What are the origins of liberalism?
Transition from feudalism to capitalism:
- Feudalism = system of organising society through exchange of land for services; individuals
pledge their loyalty + services to someone of higher rank who promises to protect them/grant
them land in return
- Peasants had little freedom under this system: often legally bound to the land so couldn’t
move to work elsewhere (but had access to land that was held ‘in common’)
- Communities were fundamental to feudalism
- Feudal exchange of land for services had largely broken down by 18th C; replaced by
capitalism (private ownership, exchange of money for goods + services)
- Landowners increasingly charged rent/hired labourers for land rather than exchange it for
goods/services; fields that had been divided into strips for peasants to work on were
increasingly fenced off to be more efficiently farmed as larger plots
- Common land became private fenced-off land, bought + sold for profit (aided by
Parliament)
- Workers became more mobile, selling their labour to highest paying employer (often moved to
growing towns/cities by necessity); now had money to buy essentials on the open market
instead of growing/making their own
- Decline of feudal communities/obligations made it easier for people to consider themselves
individuals rather than accept that their role/position was determined by birth;
- Growth of capitalism encouraged m/c to devise new arguments to justify free market/private
property/ inequality/freedom for individuals to pursue their own self-interest
The Reformation:
- 16th C religious revolution challenging Catholic Church; led to founding of Protestantism
- Before this: few could read + most bibles/church services were in Latin so most
people were dependent on church leaders
- Reformers argued the church had become corrupt; religious leaders abused their
position for material gain (incl. sale of ‘indulgences’: people bought forgiveness for
their sins)
- Martin Luther (reformer): Bible should be the main source of spiritual authority (not
tradition/the Pope); Bible should be translated so individuals can read + interpret it for
themselves; individuals should use their own conscience (not rely on/obey religious
authorities)
- Challenge to the Catholic Church led to violence + religious wars across Europe
- Contribution to liberal ideas:
- Encouraging people to think of themselves as in control of their own destiny
contributed to growing conception of people as unique individuals
- Violence that followed encouraged liberals to advocate greater tolerance for different
religious views/ways of life
The Enlightenment:
- 18th C. philosophical movement where people began to prioritise science/reason over faith/
tradition
- Before this: knowledge largely derived from religious teachings/long-held beliefs
(workings of the universe largely attributed to God)
- Scientific revolution in 16th/17th Cs (+ development of the scientific method) led to
huge advancement in knowledge
- Society was governed for hundreds of years by belief in the Divine Right of Kings +
assumption that feudal order was determined by God; the challenge to religious
explanations/beliefs by science led to proposal of radical new secular ideas about
society/human nature/the state
, - Enlightenment thinkers began to argue the state’s authority to govern should come
from the people (not God) + that if all humans are capable of rational thought then
they are more equal that under the feudal hierarchy
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