Liberalism in Transition

By the middle of the 19th century, liberal thought had acquired powerful advocates in Europe and in the United States. Europeans considered the United States an exemplar of liberalism because of its popular culture, emphasis on equality, and wide suffrage. However, most 19th-century liberals feared mass participation in politics, believing that the so-called lower classes were indifferent to freedom and hostile to the expression of diversity. As suffrage expanded, many liberals became concerned with preserving the individual values that they identified with an aristocratic social and political order.