etymology

in the oed, the earliest citation of the use of the terms 'left' and 'right' in the political-spectrum sense are in carlyle's french revolution (1837), and one supposes that the use of the concepts or this way of conceptualizing politics is somewhat earlier in france and is associated with interpretations of the 1789 revolution and its aftermaths. it does not appear in american politics, i believe, until the late 19th century; it is completely irrelevant to the american political spectrum of the early and mid- 19th century, in which the dissident wing was christian, individualist, etc. now, of course, the question of when the terms became commonplace is not the same as when the conceptuality or something like it came into being, and you could no doubt read medieval politics through left-right spectacles. you really, really shouldn't, and you should indeed jetison the whole thing imediately from your thinking.