Adam Smith Liberalism Analysis

During the French Revolution, a period that is recognized as one of the most socially and politically transformative in the French Empire, changes in styles of governance from monarchy to a republican together with changes in social understanding and acceptance for all took place. One of the lead figures and revolutionists was Maximilien Robespierre who is especially credited with being the leader of the Reign of Terror which was a smaller event but part of the revolution. As the French Revolution went on, Robespierre, together with similarly minded individuals Danton and their followers engaged in the ruthless executions of people who were deemed to be enemies of the revolution and to keep away any foreign interference towards the revolution (Tackett, 2000). As an individual, Robespierre was both a lawyer and a politician who rose through the ranks of

Although many citizens in this society lived like this with no originality, a few questioned their constitutional rights and the governmental authority of the country. Constitutionalism attempts to make its way through changing circumstances of governmental authority throughout

January 21,1793 began a year long of pandemonium now known as the Reign of Terror caused by King Louis XVI’s poor ruling that landed the country in debt and starvation. Fueled by the need for change, Maximilien de Robespierre started a grand revolution that would demolish absolute monarchy in 1789. The execution of the aforementioned king marked the beginning of a period where public execution was standard and tranquility vanished, or the Reign of Terror. Threats against the country were insinuated which brought about malicious methods in an effort to exterminate the threats, which, like the country itself, revolutionized the French’s ideals. The Reign of Terror was not justified.

Before Adam Smith’s push for this, it was common for governments to make most the decisions about what to trade and how much everything was. He wrote The Wealth of Nations to help this cause change. He also wrote that if individuals pursue their own self-interest, they would help the society (Doc C). Individual freedom is the key to a better economy as well.

A revolution is a complete overthrow of the government. The French Revolution, lasting ten years, was exactly that. The French Revolution was the time for the lower classes to fight back against their unfair government and against the higher classes. The Third Estate, made up of the peasants, the bourgeoisie, and the urban poor were fed up with the way they were treated, resorting to not only political arguments, but also physical violence. There were political, social, and economic causes, that each had enormous effects.

Maximilien Robespierre was a key figure in the Reign of Terror and the leader of the Committee of Public Safety. He justified the use of terror by arguing that it was necessary to "weed out" those who threatened the Revolution and the principles of equality and democracy. According to Robespierre, the use of terror was a necessary means of achieving the revolutionary goals of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. However, the use of terror to achieve these goals directly contradicts the principle of Liberty, which was one of the central ideals of the French Revolution. Liberty was supposed to guarantee individual freedoms and rights, including the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

When trying to define a word such as Liberalism it seems difficult to find a solid definition. There are different forms of liberalism and different meanings depending on the time period it is being applied to (idea taken from Phil Badger author from philosophynow). To solve this ambiguity, I’ve decided to define liberalism based on the time period in which I will be conducting my research. Liberalism in the 1700s was the belief of freedom and equals rights generally associated with the enlightenment thinkers, John Locke and Montesquieu (as defined by wikipedia.org). Liberalism didn’t start in the 1700s.

Liberal is a paradigm which is a belief in the positive uses of government to bring justice, equality of opportunity, peace and looks more to the nature of state. Liberalism is a philosophy based on the belief about the ultimate value of individual freedom and the opportunities for human progress. Liberalism is talking about rationality, moral autonomy, human rights, democracy, opportunity, and choice that built upon commitment to the principles of freedom and equality. There is a long traditional in Liberal thinking about international relations’ characteristic. . Liberalist are thinking how to create a peaceful relation among country up to relation among individual and one of the sytemic and deeper explanation is brought by a German philospher, Immanuel Kant with his essay entitled “Perpetual Peace” .

As the author of The Great Awakening And Enlightenment In Colonial America stated, “Another idea central to American Enlightenment thinking is liberalism, that is, the notion that humans have natural rights and that government authority is not absolute, but based on the will and consent of the governed” (The Great Awakening And Enlightenment In Colonial

Adam Smith’s main idea was that the government should not regulate trade but rather individuals could handle their own affairs in trade and business. Adam Smith's economic theories were particularly influential in Britain, Europe and America. The Wealth of Nations had a profound effect on how the government in America was organised.

The Tyranny of Maximilien Robespierre Beginning in 1793, a one-year period called the Reign of Terror took place in the midst of the French Revolution. The political parties, the Jacobins and the Girondins, conspired in order to overthrow the French monarchy. This period is characterized by the harsh rulers who issued tens of thousands of official death sentences. These rulers were considered tyrants known for their oppressive and selfish rule.

In Judith Shklar’s well known 1989 essay, The Liberalism of Fear, Shklar analyzes her view on political liberalism. In other words, Judith believes that liberalism has only one potential purpose/goal. Judith Shklar mentions how the goal for liberalism is to ultimately fix the political conditions which is significant for personal freedom. Using this idea, Judith Shklar further demonstrates her views on liberalism by comparing liberalism of fear and other types of liberalism in her essay ( such as John Locked John Stuart Mill) . Judith Shklar believes that John Locke’s liberalism of natural rights is simply an attempt to fulfill an determined standard order “The liberalism of natural rights envisages a just society composed of politically sturdy citizens, each able and willing to stand up for himself and others” (26-27).

From the cooperation among civilians by a division of labor, to the limitations of government in an effort to achieve a free and competitive market, to the prioritization of the individual profit motive and accumulation of personal wealth, Smith argues that society can succeed in such an environment. Even though Smith’s economic platform revolved around a pre-Industrial Revolution era, his solutions to economic prosperity via the free economy allowed for an adaptable and flexible system. Nowadays, the idea of pursuing one’s own self interest is viewed as narcissistic, and oftentimes overlooked due to the accumulation of personal wealth. Government regulations force wealthy individuals to give a higher portion of their wealth for the betterment of the society, which some may view as unproportionable to their benefits from living in society. Simpler, fairer ways of devising a tax regulation have been proven to promote economic growth, however the current economic platform is seen to be arbitrary and obscure.

Liberal Democracy is a democratic system of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law. The word democracy is greek, the word “demos” means people and “kratos” means power. The idea of liberalism first began in the 1600’s with John Locke as he believed that the people should be allowed to remove the government currently ruling when they have misused their power for ulterior motives. Although the seed was planted in the 1600’s, liberal democracy only properly took form in the 1840’s in Canada. Australia and New Zealand followed not long after as they began to use the secret ballot system to elect political leaders.

Liberalism Life Liberalism is an economic and political philosophy, that implied the absence of government; limiting the development of an individual. In Liberalism, you are born free and only see improvement from there on. This has had a heavy effect on the middle-class. Liberals are just some of the people who get the downfall of liberalism. Liberals come from many different work environments all the way from merchants to the wealthy lawyers everyone has felt the impact of liberalism in politics.