limited to ensure freedom and maintain individualism
• Locke believed that rather than being based on divine right and acting arbitrarily, the state should be based on a social contract between the rulers and those who are being ruled, with the latter having the right to remove those in power if they didn’t serve in their interests and people no longer consented to their governance
• What did Locke also promote?

  Religious tolerance, a very radical idea at the time that advocated for the separation of the church and the state and for the freedom of indivualsim to proactive their religion without government interference or coercion
• Locke and almost all Enlightenment thinkers at the time had a very narrow view of what society was: excluding women, those who weren’t white and those who weren’t wealthy
• How did early classical liberalism see indivuals?

  They are rational and able to reason. It focused on promoting the freedom of indivualsim, in order to allow them to make progress and pursue their goals
• What is the classical liberal view on the state?

  It is a necessary evil. The state is presented as the key potential threat to freedom, therefore advocating for a very limited night watchman state that simply adjudicates disputes and left each individual to live their life in freedom
• Who is central to the argument for a minimal state in the economic sphere?

  Adam Smith : supporting laissez faire capitalism defined by minimal state involvement
• Who made the case for formal equality under the law and equal rights for women based on these liberal principles?

  Mary Wollstonecraft
• Wollstonecraft argued that the treatment of women was against reason and that they should be treated as rational individuals and given the freedom, rights and education to develop their individual potential just as men were. Not only would this result in individual progress and freedom, it would also improve the economy and lead to collective societal progress
• Example of how classical liberalism impacted the American Revolution and State

  Individual rights, representative government , the rule of law. The Declaration of Independence with its assertion of inalienable rights to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.

  The US Constitution: checks and balances, separation of powers, Bill of Rights