1 Social 30 Unit 2 Part 1: Foundations of Classical Liberalism

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the historical origins, key thinkers, societal shifts, and core principles of classical liberalism from Social 30 Unit 2 (Chapter 3).

Liberalism

A collection of ideologies committed to the principle of the dignity and freedom of the individual as the foundation for society, characterized by faith in human progress, decentralized political and economic power, and respect for the sovereignty of the reasoning individual.

Classical Liberalism

An ideology based on original liberal principles advocating individual rights and freedoms, human rationality, economic freedom, civil liberties, and a government role strictly limited to maintaining security and the rule of law.

Free Market

An economic system that operates with limited government intervention and relies on the decentralized decisions and choices of rational individuals pursuing their own self-interest.

Humanist

A thinker who believes in the supremacy of individual reason over religious faith and develops beliefs concerning human nature, social structure, and life purpose founded on reason rather than religion.

Radical

An extreme and revolutionary political or ideological stance that seeks fundamental change by rejecting the established political and economic traditions of the past.

Reactionary

A political stance that tends to oppose change, frequently idealizing the past and accepting established economic inequality.

Separation of Powers

The constitutional distribution of government authority into three distinct branches—executive, legislative, and judicial—that remain separate yet interdependent to ensure no single body attains excessive power.

Haudenosaunee Confederacy

An alliance formed between $1400$ and $1600$ by five Indigenous nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later joined by the Tuscarora) united under a democratic council system to maintain peace and harmony.

Great Law of Peace

The oral constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy that divided governmental power, granted equal political participation to both men and women, and guaranteed individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion.

Baron de Montesquieu

A French Enlightenment philosopher ($1689\text{--}1755$) who argued for individual equality, government accountability, and a democratic structure dividing power across executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Intolerable Acts

A series of punitive laws enacted by the British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party that imposed harsh restrictions on the American colonies, including closing Boston Harbour and outlawing town meetings.

American Constitution

The supreme legal framework of the United States established in $1787$, consisting of seven articles that codify the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches as well as federal-state relations.

American Bill of Rights

The initial $10$ amendments incorporated into the United States Constitution that formally guarantee fundamental civil liberties, such as free speech, fair trial protections, and security against unreasonable search and seizure.

Feudal System

A pre-industrial European socioeconomic order in which all land belonged to the monarch, who granted fiefs to lords in exchange for military aid, who then leased land to knights, under whom peasant serfs provided agrarian labor in return for protection.

Class System in Britain in the 1800s

The social stratification model formed during the Industrial Revolution consisting of the Upper Class (wealthy landowning nobility), the Middle Class (business owners, merchants, bankers), and the Working Class (manual factory and agricultural labourers).

Adam Smith

A Scottish political economist ($1723\text{--}1790$) widely recognized as the 'Father of Economics' who authored The Wealth of Nations ($1776$), challenging mercantilism and championing free-market capitalism.

The Invisible Hand

An economic metaphor formulated by Adam Smith describing how self-interested individuals unwittingly benefit society as a whole by generating employment opportunities and providing competitive goods.

Laissez-faire Capitalism

An economic theory and system wherein the state maintains a hands-off approach toward trade, production, and commerce, permitting market prices and wages to be driven naturally by supply and demand.

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement of the $16\text{th}$ and $17\text{th}$ centuries that challenged the Catholic Church's centralized hierarchy and corruption, catalyzing individualism, the breakdown of feudalism, and urban growth.

Rule of Law

A primary principle of liberalism maintaining that every individual, regardless of rank or status, is equally subject to publicly disclosed, constitutionally bound laws.