Liberalism

• Liberalism in the 19th century is different from what we think of as liberal today. 
• Liberals of the 19th century tend to focus on being secular and they tend to focus on the idea of progress and that progress is the goal of a society. 
• England
• They had elections in 1830. These elections weakened the conservative control in the House of Commons
• Split into the House of Commons and House of Lords
• Lords - many aristocrats and people who came up with the middle class
• Commons - wealthy 
• More liberals in the House of Commons. 
• Liberals win the elections in 1830. 
• The House of Lords is freaked out by this.  They don't want to deal with the liberals in the House of Commons. 
• They go to the king, asking him to increase the size of the nobility. 
• King William threatens that if they don't work together then he is going to make some men in the House of Commons, Lords 
• Settled with the Reform Bill of 1842
• Doubled amount of voters in England. 
• 1830-1838
• Things are relatively okay. 
• Corn and grain distribution is still a concern. 
• 1845
• Potato famine hit in Ireland. 
• Peasants were mainly affected. 
• Robert Peel pushed for reform because he saw that if they did not reform the balance between the wealthy and poor in England, then there would be a revolution like the one that happened in France. 
• Corn laws were repealed, but he lost his seat as Prime Minister. 
• 1848-1851
• As a result of the potato famine, many Irish leave Ireland and go to the United States. 
• It broke apart families. It forced people into new situations and changed the face of the United States. 
• Chartist Movement
• Tried to feed off of a lot of this reform anxiety. 
• Supportive of getting rid of the Corn Laws. 
• Really wanted a national charter, which would be presented in a petition to the Parliament, to reach their #1 goal.  
• #1 goal was universal human suffrage in England, meaning the right of everyone to vote. 
• Conservatives are against universal human suffrage. The conservatives want to keep all the power because they are the nobility and they have a strong connection with the monarchy. 
• Liberals are for it 
• France
• Charles X dissolved his government and called new elections
• If one group does not like what the leader is doing, then they can call a Vote of No Confidence. 
• The leader then has to dissolve the government and have elections for new ones. 
• In 1830, this happened and the liberals won the election. 
• Charles X is unhappy about this because he is a conservative. 
• He dissolves the newly elected government before it even comes in. 
• This caused problems. 
• Liberals were very upset. Mobs were formed in the streets, the soldiers finally refused to defend the king, and Charles had to abdicate the throne. He flees France and is exiled in England. 
• Louis Phillipe becomes the new constitutional monarch. 
• He is the Duke of Orleans. Aristocrat, conservative, and related to Charles X. 
• He ends up having a relatively peaceful reign for the next 18 years. 
• His reign was referred to as the "July Monarchy"
• His nickname was "The Orleanist."
• During his reign he tried to at least deal with the cares and anxieties of the people. 
• Brings out the tricolor flag (flag of the revolution) as the official flag of France. 
• Rising middle class. 
• The Bourgeoisie (upper middle class) are happy. They're the ones making money and living comfortably. They are not going to revolt. 
• Meanwhile the liberals and reformers in France are not too happy. 
• They see it as a conservative government trying to make themselves look more liberal so there would not be uprisings in the street. 
• Side note: democrat in France and England at this time meant people who wanted universal suffrage.
• Liberal is a political philosophy. democrat specifically relates to someone who wants universal suffrage.  
• 1848
• Pg. 167 in Kaplan
• Year known for revolutions in Europe.