How did Liberalism challenge the Conservative Order both Politically and Economically?

From 1800 to 1850's, political and economic liberalism challenged the conservative order in Europe. Politically, the desire for constitutional government as well as extension and preservation of civil liberties drove the liberals throughout Europe. In addition, the economic liberals challenged the existing economic order by calling for laissez faire economics. Overall, the liberal movement would create a sense of instability in both Britain and the Continent.

In respect to political liberalism, the 19th century liberals call for constitutionalism and extension and preservation of civil liberties challenged the Conservative Order. Constitutionalism is the liberal belief that limited government is the best government. Rather than attempting to control the population, the government's role is to defend its border, police the population and protect the currency. According to liberalism, Constitutionalism would officially define the role of government. To ensure this, liberals called for elected diets that would have ministerial responsibilities. This means that the elected bodies would limit the arbitrary power of the executive Branch (or kings). With a government that was limited to the three areas of defense, police and protection of the currency, the government would then work on preserving the natural liberties. With such things as religious toleration and freedoms of the press and speech, the citizens of a state would have true freedom.

Obvious, this liberalism challenged the conservative order. For example, the pursuit of freedom of press and speech challenged the British Corn Laws. At the St. Peter's Field, the Anti-Corn Law League attempted to protest with an assembly. Instead of allowing for this liberty, the conservative order sent the cavalry in. The liberals illustrated this conflict in newspapers and pamphlets as the "Peterloo Massacre." In reaction to this, Parliament passed the Six acts of Parliaments as another attempt to repress these liberties. In France, the call for ministerial responsibilities eventually erupted into another French Revolution. The liberals, frustrated by the lack of ministerial responsibilities, called for more power to the legislature. This call was increased as Charles X acted arbitrarily when he allowed for the Catholic Church to take over the schools. To liberals, the attack on religious freedom was a great example of the need for ministerial responsibilities. The Liberals, in charge of the media, began to call for a popular protest against this action. Again, political liberalism challenged the existing order.


As citizens experience political liberty, the liberals wanted to work towards economic liberalism. The Economic liberals believed that any government involvement in the economy would have dire effects. The natural cycle of the economy, or the "Invisible Hand," was best controlled by the natural laws of supply and demand as well as competition. According to Malthus, if a government unnaturally involved itself in a famine or other population crisis, then the population would become unnaturally large. Once the government could not longer provide the resources it originally extended, the crisis that would ensue would be greater than the original. Later, in his Principles of the Political Economy, Ricardo challenged the government involvement in the wages. He stated that if the labor pool was too large, then the law of competition would naturally lower the standard of living for the working class because of falling wages. Then, the lower class would naturally have less children and migrate to other areas. Then, with the lessening of the existing labor pool, the iron law of wages would prevail. As Malthus and Ricardo theorized about Classical Liberal thought and the economic, the Conservative Order was threatened because of the Corn Laws in Britain. As Parliament, controlled by landed classes, passed the high tariffs on grain imports, the bread prices unnaturally rose. Therefore, the urban classes had less money to spend in the economy. The result was the landed gentry still made less money because the amount of bread sold was less, but also the bourgeoisie also suffered because the buying power of the population greatly decreased. In reaction, the liberals formed the Anti-Corn Law League in hopes to protest this movement.

An extension to Classical Liberalism was Utilitarianism. Within this movement, the idea of civil liberties was most important. But also, the Utilitarians believed that the government should pass laws that provided the greatest amount of benefit for the greatest amount of people. John Stuart Mills illustrated this in his On Liberty. He believed that the government's role included supporting the public works and protecting civil liberties. For example, the Poor Laws were established in hopes to encourage the working class. Since they lacked a work ethic, then they should be put into a Poor House if they could not pay their debts. Then, if they lived in horrible conditions, they naturally would work harder to get out. Then, the workers and owners would eventually benefit with a greater work ethic developing. Another example of a utilitarian law is the 10 Hours Act. Workers benefited because of less hours; owners benefited because of better productivity. Utilitarianism challenged conservatism because it forced the government to rethink its position in the urban areas.

As Classical Liberalism and Utilitarianism expanded, the Conservative Order was challenged. By the 1830's, the conservative British government was forced to recognize more civil liberties, involve itself in regulating factories and urban areas, as well as attempt to expand suffrage. In France, when the government failed to recognize liberal changes, France saw revolutions in 1830 and 1848. Liberalism was a great challenge for 19th century conservatism.