Historical Development of the European Ideas that eventually formed Classical Liberalism

By hobgoblin
  • Jan 1, 1400

    The Renaissance (14th to 16th centuries)

    • awareness of individualism
    • growth of secularism
    • humanism
  • Jan 1, 1517

    Protestant Reformation

  • American Revolution

  • French Revolution

  • The Enlightenment (18th Century)

    • the Age of Reason (acceptance of the power of human reason)
    • the worth of the individual
    • natural and inalienable rights
    • deomcratic values
    • authority rests with the people, not the ruler

  • The Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th centuries)

    • the power of the market
    • individual reward for individual initiative
    • freedom to pursue personal wealth
    • individual responsibility for success or failure
    • progress, inventiveness, innovation, efficiency

  • Liberalism

    a movement born out of the ideas of the Enlightenment (political parent) and the Industrial Revolution (economic parent)