rambling man
Somewhat Deadly
- Joined
- May 16, 2001
- Posts
- 1,558
Liberal and conservative are such strange labels to put on people, especially in history
Someone referred to Jefferson as a liberal in a thread on here. In his time, the liberals were the men of business and commerce and retained that name throughout the 19th century. Jefferson was a radical in some ways, but his decentralized idea of government also represented conservative (for his place and time) ideals. His anti-Federalism would render him an anachronism among Democrats today and his anti-big business stance would keep him out of the Republicans. The only party that could legitimately claim Jefferson would be the Libertarians. The government which works best is the smallest. Jefferson's ideals on national government represented conservatism versus the Federalists like John Marshall and Whigs later on.
The Industrial Revolution changed what it meant to be conservative and liberal. The men of business soon accumulated enough power and wealth that by the end of the century they had abandoned liberals and turned either their parties to conservative ones or left liberal parties for conservative ones. The US Republicans became a conservative party while the Liberal Party in Britain faded from any sort of prominence, to be replaced by the "new" liberal force, that of the working class.
Conservatives atthe beginning of the Industrial Revolution actually railed against industry in the US and Britain, in Britain they tried to reduce some of the evils of industrialism while in the US they tried to create a whole new country.
Someone referred to Jefferson as a liberal in a thread on here. In his time, the liberals were the men of business and commerce and retained that name throughout the 19th century. Jefferson was a radical in some ways, but his decentralized idea of government also represented conservative (for his place and time) ideals. His anti-Federalism would render him an anachronism among Democrats today and his anti-big business stance would keep him out of the Republicans. The only party that could legitimately claim Jefferson would be the Libertarians. The government which works best is the smallest. Jefferson's ideals on national government represented conservatism versus the Federalists like John Marshall and Whigs later on.
The Industrial Revolution changed what it meant to be conservative and liberal. The men of business soon accumulated enough power and wealth that by the end of the century they had abandoned liberals and turned either their parties to conservative ones or left liberal parties for conservative ones. The US Republicans became a conservative party while the Liberal Party in Britain faded from any sort of prominence, to be replaced by the "new" liberal force, that of the working class.
Conservatives atthe beginning of the Industrial Revolution actually railed against industry in the US and Britain, in Britain they tried to reduce some of the evils of industrialism while in the US they tried to create a whole new country.
