Liberalism And Freedom Essay -- essays research papers fc

Liberalism and Freedom Liberalism is a force that has produced change from the birth of this nation to the politics of today. Liberal tenets have been a basis of thought and action in American politics since well before the signing of the Constitution. Certainly, liberalism has had to transform in order to remain a legitimate force throughout the years. When considering this transformation, one may ask whether or not the ideas and goals of classical liberalism have been lost in the conversion into modern liberalism. In order to answer this, the areas of freedom, the role of government, human nature, and the function of law should be addressed. While this may not be a complete register of change in liberalism, research into these subjects can provide strong indications toward the nature of this transition. Objectively, the evidence suggests that many of the ideas of classical liberalism were either abandoned or changed fundamentally when America entered the modern era. Freedom The idea of freedom has been a paramount concern of liberalism throughout history. Consider the classical ideas of religious freedom, the right to resist and the inherent right of every individual to be independent. These were some of the main focuses of classical liberalism in early America. On religious freedom, seventeenth century minister Roger Williams wrote: "All Civill States with their Officers of justice in their respectiveconstitutions and administrations are proved essentially Civill, and therefore not judges, governours or defendours of the spirituall or christian state and worship." (Volkomer, 50) This quote is notable because it illustrates the early liberal ideas of religious freedom by stating that government officials have no right to pass judgment on religious practices. In furtherance of his views, Williams founded a colony at Plymouth and contributed to the development of religious tolerance in the new world. Religious tolerance meant that a nation with multiple religions need no longer mean a country with internal strife and civil insurrection due to intolerance (Volkomer, 1969). The notion of religious open- mindedness helped pave the way for individual independence by suggesting that people were able to determine their own fundamental beliefs. The right of ind... ...rrelationship helps ensure liberalism's role in bringing about change in the future. Bibliography An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law: New Haven; Yale University Press, 1922 The Relevence of Liberalism; Westview Press, Boulder, CO. 1978 Beiner, Ronald: What's the Matter With Liberlism? University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1992 De Tocqueville, Alexis: Democracy in America; Penguin Books Ltd., Middlesex, England, 1984 Dewey, John: Liberalism and Social Action; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1935 Dietze, Gottfried: Liberalism Proper and Proper Liberalism, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1985 Dunbar, Leslie: Reclaiming Liberalism, WW Norton & Co., New York, 1991 Gerstle, Gary: "The Protean Nature of American Liberalism", The American Historical Review, October 10, 1994, American Historical Review, New York, New York Kotkin, Joel: "What's Wrong With Liberalism"; The American Enterprise, Jan/Feb 1996 Vol. 7 No. 1, The American Enterprise Institute, Washington D.C. Lewis, Edward: A History Of Political Thought, The Macmillan Co., New York, 1937 Mansfield, Harvey: The Spirit of Liberalism, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1978