How, when, and why did conservative ideas come to be known as "right-leaning" or "right-wing", and vice versa for liberal ideas being called "left-wing"? Is this an American thing or global? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

How, when, and why did conservative ideas come to be known as "right-leaning" or "right-wing", and vice versa for liberal ideas being called "left-wing"? Is this an American thing or global?

by CraftyAitrus

Searocksandtrees

hi! this post includes a quick tl;dr and links to a few other posts with more info (tl;dr: the French Revolution)

How were the names "left" and "right" chosen to represent political ideologies? How did we decide who got to be called left and who got to be called right?