Individual contributors to classical liberalism and political liberalism are associated with the Enlightenment philosophers. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins at the end of the 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from the aristocracy. It included the ideas of self-determination, the primacy of the individual and the nation, as opposed to the state and religion, as fundamental units of law, politics and economics. Since then, liberalism has expanded to include a wide range of approaches by Americans Ronald Dworkin, Richard Rorty, John Rawls and Francis, as well as the Indind the Peruvian Hernando de Soto. Some of these people moved away from liberalism, while others defended other ideologies before resorting to liberalism. There are many different opinions about what constitutes liberalism, and some liberals would feel that some of the people on this list were not true liberals. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Theorists whose ideas were mainly typical of a country should be included in that country's liberalism section. Usually, only thinkers are on the list, politicians only appear on the list when, along with their active political work, they have also made substantial contributions to liberal theory.
The French Revolution was responsible for inspiring revolutions in Latin America. The French found inspiration in the American Revolution- a decade earlier- and the French colony of Haiti revolted as a direct result of the upheaval in France. French control of Spain also caused Spanish colonies to rule themselves, and eventually rebel once the Spanish king returned to power.
