Liberalism and the Bourgeoisie

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Stevie-Lyn Kim

At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, a great rise in the power of the bourgeoisie was seen.  These determined bourgeoisie believe in the innate good of human beings and the power of the individual, as they had to prove their worth and ability during a time of aristocratic privilege.  They strove for liberalism, an ideology that turned away from conservatism and pushed towards the ideals of the Enlightenment.  

From the liberal belief in the goodness and power of the individual came concerns that the government and the church stifled that liberty.  Liberals attacked the government and other authority figures that did not allow free choice and free expression.  They also believed that “the best government is that one that governs least” (Wes. Civ. 547).  It was they who called for a freely elected government and the idea of checks and balances between the various branches so that their voices may be heard in legislative affairs.

Many liberals liked the idea of laissez-faire, the doctrine that advocated leaving the economic market free of government intervention.  This idea was at the center of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) and was continued by David Ricardo and Robert Malthus.  These writers believed that a market would run best without government interference and, instead, on its competitors’ self-interest, thereby maximizing the wealth and utility of the nation. Although these ideas may have seemed to benefit society as a whole, laissez-faire economists used laissez-faire to justify a system that left working class in their poverty.  Ricardo penned the term the iron law of wages, which stated that it was wise to pay workers a subsistence wage at best so that it would not lead to overpopulation and misery.  The bourgeoisie also decided that there should be property requirements for voting and governmental office holding, believing the world had to be this way because the uneducated lower classes cannot make wise decisions and would corrupt the government.

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Stevie-Lyn Kim

A change in social structure occurred; wealth and commerce gave more power and number to the bourgeoisie and the middle class.  Yet, as the walls between the upper and middle

class were depleting, the gap between the middle and lower working class was becoming more and more apparent.  As the Industrial Revolution began to urbanize Western society at a fast rate, those people who had once worked on farms had to move into the cities in order to make a living for themselves and to support their families.  Cities were built with little planning, leading to ...

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