Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present

The use the terms “Left” and “Right” as descriptors for political liberals and conservatives is of relatively recent origin. It wasn’t until the French Revolution in 1789 that such notions acquired any meaning. Before that time, France and most of Europe were governed by absolute monarchs whose actions were guided solely by their whims, and no one else was consulted in the decision-making process. However, this method changed irrevocably with the French Revolution. The first meeting of the National Assembly was conducted in a room that did not allow for a circular seating pattern; instead, delegates were required to sit either on the left side or the right side of the chamber, and political sympathies soon determined which side one occupied. Those loyal to the crown and to the aristocracy sat on the right, while those who wanted greater liberty and representation by the people sat on the left. A description by one conservative attendee, Baron de Gauville, encapsulated the dilemma when he stated, “We began to recognize each other: those who were loyal to religion and the king took up positions to the right of the chair to avoid the shouts, oaths, and indecencies that enjoyed free rein in the opposing camp” (Hodgson, Geoffrey M. Wrong Turnings: How the Left Got Lost. University of Chicago Press, 2018, p. 32).

Initially, the political aspirations of those who sat on the left were far humbler than an ambition to overthrow the government itself. At the outset, they simply wanted a voice in the decision-making process. However, as the 19th century advanced and the revolution was replaced by mixed forms of government in France, the Left became identified with a republic, while the Right was equated with monarchy. The Right also upheld the authority of the church, while the Left grew more secular and anti-clerical. Over time, France and Europe crystallized their political affiliations around the question of social class, with the Left favoring an egalitarian society while the Right preferred an aristocratic hierarchy.

The Left-Right divide in the United States initially defined itself by social policies that were progressive or conservative, respectively, and the Civil War redefined party affiliations based on the heated issue of race relations. The Democratic party would eventually be identified with liberal policies, and those who advocated for racial and gender equality, secularism, and a strong central government would be labeled “the Left.” By contrast, “the Right” in the United States consisted of those who upheld traditional family values, states’ rights, religiosity, and unregulated capitalism. Both the Left and the Right contained subgroups and factions that held extreme positions on each of these issues. These subgroups would be labeled “Far Left” and “Far Right.” Likewise, voters who did not wholly identify with either group would be classified as Centrists.

It should be noted that Age of Revolutions uses the descriptors “Left” and “Right” to map liberal and conservative ideologies, respectively. However, in a broader context, both political camps in America are collectively defined as liberal in order to distinguish them from global movements that favor a far more authoritarian agenda. While European democracies have multi-party systems that allow for gradations within the spectrum of Left to Right, the United States uses a two-party system that creates an antagonistic polarity between the members of each camp, and this sense of antagonism persists today.