What Is Bourgeois Individualism

Jared Nigro

Professor Rodrigue

HIS 101

March 2, 2018

American Freedom Many people would do anything to achieve their freedom and those involved in the History of American Freedom are no exception to that statement. From the period of the American Revolution to the end of the nineteenth century, American citizens fought and struggled to achieve what they have today in terms of their liberty. Our founding fathers believed every man was born with equal rights and not just one person had all the rights, like a king for instance. This idea was taken almost directly from an English philosopher who is now known as the “Father of Liberalism,” John Locke. Locke was an extremely influential man in the world of politics, government, and democracy. Believe

Bourgeois is a French word that is defined as the “characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes” (Oxford dictionaries). The idea of Bourgeois individualism means that those in the middle class began to pursue what they really want to accomplish in life. This means in terms of the workplace, in the household, or even as a representative in the majority of the government. Society long ago used to run in a vertical fashion of power (the king on top all the way down to those in poverty), now it runs horizontally in the sense that everyone is equal. Due to this and according to Bourgeois individualism, those in the middle class or frankly anywhere, can express themselves in anyway the want. This, in my opinion, leads to movements such as the civil rights movement and even the women’s

All throughout history, women never had the same amount of rights as men did. The movement started in 1848 when a group of women started asking themselves why they never received full citizenship after the Revolutionary War. Women had not gained freedom even thought they too had taken equally tremendous risks throughout those dangerous years. These group of women and a few men then signed a document known as the Declaration of Sentiments that very closely relates to the Declaration of Independence. The two formats are virtually the same, but the Declaration of Sentiments focuses on how men are stopping women while the Declaration of Independence focuses on strengthening The People. The Declaration of Sentiments is a great example of how American Freedom was shaped by considerations of gender. Women during this period did not feel as though they were included in society and decided to do something about it. Another huge part of the History of American Freedom is the issue revolving around slavery. Before the American Civil War, the southern states of the United States were mainly consisted of slaves and slave owners. This of course was a racial problem because the slaves were made up of the black population. The majority of northern citizens didn’t necessarily care about the slaves in the south but there was a group of people known as abolitionists that did. The abolitionists wanted to