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These changes can be political or economic; however the change that is most conscious in the populations mind is that of social change. Equality was an important issue in many countries, especially Britain and America between the 1850’s to 1950’s and feminism and race equality major issues campaigned for. There was a major political idea behind the want for these changes, liberalism. Political ideas change and adapt their perceptions of the social and political world through the years to cope with all changing aspects of life. Liberalism is no different. It is these changes that allow the idea to maintain its identity. Sometimes it is hard for some political ideas to adapt and change for instance the divine monarchists. Liberalism goes back at least 300years; this means that it has had to change a great deal, the ideas behind the ideology have remained the same though. Liberalism started attacking the monarchy in Britain but soon moved on to social change. This relates back to the heart of liberalism, the concept of the individual. This can be difficult because ‘man is born free, but everywhere in chains’ (- Jean-Jaques Rousseau). Liberalism was a political idea adopted by many countries during the 19th and 20th century and has been the source of many economic and social policies. Liberalism believes that each person should be free to act as they wish, it also believes that each individual deserves respect no matter of race, religion, sexual preference, or social status. Most liberals believe that the government is detrimental to liberalism’s beliefs because it does not allow everyone to be an individual since laws are in place to limit freedom. John Locke advocated this when he attacked the government saying ‘no government allows absolute liberty”. This is true because if no laws were in place then absolute liberty would soon be replaced by anarchy. Liberalism not only influenced equality but it was the basic idea behind the United States of America constitution. This was easy for the American governments to adopt because unlike other countries, it did not have to contend with aristocratic traditions and institutions. Its New Plan policy was perhaps the first step in which America moved away from liberal principles. This was to protect Americans from overpowering economic groups and from problems that have occurred through no fault of their own (e.g. old age and unemployment). The Supreme Court in America at first fought against this proposed plan because it was thought that a policy of this kind would be going against the constitution because it was proposing state intervention. Britain adopted this political theory as much as it could. However some people find it difficult to distinguish between socialist policies and liberal policies. Laissez-faire was the most notable liberal policy associated with Britain. This was a classic liberal negative economic approach leaning towards non-intervention of the state in economic problems. This was unpopular in the 19th century when industrial capitalism was in its development. It was believed that the lack of state intervention was to protect the interests of powerful economic groups. This policy led to the development of positive liberalism. This attitude is one for positive intervention of state to eliminate economic monopoly, unemployment and poverty. It was believed that without state help these problems could not be eliminated. Liberal theories also influenced the British government’s reluctance to intervene in the time of the 1930’s depression. This split the liberals into two sides, the ones who thought that Britain would not be able to survive the depression if state didn’t intervene and the ones who thought that state intervention wasn’t needed. The unification of Italy was also based on a liberal theory. As was the fight for race and gender equality in Britain and America. The changes that each of theses causes brought to society was a step further into liberalism and into an equal society. Feminism is a movement for social, political and educational equality and change. Britain and America were seen as the pacesetters for feminism. This was because many other countries did not participate in the movement for equality until much later on in the 20th century Feminists campaigned for a vast variety of causes, from access to education, the right to obtain contraception or have an abortion. The right to have the vote is the main cause associated with feminism and was mainly seen as a political change, it was though developed from social struggle. This was because, since women did not have the right to vote they had no influence on common law, work related laws and contract laws to name but a few. It was thought that if this huge political struggle was won the perception of women as second class citizens would wane and equality prevail. The feminist movement can be traced back to the 18th century in the intellectual works of Mary Wollstonecraft. However before the late 19th century, social attitudes were not challenged in mass. In the late 1850’s women were still held to be the inferior sex, dependant on their fathers and then their husbands in both Britain and America. In the 19th century the marital rate was very high. Approx. 87%of the British population wed and only 10% of women did not marry in America. This seems to reinforce the fact that it was very difficult for women to remain economically stable if not married. This was because since women were prevented form gaining a good education they could not obtain a high-income job since this usually required academic success. It was also nearly the only way, in which a woman could have a child, since it was almost completely unacceptable for a woman to conceive outside of wedlock. The marital and property laws supported the idea that women were the inferior sex. When a woman married she lost all legal status. All wealth passed to their husbands; if they worked the money belonged to the husband. Even the common and contract law was the same. Women couldn’t posses land, clothing, run a business, sign documents, even the children were the property of the husband. The Matrimonial Clauses Act of 1857 allowed only the men the right to divorce, after the divorce it was up to the man how often the wife could see the children if at all. In 1865 the Kensington Society was formed. This was the first recognised movement for equality. The society consisted of just 11 women; they attempted to change the Reform Act with he help of Henry Fawcett and John Stuart Mill MP. This attempt to amend the Reform Act to allow women the right to vote failed. The Kensington Society didn’t however, because the feminist movement was soon taken up by many more people and for the first time in British history changes started to occur. The 1870 Married Women’s Property Act allowed women to keep their own earnings, personal property and money under £200 bequeathed to them. Elizabeth Wolstenholm Elmy who was on the Married Women’s Property committee helped this along. In America women were given legal status when married in 1848 under the Women’s Property Act. This Act meant that married women were able to acquire and retain assets independently of their husbands. This however, was only in New York, but soon after other states passed similar laws. Education was a large issue for the feminist movement. Education meant a higher standing in society, better access to jobs and an ability to gain entry into the world of politics. Mary Wollstonecraft attacked educational restrictions, condemning them as a way to keep women in a ‘state of ignorance and dependant on men’. Many feminists agreed with this, since any education that girls could receive concentrated mainly on music and art. Girls were educated in a variety of informal ways from factory schools for factory workers to home teaching from parents to fee-paying schools run by older women. A few feminists decided to challenge the inability to be educated properly by starting up their own schools. Schools like North London Collegiate School for Ladies and Cheltenham Ladies College allowed women to get the sort of education needed to have academic careers. This was all well and good but still it was very difficult for women to gain university standard education. This was helped in 1870 when Emily Davis and Barbara Bodichon helped set up Girton college, the first university for women. This was however not recognised as a university by the education boards and therefore not recognised by professions. As the feminist movement progressed the government began to take more notice of the wants and desires of more than half the population. The construction of the state education system from 1870 to 1914 seemed to be in response to the campaigns of women, however domestic skills were still taught to girls to pacify the men who feared that Britain might be in moral decline. This was important for the government to do since it wasn’t until 1918 when women got the vote, so they had no real influence on elections or politics. All in all the state education system didn’t really effect female pupils that much, since in 1910 there was only just over 1,000 female pupils attending Oxford and Cambridge universities and for each lecture permission had to be granted by the lecturer. Degrees were still not allowed to be taken. In America the ability to gain education was far superior. In 1850 11,000 women were in institutes of higher learning. 1/3 of enrolees in colleges were women in 1880 rising to 283,000 in 1920. Britain lagged seriously behind with only London universities granting women a degree in this time and only 784 enrolees in Britain in 1897 In the 19th century it wasn’t expected for middle or upper class women to earn a living. Working class women on the other hand were usually expected to work in factories. In 1900 there were only 200 female doctors and in 1910 women were still unable to obtain jobs in the justice system or politics. Teaching was the one profession in which women dominated. This however, was a low status job with even lower pay. This was the same in America, even though they had a higher standard of education many women went into teaching the few years prior to them settling down with a family. Even after women were accepted in the predominantly male careers, they were still discriminated against, this time in the form of pay. Many of the women’s, male counterparts received a substantially higher wage even though they may be doing exactly the same job. In 1963 this was realised in America, due to the commission on the status of women. It was then passed that it was illegal to pay different wages for men and women who performed the same job. This law and many others have been passed, trying to get men and women’s income equal, they have succeeded somewhat but in 1995 women only earned 71.4%of what men earned. Birth control was another issue campaigned for. In the 19th century the average woman gave birth to 6 children, over 35% gave birth to 8 or more children. Birth control was not openly advocated in the 19th century because it was seen to be interfering with Gods will. In 1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh published ‘The Fruits of Philosophy’. This was a book specifically advocating birth control and the practice of voluntary motherhood, saying that women should be able to control their own bodies and refrain from having more children if they so wish. They were arrested for publishing ‘obscene libel’. In their defence they said that ‘we think it is more moral to prevent conception of children than, after they are born, to murder them by want of food, air and clothing. After this many other books were published advocating birth control, this angered many people especially Roman Catholics who believed that contraception was totally wrong because it was interfering with the sanctity of children. This did not stop Marie Stopes from founding the Society for Constructive Birth Control and opening the first birth control clinic in 1921. Also women didn’t have the right to refuse their husbands sexual intercourse. Both in America and Britain feminists campaigned for a change in the law, which acknowledged marital rape. In America Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman were the first to openly advocate both the right to refuse a husband sexual intercourse and contraception. Like Besant and Bradlaugh in Britain criminal charges were brought against them. The charges were dropped when public opinion swayed in their favour. Sanger went on to found the American Birth Control League in 1921. The league later overturned the Comstock Law (1873) in 1938 that forbade any publication of information related to birth control. Feminists in both Britain and America campaigned for the right to have an abortion. Even though abortions were outlawed in both countries, they still happened in unsanitary conditions, which also put the life of the woman at risk also. Both governments recognised this fact but because of popular opinion on the subject of abortion no law was changed for some time. In America it was decided that state could not restrict abortion until the foetus was viable, this was not considered wholly satisfactory but as time went on public opinion changed and abortions were made legal in both countries. The campaign for the vote was to gain political representation in both countries. Before 1918 (when women over 30 were allowed to vote in Britain) almost no thought had been given to the plight of women. It wasn’t until the formation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) that the government finally took notice of the desires of women. Even though the NUWSS campaigned incessantly, their approach of passive campaigning didn’t inspire many other women to join. The WSPU changed this. The Women’s Social and Political Union used violence as well as desecrating public and private property to make their voice heard. This worked to some extent because much media coverage was given, but also their increasingly violent outbursts, in part led a liberal bill for women to be granted the vote being turned down. In 1928 after much campaigning women aged 18+ were granted the vote. This led to political representation for women and the passing of laws such as the Equal Pay Act and other laws making the discrimination of women illegal. Britain also had their first female Prime Minister. The fight for equality occurred in many countries. America was the leader in the movement for race equality; it was labelled the civil rights movement. During the civil rights movement many changes occurred for the minorities of America, these were similar to the changes for women in the suffragette movement. However there was much more opposition to the civil rights movement, almost always violent or political. Segregation was a very important aspect of the lack of basic civil rights for blacks in America. Segregation worked to keep down the black community and separate the races in every sphere of life. Segregation (or the Jim Crow system as it was better known) was stringently adhered to in the South (a little less in the North). This segregation was in complete contrast of the liberal theories, which set up the constitution and the amendments it made to allow freedom. The segregation of America went against the Civil Rights Act 1875, so as to avoid the labelling of an unconstitutional government the Supreme Court ruled in The Plessy v Ferguson (1896) case that ‘separate but equal’ places were fine. This wasn’t the case, separate never meant equal. Education, just like for women was a very important aspect of life that blacks wanted to change. Education before the civil rights movement was very poor and very difficult to obtain. It was believed that slaves were the property of the employer since they were bought and sold in almost the same way as houses and furniture. This meant that it was up to the employer what sort of education they were to obtain, if any at all. Of the few schools allowed for the black students the quality of information they received was inadequate. Schools did not aspire too much since they were poorly funded schools and had poorly educated teachers. Even after slavery was abolished in 1830’s education did not change a great deal. The lack of education for the black Americans meant that it was difficult to find jobs and achieve higher things in life. This meant that is the fight for equality was going to be successful then desegregation was the only was forward. Desegregation started in the 1930’s. The influence of blacks rights organisations such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured people) helped force the government (Roosevelt at the time) to allow access for blacks into a well know law school. This meant that the education the community had desperately wanted was in their grasp. This also meant that they would be able to fight for the cause through the legal system. Since the NAACP had gained knowledge of the law they were able to set up the NAACP legal defence fund. With this fund they won the case of Smith v Allwright (1944). This case was a milestone since it outlawed desegregation of primary schools. This meant that black children had access to better education in the properly funded former white schools. Even after the Brown v Board ruling in 1954, which outlawed all segregated schools. This desegregation was only in theory for some schools because racially segregated communities meant that they did not attend former white schools. This meant that the work done by the NAACP was negate because the new found adequate education for black children wasn’t being used and many stayed in the poorly funded schools. Schools did try to solve this problem by introducing buses for students for the outside neighbourhoods. Also to add to the limited power of the outcome of the Brown case much opposition was encountered. This opposition to desegregated schools came to a head in 1957 when Governor Orval Faubus would not admit 9 black students to Central High School. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Arkansas to enforce desegregation. The changes that occurred to the American education system were fast and abrupt, allowing little time for adjustments to be made by the community. Thus meaning that it could be seen to be doomed from the start, this was shown in the rise of members for the Ku Klux Klan shortly after desegregation started. There were good things about the desegregation of schools however, since it allowed black children the right to a fair and adequate education. Education wasn’t the only area in which segregation and racial inequality reigned, it happened in almost all daily activities. Libraries were segregated not only to stop races mixing but also to maintain the lack of education blacks received. Interracial marriages were forbidden ‘a white person may not marry a Negro or mulatto or person who shall have one eighth or more Negro blood’, this was classed as a misdemeanour and could mean imprisonment. Separate graveyards, prisons; ticket offices for things such as circuses, toilets, restaurants, transportation and shops. It was also illegal for mixed race baseball matches and pool games. Jobs were also segregated for a long time. Most Southern blacks had rural jobs (1890 – 85%). This meant that they had to do very strenuous work for 10-12 hrs a day on very little money. Since it was very easy for an accident to happen they had a very short career life. This meant that black families in the South and some in the North had extremely low standards of living, since they only had enough money to get by on. Many blacks, believing it would be easier to get jobs in the North moved. However the jobs in the North were heavily fought for since European immigrants were looking for work to. The racism still ever present in the whole of America meant that most of the time the immigrants got the jobs. This was to change in World War I because all jobs vacated by the men fighting had to be filled somehow. This was a huge opportunity for the black community because it meant that they were given the opportunity to prove themselves able to perform many different types of jobs. The impact this had on the community wasn’t so great as to change the minds of many people. It was in World War II that black citizens were given the chance to work in industries they had never been in before. It was the threat of protest, which was a major influence on the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) being established by president Roosevelt. This committee was to enforce fair employment. This didn’t work but did give confidence to the civil rights organisations that now believed the government was behind them again. World War II helped the civil rights movement greatly. This was because although segregation was still in place in the armed forces until 1948, one-eighth of the US army comprised of black Americans. Even though a large number of these were put into non-combat roles the ones who fought on the front line gained the respect of many other white soldiers for their patriotism. During the years of the war many blacks were trained as pilots, before the war this would be unthinkable since it was a privileged job. Unlike World War I where the civil rights situation was unaltered the second world war meant that more white people were not only against the denial of civil rights they also against the denial of job opportunities because of race. Desegregation was also campaigned for, with much media attention, for public transport. Public transport for blacks was inferior to that of whites. Many blacks were not allowed to go on white public transport so it was very difficult for them to get around, when they were allowed on public transport they were treated very rudely and with much disrespect. When an elderly black lady (Rosa Parks) refused to give up her seat and move to the Negro part of the bus she was arrested. This was the catalyst for public transport to be desegregated. A boycott was staged in local areas because of her arrest, this along with the powerful force from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) influenced many other areas of America that they could protest non-violently and get a huge amount of support. Many other groups formed to continue this from of non-violent protest. The Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC) were responsible for a sit in which protested about the separate lunch counters in schools. Even thought this may not sound like an important aspect of the civil rights movement, it was because it was fighting for the daily forms of inequality. This was a good form of protest because it would be almost impossible to bet straight to the heart of the problem; attitudes and beliefs so it was believed that minor changes would eventually mean that the main problem would be overcome. The desegregation of America was like votes for women, it wasn’t the main issue, the main issue was equality but it went someway to changing the inequality of society. It was believed that if desegregation were successful then it would go someway to changing opinions and beliefs about the race superiority. During the World War II people campaigned for the two V’s, victory over fascism in Europe and victory over racism at home. These two victories may seem worlds apart but in truth they were very close together. This was emphasised by opponents of the civil rights movement. For equality to prevail over bigotry a lot had to be achieved, this would include not just changing laws and unfair working environments, attitudes and beliefs had to be changed. This change was avidly opposed, mainly in violent forms. Lynching was a typical and popular approach taken by many opponents. During the time of the civil rights movement many blacks or supporters of the civil rights movement were lynched. During the time of the civil rights movement many blacks or supporters of the civil rights movement were lynched. Over 3,000 blacks were lynched during this time and all 64 members of the NAACP including 4 white members. This seemed to be the peak of lynching because after 1918 lynching became somewhat of a rarity, partly due to the fact that Walter White, a member of the NAACP, publicly exposed lynching and the lack of investigation into these attacks. The main organisation, which was completely opposed to civil rights for minorities especially black, was the Ku Klux Klan. This organisation was established just after the civil war and was responsible for the restoration in the 19th century of white power in the South. This government tried to suppress this terrorist organisation to protect all, American citizens by passing the Force Act in 1870 and the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1971. The Ku Klux Klan although violent did do help the civil rights movement by proving to the black community that the government were now supporting them, it also made the general public aware of the persecution on the blacks. The acts did not lessen the opposition by the Ku Klux Klan however, and in 1915 the group was established once again even though it was hailed to be unconstitutional. This time the group was fuelled by a nostalgia for the old south and patriotism, even though its membership was in excess of 4,000,000 it didn’t have the power as it once did since the most of the public were now unconvinced that the blacks were an inferior race. The civil rights movement did mean a lot of change in how black and other minorities lived and the attitudes towards them. This does not mean that the fight had ended. Up until today many activists are still campaigning for race equality. This will always be a constant struggle for both women and black citizens of any country; the reason for this is that liberty and equality can never be completely achieved, no matter how many liberal policies are adopted. Each person has the right to think, act and judge for themselves according to liberal theories. This can mean that bigotry and prejudice are as closely protected as people’s rights to freedom. Liberalism, feminism and civil rights have done a lot to change and develop society however, from major things like education to the right to obtain books from a library. All these political ideas are perfect in theory but hard to adapt into modern day life, so the changes that have been made can be seen as a huge step towards a free equal society. Bibliography: Word Count: 4533
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