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Were the American founding fathers considered liberal or conservative for their time?
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this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
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That's easy. Liberals. The entire idea of not having an aristocracy and monarchy was a liberal experiment. But these aren't the liberal and conservative terms you're used to today. In their time we'd all be classified as liberals. Unless you want an oppressive aristocracy, then you'd be a conservative. Now we use the term Classical Liberalism to describe them.
I would argue that some modern conservatives very much do want an oppressive aristocracy of some sort, they just don't really own up to it. They've abandoned traditional American thinking for an even older tradition.
JD Vance has openly said so. It is their explicit aim.
I did say that. There are people who admit to wanting to restrict voting rights and enshrine a double standard in law. They are classical conservatives instead of conservative liberals inside classical liberalism. Usually around the Christian nationalist movement.