Conservatism Vs Classical Liberalism

New Conservatism DBQ Beginning with John F. Kennedy in 1961 and ending with the Reagan Administration in 1989, the United States was headed by believers of a new conservatism throughout these three decades. These conservative leaders returned the country to the moral roots of its founding and prosperity following years of economic downturn, civil frustration, and foreign and domestic struggles for the nation as a whole. A new type of leader was desired for by the American people, and one emerged with the new conservatism of the late 1900s. As citizens wanted to grow and improve, they felt subject to a government that was limiting their opportunity to do so, resulting in dissatisfaction with the leaders of the nation.

Conservatives believe in limited government intervention and personal responsibility while liberals believe in increased government intervention and that the responsibility of repairing social ills lies with the government. Conservatives are pro-life, while liberals are pro-choice. Liberals are opposed to the death penalty while conservatives support it. Conservatives are in favor of a free-market system while liberals are in favor of a market system with government regulation. Despite their disagreements, conservatives and liberals seem to both agree on prison reform and the majority of foreign relations; although their ideologies may differ on how to approach these problems they both agree that these problems need to be confronted.

Barry Goldwater, a senator, writes off “Big Government” and the New Deal as a demonstration of his new conservative beliefs; he is of an affluent social position, so he is unlikely to benefit from the liberalism of the period, making him a member of Nixon’s ‘silent majority’ (Doc. 1). Milton Friedman, an economist, also criticizes the New Deal, but Friedman is employed and likely manages his money very well, meaning that he would not benefit from the New Deal policies that he criticizes, so, like Goldwater, he is part of the ‘silent majority’ and does not benefit from liberalism as much as its supporters or at all (Doc. 2). Opposition to a less religious society comes from Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority; as the founder of an organization and a Christian, Falwell doesn’t likely benefit from liberalism, and he quite obviously feels threatened by it, claiming that “…[liberals] have learned a loss of respect for human life”, influencing his new conservative beliefs (Doc. 4). Finally, the Republican Party itself criticizes the Carter administration in 1980; by definition, Republicans of the time were conservative, and the people who controlled the party were likely affluent and certainly had power in society (Doc. 5). They would not support liberalism because they did not benefit from it

In 1897, under the guidance of of president’s Willian McKinley, the United States had the victory over the Spanish and American war in 1898. During this time, the American empire invaded Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines and became a big American Imperialism in U.S history. The United States decided to make Puerto Rico and Guam became an insular area under the sovereignty of the United States, organized territory but not incorporated in the United States. Hawaii became a parts of the U.S and last Philippines had rules under by the U.S for many years before gave them the right to self-government.

Views from people such as MacArthur’s have fueled an unofficial culture war occurring in American society (Wilson 143). A divide between liberal progressives and conservatives Christians. Liberal progressives in America believe that start of life is up to one’s own individual beliefs and interpretation. The Christians believing that life begins at the point of conception and is something sacred (Wilson

Liberal ideology believe that the government is the best entity to ensure justice, equality as well as create opportunities for America. Liberals strive to protect individual’s rights, but allow the government to interfere in the social and economic aspect in American families. Liberals tend to focus on the reason criminals commit crimes, and contribute crime to poverty, unemployment, poor education as well as unequal opportunities. Liberals believe that most of the law enforcement community is focused on the poor and disqualified, and prejudices apply in the criminal justice system.

In The Rise of Conservatism in America, Story and Laurie have gathered different articles, newspaper sources, interviews, and addresses into a volume of documents that reflected the sudden increase of conservative values throughout American history. More historical figures spoke and pointed out the flaws of liberalism as it dominated the government until the early 1960s. As these documents point out the wrongs of liberalism, it also explains why the nation needed to reintroduce itself to conservatism. While both liberals and conservatives’ purpose was to find the best possible way for America to function, the conservatives sought out plans for traditionalism and in order to preserve the original wording of the United States’ democracy in response

Based on my demographic profile I would expect myself to be liberal as I am a young black protestant female. The key factors that influenced my location on the spectrum are my race, gender, religion, geographic location and my age. Women tended to be liberal for they believe that they should be the one to have the authority to decide issues that consider their body. They tend to be prochoice they tend to support the humanity and pride of all pregnant people in deciding whether they carry a pregnancy to term, how they give birth, and whether they parent the child they give birth to . More so they are firm believers of equal pay and marriage equality, these are political ideologies that are liberal in nature.

The movie “Independence Day” gives a lot of insight on how the decisions are made by the elite policy maker aka “the government officials”. These officials are influenced by many reasons for the actions they take. Some are making decisions based on their liberal ideals while others follow different ideals such as realist ideals. The clash between two different ideals in the movie showed the effectiveness of each of them. Liberal ideals are a form of an identity and they are really hard to be implemented on.

Liberalism views humans as being inherently good, and that positive behavior is reinforced through the combination of nature and nurture. Liberalism believes that individuals are not sovereign by nature and that the environment along with the systems in place contribute greatly to the problems people face. Liberals view the family as a constant evolving unit that is in desperate need of social and government support, while society needs staunch government regulation and interference to ensure fair competition and the public interest. Liberalism believes in a free market economy heavily regulated by the government to provide fairness, along with the creation of government programs to provide assistance to meet the basic human

A stable and strong middle class is important to any society, but particularly Democratic countries, since the majority of the voter base is made up of the educated middle classes. The fortunes of the middle class are tied to economic policy and the current market system, however effecting a change in economics, and therefore the middle class through policy, is a very complex process, often taking years to be fully realized. It is not simply a question of passing a new policy bill and having a change overnight. This is even truer today in an era of mass globalization where national markets are tied together by the American dollar, and the fortunes of one affects the fortunes of all, to a greater or lesser degree. Therefore to examine the policy

Classical Liberalism makes two important promises; to create a state that is free from oppression and give its citizens freedom. The United State has tried to keep true to these principles till this day, but has failed to address the detrimental effects of capitalism in our society. Many argue that classical liberalism is exactly what the founding fathers intended for America. They wanted its citizens to have civil rights, freedom, and protection, rather than a controlling monarchist system, and at first it was functionally a dream come true.

A conservative at this time would have favored tradition and critical proposals for radical social change. They believed that the government should provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Industrialization declined the popularity of conservatism in the 19th century because it strengthened the middle class and created a new industrial working class. Conservatives had to establish majorities in parliament, so they could hold power. Conservatism attempted to preserve the hierarchy of order and valued tradition over

The people of the middle class, otherwise known as the progressives at time were very strong willed

Nevertheless, Liberals believe in a moderate sum of taxation to fund social welfare programs which may limit the degree of market freedom. Liberals avoid the residual, voluntary, and family-dependent style of human services used chiefly by Conservatives to aid the ‘deserving poor’, instead relying heavily on the state to provide benefits for many; the ‘collective’ (Lightman, 2003). These