History of the Conservative Movement

Puritan society believed strongly in myth, magic, and religious superstitions that was immensely used by the Puritans before democracy, capitalism, and the scientific revolution gave rise from the Enlightenment period. First, the religious philosophies between these ages of thinking were very radical for their time in history which eventually discarded the old ideas and beliefs of Puritanism into more modern ideas and reasoning of the Enlightenment. Writing was a principle of social philosophy that both ages conflicted with due to the differences of how and what they wrote about religion. In John Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, he wrote and instilled fear to those who were thinking of moving away from Puritan teachings by saying that God will have wrath to those who didn’t glorify him which caused some Puritans to revert to the old teachings rather than the new ideas of religion. On the contrary, writings ... ... middle of paper ... ...een altered since then.

Goldwater was the dream candidate of America in and around 1964. He offered a choice to move out of a capitalist system that most Americans at the time attributed the Depression to. After the Depression, Americans thought that the federal government had an obligation to protect them from those whom Franklin Roosevelt described as “malefactors of great wealth”, and wanted the government to regulate and control those financial interests. Goldwater noted that conservatives "believed the communist projection of man as a producing, consuming animal to be used and discarded was antithetical to all the Christian understandings which are the foundations upon which the Republic stands. Ronald Reagan frequently emphasized Christian values as necessary ingredients in the fight against communism.

Political ideologies such as conservative, liberal and revisionism have produced multiple perspectives surrounding the events of the French Revolution. This essay will present each ideology through analysis of causes and effects of the French Revolution. The characteristics of the conservative ideology made the aristocratic and clergy members of French society hostile to the rapidly changing politics. On June 17 1789, the Third Estate drafted a constitution and created the “National Assembly” in response to being locked out of the regular meeting of the Estates Generals (Doyle, 2002). The pressure of the National Assembly forced the compliance of Louis XVI to change the votes to count individuals and not classes.

Introduction The French Revolution was nothing less than any revolution before or anyone after it: radical change in the institution that was known as the ordinary lifestyle. What began as a dispute between the people and the monarchy quickly turned into a violent and demandingly rapid movement to change the government that was more representative of the people of France. With many examples around them, the French people had many examples and inspiration that motivated them to revolt. The British had lived with some governmental relief knowing that the Monarchy had not all the power with Parliament making some of the major decisions. Across the Atlantic, the Americans had already begun and ended their revolution, becoming a nation independent of Great Britain.

During the late 18th century, both France and the British colonies in America experienced wars the opened the eyes of nations. The French Revolution and American Revolution drastically changed political thinking. In the French Revolution, monarchism was abandoned and political power was given to the people until the country became out of control, and a military dictatorship was necessary to regain control of France. In the American Revolution, a new nation was formed as the British colonies tore themselves away from the English monarchy. In the end, both France and the new United States of America moved away from absolute rule by a king or queen and wanted to put the political power in the hands of their people.

Colonists’ political thought was a confusing and uneasy mix of Scottish common sense philosophy, Enlightenment thought, English law, Puritan thinking, and the unique experience of colonial life. With Enlightenment, they came up with political ideas centering around John Locke. They stated that when the British government took away their liberties, the British had severed the political bonds that tied America and Britain together. The Americans believed in representation, contractual government, and natural rights. Radical English thought was distributed in America and American political thought was enthusiastically distributed throughout Britain by the radicals.

Democratic representatives scream about "right-wing conspiracy" while radio talk shows lament the evil of "liberal agenda." News broadcasters are branded as "chauvinist conservatives" by Hollywood pundits or "liberal bigots" by Christian broadcasting. Everywhere someone is firing the label gun plastering liberal or conservative on their opponents and many Americans are scratching their heads trying to understand the division and difference between both. Liberalism, formed in the latter part of the 18th Century from opposition to existing political monarchies in Europe, was based on rights of individuals and the responsibility of government to protect those rights. Conservative philosophy was born as a reaction to dangerous tendencies detected within the liberal movement toward excessive governmental control.

President Adams requested Congress to to create a navy because the protecting American commerce was the top priority (Magill 46). Adams was in an unofficial war with France: Quasi War. Yet in the meantime, peace negotiations were also being held in France. In the Convention of 1800 or Treaty of Mortefontaine, peace was restored between America and France ("Milestones: 1784–1800 - Office of the Historian”). Adams’ goal was avoiding full scale with France, however his own party: the Federalists, supported war against France.

The 1950 values of anti-communism, conservatism, conformity, and consensus took root in the 1940s as American began to reject the liberalism of the 1930s. World War II brought about the change from the 1930s to the 1940s. After the war concluded American society started to morph completely. The era of the 30s was know for its extreme liberalism in all aspects of nation; it penetrated American politics, economics, and culture. However after WWII, this widespread liberalism was flipped on its head, and in the 50s, it was completely replaced by radical conservatism due to the excessive anti-communistic sentiment of America.

This conservative movement blended the elements of libertarianism and traditional conservatism. However, many historians have associated the emergence of the modern conservative movement with the New Deal. One of the most important elements of the conservative movement in 1950s is that it was an anti-communist group. This was experienced in the 1950s when North Korea, which embraces communism, attacked South Korea. Truman, who was the president at that time, tried liberate South Korea by force without obtaining the approval of the congress.