The week in our class, we learned about the major political ideologies of the 19th century and how they affected social and political structures. Students were assigned into groups of about four in each group. Each group made short presentations or skits about their topic. Two groups were assigned the same topic. Each group made a presentation, and the two groups with the same ideology went and the rest of the class decided on who's was better in a 'showdown'. The three major ideologies were liberalism, conservatism, and nationalism. My group made common craft video. Other groups used chatterpix and one group did a live skit. All of the presentations helped further the students' understanding of the 19th century ideologies.
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Our group had the ideology of conservatism. Our common craft video introduced the ideology of conservatism. Conservatism supports the keeping of traditional and political structures such as the church system, education system, and he way the government is set up. Conservatives were against the ideas of revolutions because they thought it lead to violence resulting in chaos and blood shed. They were looking to preserve a system of aristocracy, where there are set social structures with a traditional monarchy that set them up. Our common craft video explained the meaning of conservatism while it related and used that to the way things were run. For instance, the reason why conservatives feared revolution was because of the French Revolution that had previously happened. The French Revolution had such violence like the guillotine, Versailles and the capturing of Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette and bringing them back to Paris, and the storming of the Bastille. Conservatives did not want this to happen again so they didn't want change at all. Also, they believed in set social structures because they were afraid that if the government wasn't in control, then things in the country would cause an economy to drop, which had happened in many countries. With a conservative government, a monarch would be at the top. Social structures would be in place so work and class was already assigned. Conservatives cared all about the individual rights, protect free choice, and allow people to do what best for themselves but not for the good of all or for the nation. Conservatism still exists today but has changed drastically in many ways.
The other two major ideologies were liberalism and nationalism. 19th century Liberalism was the middle class telling the aristocracy that they have to give to all and the greater majority will benefit rather than the individual. The middle class should have a say in how the government is run. Now, they do believe everyone has given individual rights. Unlike today, 'everyone' did not include the poor or women. Liberals called for reforms on aristocracy because they were unhappy with the way things were run and were unhappy with the set social classes. They believed in the idea of the harder you work, the more you make and your class can change. They also believed in the ending of traditional privileges from the church so that the middle class could have a say. People like John Locke and Adam Smith believed all have god given natural rights at birth that men could discern through the use of reason. Liberals are always open minded and looking for a solution to a problem for all. Nationalism has the unity of culture, language, and history. They should all unite under one government. They wanted to thrive out foreign rulers. For example, all of the small German states had the same language and culture so nationalists thought it would be a better nation if they could unite under one country of Germany. This was urged by nationalist philosophers Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Also, philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel argued that every nation has a role to play in the unfolding of the universe. Now, today, mostly liberalism and conservatism have changed. Liberals today in government are usually democrats who believe in equality for the middle class, the poor, and women. They are less concerned about the rich because the middle class in America is about 98% of American families. They also believe in who is more reasonable to do more. For example, with taxes today, Liberals believe in he fact that the rich who are not working and not looking for work should be paying the more. The middle class should pay but less than the rich. They also believe that the poor are provided with programs and are usually taxed but at a very low rate. Conservatives today have changed as well. Today, they seem to want the power to actually change things. Right now in the U.S. government, especially in the House of representatives, there is a partisan gridlock that will not break between liberals and conservatives and very little gets done. If you ask me what side I belong to, I would say liberal or democrat today but that doesn't change the fact that I believe in both liberalism and some conservatism.
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