Thomas Babington Macaulay and the development of nineteenth century English Liberalism

The methodology consists of a review of literature regarding nineteenth century English Liberalism. Macaulay's twelve volumes of completed works were used as well as his compiled letters, speeches, and poems. Careful attention has been given in the procurement of original sources from the archives of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Particular attention was devoted to tracing the political philosophies of Macaulay, Liberalism, Utilitarianism, and Conservatism by analyzing the original volumes of the Edinburgh Review and the Quarterly Review over a one hundred year period from 1800 to 1900. Original sources from the Westminster Review were procured from Oxford and Cambridge Universities when those sources related to essays contained the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews.

The findings of this study were two-fold. In the first place, Thomas Babington Macaulay has been previously ignored as an important figure in the development of nineteenth century English Liberalism. Also, his political works have been disregarded or overlooked by past scholarly inquiries. Secondly, this thesis discovered that the few works written on Macaulay contained much misinformation that was not collaborated by the findings contained in the original works.

The major conclusion of this thesis is that Thomas Babington Macaulay had a direct and significant impact on the development of nineteenth century English Liberalism which has previously gone unnoticed. Specifically, Macaulay had an impact in the development of important legislation which has become identified with nineteenth century English Liberalism. In effect, Macaulay's philosophy was a bridge between what is now referred to as old and new Liberalism. Macaulay's transition from the old to new Liberalism consisted of the attempt at formulating a deliniation of state responsibility towards society and the clarification of important terms and philosophies which affected the development of nineteenth century English Liberalism.