American Liberalism

The idea of Liberalism, especially in the United States, is centered about the unalienable rights of an individual such as the freedoms found in the United States Bill of Rights. In the book, The Strange Death of American Liberalism by H.W. Brands, Brands says that liberalism in the United States could only survive during times of war. The United States retreats into liberalism when there is a war going on and they need the federal government’s assistance. On the other hand, the book, Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals by Marcus G. Raskin, argued that there was no escaping from liberalism. According to Raskin, liberalism has not faded into history like many people think. Liberalism is important in the United States because it drives the country along with conservatism.

In the United States, liberalism is focused on the voting rights for all adult citizens, equal rights, protection of the environment, and the terms by the government in regard to education, health care, building the highways and canals, food for the hungry as well as providing shelter for the homeless. Liberalism is also focused on the freedoms in the Bill of Rights like the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right of due process and equality under the law, as well as the separation of church and state. The idea of modern liberalism, however, started in the 1930s with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal.

To understand the idea of modern liberalism, one must first understand where the idea of liberalism came from. Liberalism was formed from the New Deal that was proposed by President Roosevelt as a way to produce the ideas of relief, recovery, and reform after the Great Depression. To relieve the population that ...

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...s pointed out in his books that liberalism was only a consequence of the Cold War, needed by the American people when they felt the most vulnerable. Whereas, Raskin pointed out that liberalism was intertwined with modern democracy and it was essential for a nation where it was not afraid to trust in the good moral of people. In all though, both books proved the liberalism was a means that helped shape the America of today. Whether or not liberalism is best served to the American people during war or if it is still thriving is a question that will remain as long as democracy is the choice of government in the United States.

Works Cited

Brands, H. W. Strange Death of American Liberalism. 1st ed. Yale University Press, 2001. Print.

Raskin, Marcus G. Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003. Print.