In modern politics, political lingo is thrown around ambiguously, often leaving many of us somewhat in the dark as to their actual meaning:  two of the more common being the terms conservative and liberal. 

Essentially, conservatism refers to the desire to maintain our political structure according to the limited national government that our nation was founded with.  At its core, conservatives believe that the smaller the role that government takes, the more free every American remains.  Oppositely, liberals typically believe that mankind benefits from a larger governmental role in which large, bureaucratic agencies dole out socialistic assistance at the expense of the working class.  In a sense, liberal means one is “liberal” regarding change; whereas, conservative means one wants to “conserve” the original system – in other words, what is proven to work, which is the original, constitutionally bound government, should not be changed. 
 
After the American Revolution, where our ancestors shed their blood to ensure that this new land would not accept European tyranny, the founding fathers carefully laid out the most brilliant government document ever conceived.  In fact, this document was such that the entire world over marveled at its freedom oriented genius.  Of course, this bastion of liberty was none other than the Constitution of the United States of America. 
 
Immediately in this early government came forth those that desired power and worked diligently to centralize this limited government into an ever increasing federalized control.  In these early days, these power hungry politicians were given the party name of Federalists.  Later on, however, this faction within the American government took on a more indirect approach, realizing that through the name of democracy the people’s vote could be bought with government handouts.  Benjamin Franklin said, “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”  And so, the Democratic Party was born. 
 
On the other hand, there were those that believed that the rule of law, namely in the conservation of the government limiting power of the Constitution, would better benefit the American individual family as apposed to the ever increasing taxation and debt incurring practices of the handout driven opposition.  In turn, the Republican Party was born. 
 
In summary, liberals commonly believe that an ever growing government is idealistically beneficial to America despite the debt and higher taxes, as well as the ever infringing, freedom inhibiting control that comes with their social management – all at the expense of the working class.  Conservatives, however, maintain the core belief that the individual American is best served with a limited government in which they, as well as the capitalistic business model, are left alone as much as possible to benefit most from the fruits of their own endeavors, without interference or burdensome taxation that government involvement demands.  Individual freedom is, in fact, the foundation of the conservative; whereas, freedom is the right to do whatever one wants to do so long as it causes no harm to another.