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diff --git a/815-0.txt b/815-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b608c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/815-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19388 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 815 *** + + + + +DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA + +By Alexis De Tocqueville + +AVOCAT À LA COUR ROYALE DE PARIS +ETC., ETC. + +Translated by +Henry Reeve, Esq. + +IN TWO VOLUMES. +VOL. I. + +LONDON: +SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET +1835 + + +Contents + + Book One + Introductory Chapter + Chapter I: Exterior Form Of North America + Chapter Summary + Chapter II: Origin Of The Anglo-Americans—Part I + Chapter Summary + Chapter II: Origin Of The Anglo-Americans—Part II + Chapter III: Social Conditions Of The Anglo-Americans + Chapter Summary + Chapter IV: The Principle Of The Sovereignty Of The People In America + Chapter Summary + Chapter V: Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States—Part I + Chapter V: Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States—Part II + Chapter V: Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States—Part III + Chapter VI: Judicial Power In The United States + Chapter Summary + Chapter VII: Political Jurisdiction In The United States + Chapter Summary + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part I + Chapter Summary + Summary Of The Federal Constitution + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part II + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part III + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part IV + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part V + Chapter IX: Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The + United + Chapter X: Parties In The United States + Chapter Summary + Parties In The United States + Chapter XI: Liberty Of The Press In The United States + Chapter Summary + Chapter XII: Political Associations In The United States + Chapter Summary + Chapter XIII: Government Of The Democracy In America—Part I + Chapter XIII: Government Of The Democracy In America—Part II + Chapter XIII: Government Of The Democracy In America—Part III + Chapter XIV: Advantages American Society Derive From Democracy—Part I + Chapter XIV: Advantages American Society Derive From Democracy—Part II + Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences—Part I + Chapter Summary + Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences—Part II + Chapter XVI: Causes Mitigating Tyranny In The United States—Part I + Chapter Summary + Chapter XVI: Causes Mitigating Tyranny In The United States—Part II + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part I + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part II + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part III + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part IV + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races In The United + States—Part I + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part II + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part III + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part IV + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part V + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part VI + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part VII + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part VIII + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part IX + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part X + Conclusion + + + + + Book One + + + + + Introductory Chapter + + +Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in +the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general +equality of conditions. I readily discovered the prodigious influence +which this primary fact exercises on the whole course of society, by +giving a certain direction to public opinion, and a certain tenor to +the laws; by imparting new maxims to the governing powers, and peculiar +habits to the governed. I speedily perceived that the influence of this +fact extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the +country, and that it has no less empire over civil society than over +the Government; it creates opinions, engenders sentiments, suggests the +ordinary practices of life, and modifies whatever it does not produce. +The more I advanced in the study of American society, the more I +perceived that the equality of conditions is the fundamental fact from +which all others seem to be derived, and the central point at which all +my observations constantly terminated. + +I then turned my thoughts to our own hemisphere, where I imagined that +I discerned something analogous to the spectacle which the New World +presented to me. I observed that the equality of conditions is daily +progressing towards those extreme limits which it seems to have reached +in the United States, and that the democracy which governs the American +communities appears to be rapidly rising into power in Europe. I hence +conceived the idea of the book which is now before the reader. + +It is evident to all alike that a great democratic revolution is going +on amongst us; but there are two opinions as to its nature and +consequences. To some it appears to be a novel accident, which as such +may still be checked; to others it seems irresistible, because it is +the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency +which is to be found in history. Let us recollect the situation of +France seven hundred years ago, when the territory was divided amongst +a small number of families, who were the owners of the soil and the +rulers of the inhabitants; the right of governing descended with the +family inheritance from generation to generation; force was the only +means by which man could act on man, and landed property was the sole +source of power. Soon, however, the political power of the clergy was +founded, and began to exert itself: the clergy opened its ranks to all +classes, to the poor and the rich, the villein and the lord; equality +penetrated into the Government through the Church, and the being who as +a serf must have vegetated in perpetual bondage took his place as a +priest in the midst of nobles, and not infrequently above the heads of +kings. + +The different relations of men became more complicated and more +numerous as society gradually became more stable and more civilized. +Thence the want of civil laws was felt; and the order of legal +functionaries soon rose from the obscurity of the tribunals and their +dusty chambers, to appear at the court of the monarch, by the side of +the feudal barons in their ermine and their mail. Whilst the kings were +ruining themselves by their great enterprises, and the nobles +exhausting their resources by private wars, the lower orders were +enriching themselves by commerce. The influence of money began to be +perceptible in State affairs. The transactions of business opened a new +road to power, and the financier rose to a station of political +influence in which he was at once flattered and despised. Gradually the +spread of mental acquirements, and the increasing taste for literature +and art, opened chances of success to talent; science became a means of +government, intelligence led to social power, and the man of letters +took a part in the affairs of the State. The value attached to the +privileges of birth decreased in the exact proportion in which new +paths were struck out to advancement. In the eleventh century nobility +was beyond all price; in the thirteenth it might be purchased; it was +conferred for the first time in 1270; and equality was thus introduced +into the Government by the aristocracy itself. + +In the course of these seven hundred years it sometimes happened that +in order to resist the authority of the Crown, or to diminish the power +of their rivals, the nobles granted a certain share of political rights +to the people. Or, more frequently, the king permitted the lower orders +to enjoy a degree of power, with the intention of repressing the +aristocracy. In France the kings have always been the most active and +the most constant of levellers. When they were strong and ambitious +they spared no pains to raise the people to the level of the nobles; +when they were temperate or weak they allowed the people to rise above +themselves. Some assisted the democracy by their talents, others by +their vices. Louis XI and Louis XIV reduced every rank beneath the +throne to the same subjection; Louis XV descended, himself and all his +Court, into the dust. + +As soon as land was held on any other than a feudal tenure, and +personal property began in its turn to confer influence and power, +every improvement which was introduced in commerce or manufacture was a +fresh element of the equality of conditions. Henceforward every new +discovery, every new want which it engendered, and every new desire +which craved satisfaction, was a step towards the universal level. The +taste for luxury, the love of war, the sway of fashion, and the most +superficial as well as the deepest passions of the human heart, +co-operated to enrich the poor and to impoverish the rich. + +From the time when the exercise of the intellect became the source of +strength and of wealth, it is impossible not to consider every addition +to science, every fresh truth, and every new idea as a germ of power +placed within the reach of the people. Poetry, eloquence, and memory, +the grace of wit, the glow of imagination, the depth of thought, and +all the gifts which are bestowed by Providence with an equal hand, +turned to the advantage of the democracy; and even when they were in +the possession of its adversaries they still served its cause by +throwing into relief the natural greatness of man; its conquests +spread, therefore, with those of civilization and knowledge, and +literature became an arsenal where the poorest and the weakest could +always find weapons to their hand. + +In perusing the pages of our history, we shall scarcely meet with a +single great event, in the lapse of seven hundred years, which has not +turned to the advantage of equality. The Crusades and the wars of the +English decimated the nobles and divided their possessions; the +erection of communities introduced an element of democratic liberty +into the bosom of feudal monarchy; the invention of fire-arms equalized +the villein and the noble on the field of battle; printing opened the +same resources to the minds of all classes; the post was organized so +as to bring the same information to the door of the poor man’s cottage +and to the gate of the palace; and Protestantism proclaimed that all +men are alike able to find the road to heaven. The discovery of America +offered a thousand new paths to fortune, and placed riches and power +within the reach of the adventurous and the obscure. If we examine what +has happened in France at intervals of fifty years, beginning with the +eleventh century, we shall invariably perceive that a twofold +revolution has taken place in the state of society. The noble has gone +down on the social ladder, and the roturier has gone up; the one +descends as the other rises. Every half century brings them nearer to +each other, and they will very shortly meet. + +Nor is this phenomenon at all peculiar to France. Whithersoever we turn +our eyes we shall witness the same continual revolution throughout the +whole of Christendom. The various occurrences of national existence +have everywhere turned to the advantage of democracy; all men have +aided it by their exertions: those who have intentionally labored in +its cause, and those who have served it unwittingly; those who have +fought for it and those who have declared themselves its opponents, +have all been driven along in the same track, have all labored to one +end, some ignorantly and some unwillingly; all have been blind +instruments in the hands of God. + +The gradual development of the equality of conditions is therefore a +providential fact, and it possesses all the characteristics of a divine +decree: it is universal, it is durable, it constantly eludes all human +interference, and all events as well as all men contribute to its +progress. Would it, then, be wise to imagine that a social impulse +which dates from so far back can be checked by the efforts of a +generation? Is it credible that the democracy which has annihilated the +feudal system and vanquished kings will respect the citizen and the +capitalist? Will it stop now that it has grown so strong and its +adversaries so weak? None can say which way we are going, for all terms +of comparison are wanting: the equality of conditions is more complete +in the Christian countries of the present day than it has been at any +time or in any part of the world; so that the extent of what already +exists prevents us from foreseeing what may be yet to come. + +The whole book which is here offered to the public has been written +under the impression of a kind of religious dread produced in the +author’s mind by the contemplation of so irresistible a revolution, +which has advanced for centuries in spite of such amazing obstacles, +and which is still proceeding in the midst of the ruins it has made. It +is not necessary that God himself should speak in order to disclose to +us the unquestionable signs of His will; we can discern them in the +habitual course of nature, and in the invariable tendency of events: I +know, without a special revelation, that the planets move in the orbits +traced by the Creator’s finger. If the men of our time were led by +attentive observation and by sincere reflection to acknowledge that the +gradual and progressive development of social equality is at once the +past and future of their history, this solitary truth would confer the +sacred character of a Divine decree upon the change. To attempt to +check democracy would be in that case to resist the will of God; and +the nations would then be constrained to make the best of the social +lot awarded to them by Providence. + +The Christian nations of our age seem to me to present a most alarming +spectacle; the impulse which is bearing them along is so strong that it +cannot be stopped, but it is not yet so rapid that it cannot be guided: +their fate is in their hands; yet a little while and it may be so no +longer. The first duty which is at this time imposed upon those who +direct our affairs is to educate the democracy; to warm its faith, if +that be possible; to purify its morals; to direct its energies; to +substitute a knowledge of business for its inexperience, and an +acquaintance with its true interests for its blind propensities; to +adapt its government to time and place, and to modify it in compliance +with the occurrences and the actors of the age. A new science of +politics is indispensable to a new world. This, however, is what we +think of least; launched in the middle of a rapid stream, we +obstinately fix our eyes on the ruins which may still be described upon +the shore we have left, whilst the current sweeps us along, and drives +us backwards towards the gulf. + +In no country in Europe has the great social revolution which I have +been describing made such rapid progress as in France; but it has +always been borne on by chance. The heads of the State have never had +any forethought for its exigencies, and its victories have been +obtained without their consent or without their knowledge. The most +powerful, the most intelligent, and the most moral classes of the +nation have never attempted to connect themselves with it in order to +guide it. The people has consequently been abandoned to its wild +propensities, and it has grown up like those outcasts who receive their +education in the public streets, and who are unacquainted with aught +but the vices and wretchedness of society. The existence of a democracy +was seemingly unknown, when on a sudden it took possession of the +supreme power. Everything was then submitted to its caprices; it was +worshipped as the idol of strength; until, when it was enfeebled by its +own excesses, the legislator conceived the rash project of annihilating +its power, instead of instructing it and correcting its vices; no +attempt was made to fit it to govern, but all were bent on excluding it +from the government. + +The consequence of this has been that the democratic revolution has +been effected only in the material parts of society, without that +concomitant change in laws, ideas, customs, and manners which was +necessary to render such a revolution beneficial. We have gotten a +democracy, but without the conditions which lessen its vices and render +its natural advantages more prominent; and although we already perceive +the evils it brings, we are ignorant of the benefits it may confer. + +While the power of the Crown, supported by the aristocracy, peaceably +governed the nations of Europe, society possessed, in the midst of its +wretchedness, several different advantages which can now scarcely be +appreciated or conceived. The power of a part of his subjects was an +insurmountable barrier to the tyranny of the prince; and the monarch, +who felt the almost divine character which he enjoyed in the eyes of +the multitude, derived a motive for the just use of his power from the +respect which he inspired. High as they were placed above the people, +the nobles could not but take that calm and benevolent interest in its +fate which the shepherd feels towards his flock; and without +acknowledging the poor as their equals, they watched over the destiny +of those whose welfare Providence had entrusted to their care. The +people never having conceived the idea of a social condition different +from its own, and entertaining no expectation of ever ranking with its +chiefs, received benefits from them without discussing their rights. It +grew attached to them when they were clement and just, and it submitted +without resistance or servility to their exactions, as to the +inevitable visitations of the arm of God. Custom, and the manners of +the time, had moreover created a species of law in the midst of +violence, and established certain limits to oppression. As the noble +never suspected that anyone would attempt to deprive him of the +privileges which he believed to be legitimate, and as the serf looked +upon his own inferiority as a consequence of the immutable order of +nature, it is easy to imagine that a mutual exchange of good-will took +place between two classes so differently gifted by fate. Inequality and +wretchedness were then to be found in society; but the souls of neither +rank of men were degraded. Men are not corrupted by the exercise of +power or debased by the habit of obedience, but by the exercise of a +power which they believe to be illegal and by obedience to a rule which +they consider to be usurped and oppressive. On one side was wealth, +strength, and leisure, accompanied by the refinements of luxury, the +elegance of taste, the pleasures of wit, and the religion of art. On +the other was labor and a rude ignorance; but in the midst of this +coarse and ignorant multitude it was not uncommon to meet with +energetic passions, generous sentiments, profound religious +convictions, and independent virtues. The body of a State thus +organized might boast of its stability, its power, and, above all, of +its glory. + +But the scene is now changed, and gradually the two ranks mingle; the +divisions which once severed mankind are lowered, property is divided, +power is held in common, the light of intelligence spreads, and the +capacities of all classes are equally cultivated; the State becomes +democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably +introduced into the institutions and the manners of the nation. I can +conceive a society in which all men would profess an equal attachment +and respect for the laws of which they are the common authors; in which +the authority of the State would be respected as necessary, though not +as divine; and the loyalty of the subject to its chief magistrate would +not be a passion, but a quiet and rational persuasion. Every individual +being in the possession of rights which he is sure to retain, a kind of +manly reliance and reciprocal courtesy would arise between all classes, +alike removed from pride and meanness. The people, well acquainted with +its true interests, would allow that in order to profit by the +advantages of society it is necessary to satisfy its demands. In this +state of things the voluntary association of the citizens might supply +the individual exertions of the nobles, and the community would be +alike protected from anarchy and from oppression. + +I admit that, in a democratic State thus constituted, society will not +be stationary; but the impulses of the social body may be regulated and +directed forwards; if there be less splendor than in the halls of an +aristocracy, the contrast of misery will be less frequent also; the +pleasures of enjoyment may be less excessive, but those of comfort will +be more general; the sciences may be less perfectly cultivated, but +ignorance will be less common; the impetuosity of the feelings will be +repressed, and the habits of the nation softened; there will be more +vices and fewer crimes. In the absence of enthusiasm and of an ardent +faith, great sacrifices may be obtained from the members of a +commonwealth by an appeal to their understandings and their experience; +each individual will feel the same necessity for uniting with his +fellow-citizens to protect his own weakness; and as he knows that if +they are to assist he must co-operate, he will readily perceive that +his personal interest is identified with the interest of the community. +The nation, taken as a whole, will be less brilliant, less glorious, +and perhaps less strong; but the majority of the citizens will enjoy a +greater degree of prosperity, and the people will remain quiet, not +because it despairs of amelioration, but because it is conscious of the +advantages of its condition. If all the consequences of this state of +things were not good or useful, society would at least have +appropriated all such as were useful and good; and having once and for +ever renounced the social advantages of aristocracy, mankind would +enter into possession of all the benefits which democracy can afford. + +But here it may be asked what we have adopted in the place of those +institutions, those ideas, and those customs of our forefathers which +we have abandoned. The spell of royalty is broken, but it has not been +succeeded by the majesty of the laws; the people has learned to despise +all authority, but fear now extorts a larger tribute of obedience than +that which was formerly paid by reverence and by love. + +I perceive that we have destroyed those independent beings which were +able to cope with tyranny single-handed; but it is the Government that +has inherited the privileges of which families, corporations, and +individuals have been deprived; the weakness of the whole community has +therefore succeeded that influence of a small body of citizens, which, +if it was sometimes oppressive, was often conservative. The division of +property has lessened the distance which separated the rich from the +poor; but it would seem that the nearer they draw to each other, the +greater is their mutual hatred, and the more vehement the envy and the +dread with which they resist each other’s claims to power; the notion +of Right is alike insensible to both classes, and Force affords to both +the only argument for the present, and the only guarantee for the +future. The poor man retains the prejudices of his forefathers without +their faith, and their ignorance without their virtues; he has adopted +the doctrine of self-interest as the rule of his actions, without +understanding the science which controls it, and his egotism is no less +blind than his devotedness was formerly. If society is tranquil, it is +not because it relies upon its strength and its well-being, but because +it knows its weakness and its infirmities; a single effort may cost it +its life; everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy +enough to seek the cure; the desires, the regret, the sorrows, and the +joys of the time produce nothing that is visible or permanent, like the +passions of old men which terminate in impotence. + +We have, then, abandoned whatever advantages the old state of things +afforded, without receiving any compensation from our present +condition; we have destroyed an aristocracy, and we seem inclined to +survey its ruins with complacency, and to fix our abode in the midst of +them. + +The phenomena which the intellectual world presents are not less +deplorable. The democracy of France, checked in its course or abandoned +to its lawless passions, has overthrown whatever crossed its path, and +has shaken all that it has not destroyed. Its empire on society has not +been gradually introduced or peaceably established, but it has +constantly advanced in the midst of disorder and the agitation of a +conflict. In the heat of the struggle each partisan is hurried beyond +the limits of his opinions by the opinions and the excesses of his +opponents, until he loses sight of the end of his exertions, and holds +a language which disguises his real sentiments or secret instincts. +Hence arises the strange confusion which we are witnessing. I cannot +recall to my mind a passage in history more worthy of sorrow and of +pity than the scenes which are happening under our eyes; it is as if +the natural bond which unites the opinions of man to his tastes and his +actions to his principles was now broken; the sympathy which has always +been acknowledged between the feelings and the ideas of mankind appears +to be dissolved, and all the laws of moral analogy to be abolished. + +Zealous Christians may be found amongst us whose minds are nurtured in +the love and knowledge of a future life, and who readily espouse the +cause of human liberty as the source of all moral greatness. +Christianity, which has declared that all men are equal in the sight of +God, will not refuse to acknowledge that all citizens are equal in the +eye of the law. But, by a singular concourse of events, religion is +entangled in those institutions which democracy assails, and it is not +unfrequently brought to reject the equality it loves, and to curse that +cause of liberty as a foe which it might hallow by its alliance. + +By the side of these religious men I discern others whose looks are +turned to the earth more than to Heaven; they are the partisans of +liberty, not only as the source of the noblest virtues, but more +especially as the root of all solid advantages; and they sincerely +desire to extend its sway, and to impart its blessings to mankind. It +is natural that they should hasten to invoke the assistance of +religion, for they must know that liberty cannot be established without +morality, nor morality without faith; but they have seen religion in +the ranks of their adversaries, and they inquire no further; some of +them attack it openly, and the remainder are afraid to defend it. + +In former ages slavery has been advocated by the venal and +slavish-minded, whilst the independent and the warm-hearted were +struggling without hope to save the liberties of mankind. But men of +high and generous characters are now to be met with, whose opinions are +at variance with their inclinations, and who praise that servility +which they have themselves never known. Others, on the contrary, speak +in the name of liberty, as if they were able to feel its sanctity and +its majesty, and loudly claim for humanity those rights which they have +always disowned. There are virtuous and peaceful individuals whose pure +morality, quiet habits, affluence, and talents fit them to be the +leaders of the surrounding population; their love of their country is +sincere, and they are prepared to make the greatest sacrifices to its +welfare, but they confound the abuses of civilization with its +benefits, and the idea of evil is inseparable in their minds from that +of novelty. + +Not far from this class is another party, whose object is to +materialize mankind, to hit upon what is expedient without heeding what +is just, to acquire knowledge without faith, and prosperity apart from +virtue; assuming the title of the champions of modern civilization, and +placing themselves in a station which they usurp with insolence, and +from which they are driven by their own unworthiness. Where are we +then? The religionists are the enemies of liberty, and the friends of +liberty attack religion; the high-minded and the noble advocate +subjection, and the meanest and most servile minds preach independence; +honest and enlightened citizens are opposed to all progress, whilst men +without patriotism and without principles are the apostles of +civilization and of intelligence. Has such been the fate of the +centuries which have preceded our own? and has man always inhabited a +world like the present, where nothing is linked together, where virtue +is without genius, and genius without honor; where the love of order is +confounded with a taste for oppression, and the holy rites of freedom +with a contempt of law; where the light thrown by conscience on human +actions is dim, and where nothing seems to be any longer forbidden or +allowed, honorable or shameful, false or true? I cannot, however, +believe that the Creator made man to leave him in an endless struggle +with the intellectual miseries which surround us: God destines a calmer +and a more certain future to the communities of Europe; I am +unacquainted with His designs, but I shall not cease to believe in them +because I cannot fathom them, and I had rather mistrust my own capacity +than His justice. + +There is a country in the world where the great revolution which I am +speaking of seems nearly to have reached its natural limits; it has +been effected with ease and simplicity, say rather that this country +has attained the consequences of the democratic revolution which we are +undergoing without having experienced the revolution itself. The +emigrants who fixed themselves on the shores of America in the +beginning of the seventeenth century severed the democratic principle +from all the principles which repressed it in the old communities of +Europe, and transplanted it unalloyed to the New World. It has there +been allowed to spread in perfect freedom, and to put forth its +consequences in the laws by influencing the manners of the country. + +It appears to me beyond a doubt that sooner or later we shall arrive, +like the Americans, at an almost complete equality of conditions. But I +do not conclude from this that we shall ever be necessarily led to draw +the same political consequences which the Americans have derived from a +similar social organization. I am far from supposing that they have +chosen the only form of government which a democracy may adopt; but the +identity of the efficient cause of laws and manners in the two +countries is sufficient to account for the immense interest we have in +becoming acquainted with its effects in each of them. + +It is not, then, merely to satisfy a legitimate curiosity that I have +examined America; my wish has been to find instruction by which we may +ourselves profit. Whoever should imagine that I have intended to write +a panegyric will perceive that such was not my design; nor has it been +my object to advocate any form of government in particular, for I am of +opinion that absolute excellence is rarely to be found in any +legislation; I have not even affected to discuss whether the social +revolution, which I believe to be irresistible, is advantageous or +prejudicial to mankind; I have acknowledged this revolution as a fact +already accomplished or on the eve of its accomplishment; and I have +selected the nation, from amongst those which have undergone it, in +which its development has been the most peaceful and the most complete, +in order to discern its natural consequences, and, if it be possible, +to distinguish the means by which it may be rendered profitable. I +confess that in America I saw more than America; I sought the image of +democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, +and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope +from its progress. + +In the first part of this work I have attempted to show the tendency +given to the laws by the democracy of America, which is abandoned +almost without restraint to its instinctive propensities, and to +exhibit the course it prescribes to the Government and the influence it +exercises on affairs. I have sought to discover the evils and the +advantages which it produces. I have examined the precautions used by +the Americans to direct it, as well as those which they have not +adopted, and I have undertaken to point out the causes which enable it +to govern society. I do not know whether I have succeeded in making +known what I saw in America, but I am certain that such has been my +sincere desire, and that I have never, knowingly, moulded facts to +ideas, instead of ideas to facts. + +Whenever a point could be established by the aid of written documents, +I have had recourse to the original text, and to the most authentic and +approved works. I have cited my authorities in the notes, and anyone +may refer to them. Whenever an opinion, a political custom, or a remark +on the manners of the country was concerned, I endeavored to consult +the most enlightened men I met with. If the point in question was +important or doubtful, I was not satisfied with one testimony, but I +formed my opinion on the evidence of several witnesses. Here the reader +must necessarily believe me upon my word. I could frequently have +quoted names which are either known to him, or which deserve to be so, +in proof of what I advance; but I have carefully abstained from this +practice. A stranger frequently hears important truths at the fire-side +of his host, which the latter would perhaps conceal from the ear of +friendship; he consoles himself with his guest for the silence to which +he is restricted, and the shortness of the traveller’s stay takes away +all fear of his indiscretion. I carefully noted every conversation of +this nature as soon as it occurred, but these notes will never leave my +writing-case; I had rather injure the success of my statements than add +my name to the list of those strangers who repay the generous +hospitality they have received by subsequent chagrin and annoyance. + +I am aware that, notwithstanding my care, nothing will be easier than +to criticise this book, if anyone ever chooses to criticise it. Those +readers who may examine it closely will discover the fundamental idea +which connects the several parts together. But the diversity of the +subjects I have had to treat is exceedingly great, and it will not be +difficult to oppose an isolated fact to the body of facts which I +quote, or an isolated idea to the body of ideas I put forth. I hope to +be read in the spirit which has guided my labors, and that my book may +be judged by the general impression it leaves, as I have formed my own +judgment not on any single reason, but upon the mass of evidence. It +must not be forgotten that the author who wishes to be understood is +obliged to push all his ideas to their utmost theoretical consequences, +and often to the verge of what is false or impracticable; for if it be +necessary sometimes to quit the rules of logic in active life, such is +not the case in discourse, and a man finds that almost as many +difficulties spring from inconsistency of language as usually arise +from inconsistency of conduct. + +I conclude by pointing out myself what many readers will consider the +principal defect of the work. This book is written to favor no +particular views, and in composing it I have entertained no designs of +serving or attacking any party; I have undertaken not to see +differently, but to look further than parties, and whilst they are +busied for the morrow I have turned my thoughts to the Future. + + + + + Chapter I: Exterior Form Of North America + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +North America divided into two vast regions, one inclining towards the +Pole, the other towards the Equator—Valley of the Mississippi—Traces of +the Revolutions of the Globe—Shore of the Atlantic Ocean where the +English Colonies were founded—Difference in the appearance of North and +of South America at the time of their Discovery—Forests of North +America—Prairies—Wandering Tribes of Natives—Their outward appearance, +manners, and language—Traces of an unknown people. + +Exterior Form Of North America + +North America presents in its external form certain general features +which it is easy to discriminate at the first glance. A sort of +methodical order seems to have regulated the separation of land and +water, mountains and valleys. A simple, but grand, arrangement is +discoverable amidst the confusion of objects and the prodigious variety +of scenes. This continent is divided, almost equally, into two vast +regions, one of which is bounded on the north by the Arctic Pole, and +by the two great oceans on the east and west. It stretches towards the +south, forming a triangle whose irregular sides meet at length below +the great lakes of Canada. The second region begins where the other +terminates, and includes all the remainder of the continent. The one +slopes gently towards the Pole, the other towards the Equator. + +The territory comprehended in the first region descends towards the +north with so imperceptible a slope that it may almost be said to form +a level plain. Within the bounds of this immense tract of country there +are neither high mountains nor deep valleys. Streams meander through it +irregularly: great rivers mix their currents, separate and meet again, +disperse and form vast marshes, losing all trace of their channels in +the labyrinth of waters they have themselves created; and thus, at +length, after innumerable windings, fall into the Polar Seas. The great +lakes which bound this first region are not walled in, like most of +those in the Old World, between hills and rocks. Their banks are flat, +and rise but a few feet above the level of their waters; each of them +thus forming a vast bowl filled to the brim. The slightest change in +the structure of the globe would cause their waters to rush either +towards the Pole or to the tropical sea. + +The second region is more varied on its surface, and better suited for +the habitation of man. Two long chains of mountains divide it from one +extreme to the other; the Alleghany ridge takes the form of the shores +of the Atlantic Ocean; the other is parallel with the Pacific. The +space which lies between these two chains of mountains contains +1,341,649 square miles. *a Its surface is therefore about six times as +great as that of France. This vast territory, however, forms a single +valley, one side of which descends gradually from the rounded summits +of the Alleghanies, while the other rises in an uninterrupted course +towards the tops of the Rocky Mountains. At the bottom of the valley +flows an immense river, into which the various streams issuing from the +mountains fall from all parts. In memory of their native land, the +French formerly called this river the St. Louis. The Indians, in their +pompous language, have named it the Father of Waters, or the +Mississippi. + +a +[ Darby’s “View of the United States.”] + + +The Mississippi takes its source above the limit of the two great +regions of which I have spoken, not far from the highest point of the +table-land where they unite. Near the same spot rises another river, *b +which empties itself into the Polar seas. The course of the Mississippi +is at first dubious: it winds several times towards the north, from +whence it rose; and at length, after having been delayed in lakes and +marshes, it flows slowly onwards to the south. Sometimes quietly +gliding along the argillaceous bed which nature has assigned to it, +sometimes swollen by storms, the Mississippi waters 2,500 miles in its +course. *c At the distance of 1,364 miles from its mouth this river +attains an average depth of fifteen feet; and it is navigated by +vessels of 300 tons burden for a course of nearly 500 miles. +Fifty-seven large navigable rivers contribute to swell the waters of +the Mississippi; amongst others, the Missouri, which traverses a space +of 2,500 miles; the Arkansas of 1,300 miles, the Red River 1,000 miles, +four whose course is from 800 to 1,000 miles in length, viz., the +Illinois, the St. Peter’s, the St. Francis, and the Moingona; besides a +countless multitude of rivulets which unite from all parts their +tributary streams. + +b +[ The Red River.] + + +c +[ Warden’s “Description of the United States.”] + + +The valley which is watered by the Mississippi seems formed to be the +bed of this mighty river, which, like a god of antiquity, dispenses +both good and evil in its course. On the shores of the stream nature +displays an inexhaustible fertility; in proportion as you recede from +its banks, the powers of vegetation languish, the soil becomes poor, +and the plants that survive have a sickly growth. Nowhere have the +great convulsions of the globe left more evident traces than in the +valley of the Mississippi; the whole aspect of the country shows the +powerful effects of water, both by its fertility and by its barrenness. +The waters of the primeval ocean accumulated enormous beds of vegetable +mould in the valley, which they levelled as they retired. Upon the +right shore of the river are seen immense plains, as smooth as if the +husbandman had passed over them with his roller. As you approach the +mountains the soil becomes more and more unequal and sterile; the +ground is, as it were, pierced in a thousand places by primitive rocks, +which appear like the bones of a skeleton whose flesh is partly +consumed. The surface of the earth is covered with a granite sand and +huge irregular masses of stone, among which a few plants force their +growth, and give the appearance of a green field covered with the ruins +of a vast edifice. These stones and this sand discover, on examination, +a perfect analogy with those which compose the arid and broken summits +of the Rocky Mountains. The flood of waters which washed the soil to +the bottom of the valley afterwards carried away portions of the rocks +themselves; and these, dashed and bruised against the neighboring +cliffs, were left scattered like wrecks at their feet. *d The valley of +the Mississippi is, upon the whole, the most magnificent dwelling-place +prepared by God for man’s abode; and yet it may be said that at present +it is but a mighty desert. + +d +[ See Appendix, A.] + + +On the eastern side of the Alleghanies, between the base of these +mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, there lies a long ridge of rocks and +sand, which the sea appears to have left behind as it retired. The mean +breadth of this territory does not exceed one hundred miles; but it is +about nine hundred miles in length. This part of the American continent +has a soil which offers every obstacle to the husbandman, and its +vegetation is scanty and unvaried. + +Upon this inhospitable coast the first united efforts of human industry +were made. The tongue of arid land was the cradle of those English +colonies which were destined one day to become the United States of +America. The centre of power still remains here; whilst in the +backwoods the true elements of the great people to whom the future +control of the continent belongs are gathering almost in secrecy +together. + +When the Europeans first landed on the shores of the West Indies, and +afterwards on the coast of South America, they thought themselves +transported into those fabulous regions of which poets had sung. The +sea sparkled with phosphoric light, and the extraordinary transparency +of its waters discovered to the view of the navigator all that had +hitherto been hidden in the deep abyss. *e Here and there appeared +little islands perfumed with odoriferous plants, and resembling baskets +of flowers floating on the tranquil surface of the ocean. Every object +which met the sight, in this enchanting region, seemed prepared to +satisfy the wants or contribute to the pleasures of man. Almost all the +trees were loaded with nourishing fruits, and those which were useless +as food delighted the eye by the brilliancy and variety of their +colors. In groves of fragrant lemon-trees, wild figs, flowering +myrtles, acacias, and oleanders, which were hung with festoons of +various climbing plants, covered with flowers, a multitude of birds +unknown in Europe displayed their bright plumage, glittering with +purple and azure, and mingled their warbling with the harmony of a +world teeming with life and motion. *f Underneath this brilliant +exterior death was concealed. But the air of these climates had so +enervating an influence that man, absorbed by present enjoyment, was +rendered regardless of the future. + +e +[ Malte Brun tells us (vol. v. p. 726) that the water of the Caribbean +Sea is so transparent that corals and fish are discernible at a depth +of sixty fathoms. The ship seemed to float in air, the navigator became +giddy as his eye penetrated through the crystal flood, and beheld +submarine gardens, or beds of shells, or gilded fishes gliding among +tufts and thickets of seaweed.] + + +f +[ See Appendix, B.] + + +North America appeared under a very different aspect; there everything +was grave, serious, and solemn: it seemed created to be the domain of +intelligence, as the South was that of sensual delight. A turbulent and +foggy ocean washed its shores. It was girt round by a belt of granite +rocks, or by wide tracts of sand. The foliage of its woods was dark and +gloomy, for they were composed of firs, larches, evergreen oaks, wild +olive-trees, and laurels. Beyond this outer belt lay the thick shades +of the central forest, where the largest trees which are produced in +the two hemispheres grow side by side. The plane, the catalpa, the +sugar-maple, and the Virginian poplar mingled their branches with those +of the oak, the beech, and the lime. In these, as in the forests of the +Old World, destruction was perpetually going on. The ruins of +vegetation were heaped upon each other; but there was no laboring hand +to remove them, and their decay was not rapid enough to make room for +the continual work of reproduction. Climbing plants, grasses, and other +herbs forced their way through the mass of dying trees; they crept +along their bending trunks, found nourishment in their dusty cavities, +and a passage beneath the lifeless bark. Thus decay gave its assistance +to life, and their respective productions were mingled together. The +depths of these forests were gloomy and obscure, and a thousand +rivulets, undirected in their course by human industry, preserved in +them a constant moisture. It was rare to meet with flowers, wild +fruits, or birds beneath their shades. The fall of a tree overthrown by +age, the rushing torrent of a cataract, the lowing of the buffalo, and +the howling of the wind were the only sounds which broke the silence of +nature. + +To the east of the great river, the woods almost disappeared; in their +stead were seen prairies of immense extent. Whether Nature in her +infinite variety had denied the germs of trees to these fertile plains, +or whether they had once been covered with forests, subsequently +destroyed by the hand of man, is a question which neither tradition nor +scientific research has been able to resolve. + +These immense deserts were not, however, devoid of human inhabitants. +Some wandering tribes had been for ages scattered among the forest +shades or the green pastures of the prairie. From the mouth of the St. +Lawrence to the delta of the Mississippi, and from the Atlantic to the +Pacific Ocean, these savages possessed certain points of resemblance +which bore witness of their common origin; but at the same time they +differed from all other known races of men: *g they were neither white +like the Europeans, nor yellow like most of the Asiatics, nor black +like the negroes. Their skin was reddish brown, their hair long and +shining, their lips thin, and their cheekbones very prominent. The +languages spoken by the North American tribes are various as far as +regarded their words, but they were subject to the same grammatical +rules. These rules differed in several points from such as had been +observed to govern the origin of language. The idiom of the Americans +seemed to be the product of new combinations, and bespoke an effort of +the understanding of which the Indians of our days would be incapable. +*h + +g +[ With the progress of discovery some resemblance has been found to +exist between the physical conformation, the language, and the habits +of the Indians of North America, and those of the Tongous, Mantchous, +Mongols, Tartars, and other wandering tribes of Asia. The land occupied +by these tribes is not very distant from Behring’s Strait, which allows +of the supposition, that at a remote period they gave inhabitants to +the desert continent of America. But this is a point which has not yet +been clearly elucidated by science. See Malte Brun, vol. v.; the works +of Humboldt; Fischer, “Conjecture sur l’Origine des Americains”; Adair, +“History of the American Indians.”] + + +h +[ See Appendix, C.] + + +The social state of these tribes differed also in many respects from +all that was seen in the Old World. They seemed to have multiplied +freely in the midst of their deserts without coming in contact with +other races more civilized than their own. Accordingly, they exhibited +none of those indistinct, incoherent notions of right and wrong, none +of that deep corruption of manners, which is usually joined with +ignorance and rudeness among nations which, after advancing to +civilization, have relapsed into a state of barbarism. The Indian was +indebted to no one but himself; his virtues, his vices, and his +prejudices were his own work; he had grown up in the wild independence +of his nature. + +If, in polished countries, the lowest of the people are rude and +uncivil, it is not merely because they are poor and ignorant, but that, +being so, they are in daily contact with rich and enlightened men. The +sight of their own hard lot and of their weakness, which is daily +contrasted with the happiness and power of some of their +fellow-creatures, excites in their hearts at the same time the +sentiments of anger and of fear: the consciousness of their inferiority +and of their dependence irritates while it humiliates them. This state +of mind displays itself in their manners and language; they are at once +insolent and servile. The truth of this is easily proved by +observation; the people are more rude in aristocratic countries than +elsewhere, in opulent cities than in rural districts. In those places +where the rich and powerful are assembled together the weak and the +indigent feel themselves oppressed by their inferior condition. Unable +to perceive a single chance of regaining their equality, they give up +to despair, and allow themselves to fall below the dignity of human +nature. + +This unfortunate effect of the disparity of conditions is not +observable in savage life: the Indians, although they are ignorant and +poor, are equal and free. At the period when Europeans first came among +them the natives of North America were ignorant of the value of riches, +and indifferent to the enjoyments which civilized man procures to +himself by their means. Nevertheless there was nothing coarse in their +demeanor; they practised an habitual reserve and a kind of aristocratic +politeness. Mild and hospitable when at peace, though merciless in war +beyond any known degree of human ferocity, the Indian would expose +himself to die of hunger in order to succor the stranger who asked +admittance by night at the door of his hut; yet he could tear in pieces +with his hands the still quivering limbs of his prisoner. The famous +republics of antiquity never gave examples of more unshaken courage, +more haughty spirits, or more intractable love of independence than +were hidden in former times among the wild forests of the New World. *i +The Europeans produced no great impression when they landed upon the +shores of North America; their presence engendered neither envy nor +fear. What influence could they possess over such men as we have +described? The Indian could live without wants, suffer without +complaint, and pour out his death-song at the stake. *j Like all the +other members of the great human family, these savages believed in the +existence of a better world, and adored under different names, God, the +creator of the universe. Their notions on the great intellectual truths +were in general simple and philosophical. *k + +i +[ We learn from President Jefferson’s “Notes upon Virginia,” p. 148, +that among the Iroquois, when attacked by a superior force, aged men +refused to fly or to survive the destruction of their country; and they +braved death like the ancient Romans when their capital was sacked by +the Gauls. Further on, p. 150, he tells us that there is no example of +an Indian who, having fallen into the hands of his enemies, begged for +his life; on the contrary, the captive sought to obtain death at the +hands of his conquerors by the use of insult and provocation.] + + +j +[ See “Histoire de la Louisiane,” by Lepage Dupratz; Charlevoix, +“Histoire de la Nouvelle France”; “Lettres du Rev. G. Hecwelder;” +“Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,” v. I; Jefferson’s +“Notes on Virginia,” pp. 135-190. What is said by Jefferson is of +especial weight, on account of the personal merit of the writer, of his +peculiar position, and of the matter-of-fact age in which he lived.] + + +k +[ See Appendix, D.] + + +Although we have here traced the character of a primitive people, yet +it cannot be doubted that another people, more civilized and more +advanced in all respects, had preceded it in the same regions. + +An obscure tradition which prevailed among the Indians to the north of +the Atlantic informs us that these very tribes formerly dwelt on the +west side of the Mississippi. Along the banks of the Ohio, and +throughout the central valley, there are frequently found, at this day, +tumuli raised by the hands of men. On exploring these heaps of earth to +their centre, it is usual to meet with human bones, strange +instruments, arms and utensils of all kinds, made of metal, or destined +for purposes unknown to the present race. The Indians of our time are +unable to give any information relative to the history of this unknown +people. Neither did those who lived three hundred years ago, when +America was first discovered, leave any accounts from which even an +hypothesis could be formed. Tradition—that perishable, yet ever renewed +monument of the pristine world—throws no light upon the subject. It is +an undoubted fact, however, that in this part of the globe thousands of +our fellow-beings had lived. When they came hither, what was their +origin, their destiny, their history, and how they perished, no one can +tell. How strange does it appear that nations have existed, and +afterwards so completely disappeared from the earth that the +remembrance of their very names is effaced; their languages are lost; +their glory is vanished like a sound without an echo; though perhaps +there is not one which has not left behind it some tomb in memory of +its passage! The most durable monument of human labor is that which +recalls the wretchedness and nothingness of man. + +Although the vast country which we have been describing was inhabited +by many indigenous tribes, it may justly be said at the time of its +discovery by Europeans to have formed one great desert. The Indians +occupied without possessing it. It is by agricultural labor that man +appropriates the soil, and the early inhabitants of North America lived +by the produce of the chase. Their implacable prejudices, their +uncontrolled passions, their vices, and still more perhaps their savage +virtues, consigned them to inevitable destruction. The ruin of these +nations began from the day when Europeans landed on their shores; it +has proceeded ever since, and we are now witnessing the completion of +it. They seem to have been placed by Providence amidst the riches of +the New World to enjoy them for a season, and then surrender them. +Those coasts, so admirably adapted for commerce and industry; those +wide and deep rivers; that inexhaustible valley of the Mississippi; the +whole continent, in short, seemed prepared to be the abode of a great +nation, yet unborn. + +In that land the great experiment was to be made, by civilized man, of +the attempt to construct society upon a new basis; and it was there, +for the first time, that theories hitherto unknown, or deemed +impracticable, were to exhibit a spectacle for which the world had not +been prepared by the history of the past. + + + + + Chapter II: Origin Of The Anglo-Americans—Part I + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Utility of knowing the origin of nations in order to understand their +social condition and their laws—America the only country in which the +starting-point of a great people has been clearly observable—In what +respects all who emigrated to British America were similar—In what they +differed—Remark applicable to all Europeans who established themselves +on the shores of the New World—Colonization of Virginia—Colonization of +New England—Original character of the first inhabitants of New +England—Their arrival—Their first laws—Their social contract—Penal code +borrowed from the Hebrew legislation—Religious fervor—Republican +spirit—Intimate union of the spirit of religion with the spirit of +liberty. + +Origin Of The Anglo-Americans, And Its Importance In Relation To Their +Future Condition. + +After the birth of a human being his early years are obscurely spent in +the toils or pleasures of childhood. As he grows up the world receives +him, when his manhood begins, and he enters into contact with his +fellows. He is then studied for the first time, and it is imagined that +the germ of the vices and the virtues of his maturer years is then +formed. This, if I am not mistaken, is a great error. We must begin +higher up; we must watch the infant in its mother’s arms; we must see +the first images which the external world casts upon the dark mirror of +his mind; the first occurrences which he witnesses; we must hear the +first words which awaken the sleeping powers of thought, and stand by +his earliest efforts, if we would understand the prejudices, the +habits, and the passions which will rule his life. The entire man is, +so to speak, to be seen in the cradle of the child. + +The growth of nations presents something analogous to this: they all +bear some marks of their origin; and the circumstances which +accompanied their birth and contributed to their rise affect the whole +term of their being. If we were able to go back to the elements of +states, and to examine the oldest monuments of their history, I doubt +not that we should discover the primal cause of the prejudices, the +habits, the ruling passions, and, in short, of all that constitutes +what is called the national character; we should then find the +explanation of certain customs which now seem at variance with the +prevailing manners; of such laws as conflict with established +principles; and of such incoherent opinions as are here and there to be +met with in society, like those fragments of broken chains which we +sometimes see hanging from the vault of an edifice, and supporting +nothing. This might explain the destinies of certain nations, which +seem borne on by an unknown force to ends of which they themselves are +ignorant. But hitherto facts have been wanting to researches of this +kind: the spirit of inquiry has only come upon communities in their +latter days; and when they at length contemplated their origin, time +had already obscured it, or ignorance and pride adorned it with +truth-concealing fables. + +America is the only country in which it has been possible to witness +the natural and tranquil growth of society, and where the influences +exercised on the future condition of states by their origin is clearly +distinguishable. At the period when the peoples of Europe landed in the +New World their national characteristics were already completely +formed; each of them had a physiognomy of its own; and as they had +already attained that stage of civilization at which men are led to +study themselves, they have transmitted to us a faithful picture of +their opinions, their manners, and their laws. The men of the sixteenth +century are almost as well known to us as our contemporaries. America, +consequently, exhibits in the broad light of day the phenomena which +the ignorance or rudeness of earlier ages conceals from our researches. +Near enough to the time when the states of America were founded, to be +accurately acquainted with their elements, and sufficiently removed +from that period to judge of some of their results, the men of our own +day seem destined to see further than their predecessors into the +series of human events. Providence has given us a torch which our +forefathers did not possess, and has allowed us to discern fundamental +causes in the history of the world which the obscurity of the past +concealed from them. If we carefully examine the social and political +state of America, after having studied its history, we shall remain +perfectly convinced that not an opinion, not a custom, not a law, I may +even say not an event, is upon record which the origin of that people +will not explain. The readers of this book will find the germ of all +that is to follow in the present chapter, and the key to almost the +whole work. + +The emigrants who came, at different periods to occupy the territory +now covered by the American Union differed from each other in many +respects; their aim was not the same, and they governed themselves on +different principles. These men had, however, certain features in +common, and they were all placed in an analogous situation. The tie of +language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite +mankind. All the emigrants spoke the same tongue; they were all offsets +from the same people. Born in a country which had been agitated for +centuries by the struggles of faction, and in which all parties had +been obliged in their turn to place themselves under the protection of +the laws, their political education had been perfected in this rude +school, and they were more conversant with the notions of right and the +principles of true freedom than the greater part of their European +contemporaries. At the period of their first emigrations the parish +system, that fruitful germ of free institutions, was deeply rooted in +the habits of the English; and with it the doctrine of the sovereignty +of the people had been introduced into the bosom of the monarchy of the +House of Tudor. + +The religious quarrels which have agitated the Christian world were +then rife. England had plunged into the new order of things with +headlong vehemence. The character of its inhabitants, which had always +been sedate and reflective, became argumentative and austere. General +information had been increased by intellectual debate, and the mind had +received a deeper cultivation. Whilst religion was the topic of +discussion, the morals of the people were reformed. All these national +features are more or less discoverable in the physiognomy of those +adventurers who came to seek a new home on the opposite shores of the +Atlantic. + +Another remark, to which we shall hereafter have occasion to recur, is +applicable not only to the English, but to the French, the Spaniards, +and all the Europeans who successively established themselves in the +New World. All these European colonies contained the elements, if not +the development, of a complete democracy. Two causes led to this +result. It may safely be advanced, that on leaving the mother-country +the emigrants had in general no notion of superiority over one another. +The happy and the powerful do not go into exile, and there are no surer +guarantees of equality among men than poverty and misfortune. It +happened, however, on several occasions, that persons of rank were +driven to America by political and religious quarrels. Laws were made +to establish a gradation of ranks; but it was soon found that the soil +of America was opposed to a territorial aristocracy. To bring that +refractory land into cultivation, the constant and interested exertions +of the owner himself were necessary; and when the ground was prepared, +its produce was found to be insufficient to enrich a master and a +farmer at the same time. The land was then naturally broken up into +small portions, which the proprietor cultivated for himself. Land is +the basis of an aristocracy, which clings to the soil that supports it; +for it is not by privileges alone, nor by birth, but by landed property +handed down from generation to generation, that an aristocracy is +constituted. A nation may present immense fortunes and extreme +wretchedness, but unless those fortunes are territorial there is no +aristocracy, but simply the class of the rich and that of the poor. + +All the British colonies had then a great degree of similarity at the +epoch of their settlement. All of them, from their first beginning, +seemed destined to witness the growth, not of the aristocratic liberty +of their mother-country, but of that freedom of the middle and lower +orders of which the history of the world had as yet furnished no +complete example. + +In this general uniformity several striking differences were however +discernible, which it is necessary to point out. Two branches may be +distinguished in the Anglo-American family, which have hitherto grown +up without entirely commingling; the one in the South, the other in the +North. + +Virginia received the first English colony; the emigrants took +possession of it in 1607. The idea that mines of gold and silver are +the sources of national wealth was at that time singularly prevalent in +Europe; a fatal delusion, which has done more to impoverish the nations +which adopted it, and has cost more lives in America, than the united +influence of war and bad laws. The men sent to Virginia *a were seekers +of gold, adventurers, without resources and without character, whose +turbulent and restless spirit endangered the infant colony, *b and +rendered its progress uncertain. The artisans and agriculturists +arrived afterwards; and, although they were a more moral and orderly +race of men, they were in nowise above the level of the inferior +classes in England. *c No lofty conceptions, no intellectual system, +directed the foundation of these new settlements. The colony was +scarcely established when slavery was introduced, *d and this was the +main circumstance which has exercised so prodigious an influence on the +character, the laws, and all the future prospects of the South. +Slavery, as we shall afterwards show, dishonors labor; it introduces +idleness into society, and with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury +and distress. It enervates the powers of the mind, and benumbs the +activity of man. The influence of slavery, united to the English +character, explains the manners and the social condition of the +Southern States. + +a +[ The charter granted by the Crown of England in 1609 stipulated, +amongst other conditions, that the adventurers should pay to the Crown +a fifth of the produce of all gold and silver mines. See Marshall’s +“Life of Washington,” vol. i. pp. 18-66.] [Footnote b: A large portion +of the adventurers, says Stith (“History of Virginia”), were +unprincipled young men of family, whom their parents were glad to ship +off, discharged servants, fraudulent bankrupts, or debauchees; and +others of the same class, people more apt to pillage and destroy than +to assist the settlement, were the seditious chiefs, who easily led +this band into every kind of extravagance and excess. See for the +history of Virginia the following works:— + + +“History of Virginia, from the First Settlements in the year 1624,” by +Smith. + +“History of Virginia,” by William Stith. + +“History of Virginia, from the Earliest Period,” by Beverley.] + +c +[ It was not till some time later that a certain number of rich English +capitalists came to fix themselves in the colony.] + + +d +[ Slavery was introduced about the year 1620 by a Dutch vessel which +landed twenty negroes on the banks of the river James. See Chalmer.] + + +In the North, the same English foundation was modified by the most +opposite shades of character; and here I may be allowed to enter into +some details. The two or three main ideas which constitute the basis of +the social theory of the United States were first combined in the +Northern English colonies, more generally denominated the States of New +England. *e The principles of New England spread at first to the +neighboring states; they then passed successively to the more distant +ones; and at length they imbued the whole Confederation. They now +extend their influence beyond its limits over the whole American world. +The civilization of New England has been like a beacon lit upon a hill, +which, after it has diffused its warmth around, tinges the distant +horizon with its glow. + +e +[ The States of New England are those situated to the east of the +Hudson; they are now six in number: 1, Connecticut; 2, Rhode Island; 3, +Massachusetts; 4, Vermont; 5, New Hampshire; 6, Maine.] + + +The foundation of New England was a novel spectacle, and all the +circumstances attending it were singular and original. The large +majority of colonies have been first inhabited either by men without +education and without resources, driven by their poverty and their +misconduct from the land which gave them birth, or by speculators and +adventurers greedy of gain. Some settlements cannot even boast so +honorable an origin; St. Domingo was founded by buccaneers; and the +criminal courts of England originally supplied the population of +Australia. + +The settlers who established themselves on the shores of New England +all belonged to the more independent classes of their native country. +Their union on the soil of America at once presented the singular +phenomenon of a society containing neither lords nor common people, +neither rich nor poor. These men possessed, in proportion to their +number, a greater mass of intelligence than is to be found in any +European nation of our own time. All, without a single exception, had +received a good education, and many of them were known in Europe for +their talents and their acquirements. The other colonies had been +founded by adventurers without family; the emigrants of New England +brought with them the best elements of order and morality—they landed +in the desert accompanied by their wives and children. But what most +especially distinguished them was the aim of their undertaking. They +had not been obliged by necessity to leave their country; the social +position they abandoned was one to be regretted, and their means of +subsistence were certain. Nor did they cross the Atlantic to improve +their situation or to increase their wealth; the call which summoned +them from the comforts of their homes was purely intellectual; and in +facing the inevitable sufferings of exile their object was the triumph +of an idea. + +The emigrants, or, as they deservedly styled themselves, the Pilgrims, +belonged to that English sect the austerity of whose principles had +acquired for them the name of Puritans. Puritanism was not merely a +religious doctrine, but it corresponded in many points with the most +absolute democratic and republican theories. It was this tendency which +had aroused its most dangerous adversaries. Persecuted by the +Government of the mother-country, and disgusted by the habits of a +society opposed to the rigor of their own principles, the Puritans went +forth to seek some rude and unfrequented part of the world, where they +could live according to their own opinions, and worship God in freedom. + +A few quotations will throw more light upon the spirit of these pious +adventures than all we can say of them. Nathaniel Morton, *f the +historian of the first years of the settlement, thus opens his subject: + +f +[ “New England’s Memorial,” p. 13; Boston, 1826. See also “Hutchinson’s +History,” vol. ii. p. 440.] + + +“Gentle Reader,—I have for some length of time looked upon it as a duty +incumbent, especially on the immediate successors of those that have +had so large experience of those many memorable and signal +demonstrations of God’s goodness, viz., the first beginners of this +Plantation in New England, to commit to writing his gracious +dispensations on that behalf; having so many inducements thereunto, not +onely otherwise but so plentifully in the Sacred Scriptures: that so, +what we have seen, and what our fathers have told us (Psalm lxxviii. 3, +4), we may not hide from our children, showing to the generations to +come the praises of the Lord; that especially the seed of Abraham his +servant, and the children of Jacob his chosen (Psalm cv. 5, 6), may +remember his marvellous works in the beginning and progress of the +planting of New England, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth; +how that God brought a vine into this wilderness; that he cast out the +heathen, and planted it; that he made room for it and caused it to take +deep root; and it filled the land (Psalm lxxx. 8, 9). And not onely so, +but also that he hath guided his people by his strength to his holy +habitation and planted them in the mountain of his inheritance in +respect of precious Gospel enjoyments: and that as especially God may +have the glory of all unto whom it is most due; so also some rays of +glory may reach the names of those blessed Saints that were the main +instruments and the beginning of this happy enterprise.” + +It is impossible to read this opening paragraph without an involuntary +feeling of religious awe; it breathes the very savor of Gospel +antiquity. The sincerity of the author heightens his power of language. +The band which to his eyes was a mere party of adventurers gone forth +to seek their fortune beyond seas appears to the reader as the germ of +a great nation wafted by Providence to a predestined shore. + +The author thus continues his narrative of the departure of the first +pilgrims:— + +“So they left that goodly and pleasant city of Leyden, *g which had +been their resting-place for above eleven years; but they knew that +they were pilgrims and strangers here below, and looked not much on +these things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, their dearest +country, where God hath prepared for them a city (Heb. xi. 16), and +therein quieted their spirits. When they came to Delfs-Haven they found +the ship and all things ready; and such of their friends as could not +come with them followed after them, and sundry came from Amsterdam to +see them shipt, and to take their leaves of them. One night was spent +with little sleep with the most, but with friendly entertainment and +Christian discourse, and other real expressions of true Christian love. +The next day they went on board, and their friends with them, where +truly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear +what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound amongst them; what tears did +gush from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced each other’s heart, +that sundry of the Dutch strangers that stood on the Key as spectators +could not refrain from tears. But the tide (which stays for no man) +calling them away, that were thus loth to depart, their Reverend Pastor +falling down on his knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks +commended them with most fervent prayers unto the Lord and his +blessing; and then, with mutual embraces and many tears they took their +leaves one of another, which proved to be the last leave to many of +them.” + +g +[ The emigrants were, for the most part, godly Christians from the +North of England, who had quitted their native country because they +were “studious of reformation, and entered into covenant to walk with +one another according to the primitive pattern of the Word of God.” +They emigrated to Holland, and settled in the city of Leyden in 1610, +where they abode, being lovingly respected by the Dutch, for many +years: they left it in 1620 for several reasons, the last of which was, +that their posterity would in a few generations become Dutch, and so +lose their interest in the English nation; they being desirous rather +to enlarge His Majesty’s dominions, and to live under their natural +prince.—Translator’s Note.] + + +The emigrants were about 150 in number, including the women and the +children. Their object was to plant a colony on the shores of the +Hudson; but after having been driven about for some time in the +Atlantic Ocean, they were forced to land on that arid coast of New +England which is now the site of the town of Plymouth. The rock is +still shown on which the pilgrims disembarked. *h + +h +[ This rock is become an object of veneration in the United States. I +have seen bits of it carefully preserved in several towns of the Union. +Does not this sufficiently show how entirely all human power and +greatness is in the soul of man? Here is a stone which the feet of a +few outcasts pressed for an instant, and this stone becomes famous; it +is treasured by a great nation, its very dust is shared as a relic: and +what is become of the gateways of a thousand palaces?] + + +“But before we pass on,” continues our historian, “let the reader with +me make a pause and seriously consider this poor people’s present +condition, the more to be raised up to admiration of God’s goodness +towards them in their preservation: for being now passed the vast +ocean, and a sea of troubles before them in expectation, they had now +no friends to welcome them, no inns to entertain or refresh them, no +houses, or much less towns to repair unto to seek for succour: and for +the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of the country +know them to be sharp and violent, subject to cruel and fierce storms, +dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search unknown +coasts. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and desolate +wilderness, full of wilde beasts, and wilde men? and what multitudes of +them there were, they then knew not: for which way soever they turned +their eyes (save upward to Heaven) they could have but little solace or +content in respect of any outward object; for summer being ended, all +things stand in appearance with a weather-beaten face, and the whole +country full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hew; +if they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had +passed, and was now as a main bar or gulph to separate them from all +the civil parts of the world.” + +It must not be imagined that the piety of the Puritans was of a merely +speculative kind, or that it took no cognizance of the course of +worldly affairs. Puritanism, as I have already remarked, was scarcely +less a political than a religious doctrine. No sooner had the emigrants +landed on the barren coast described by Nathaniel Morton than it was +their first care to constitute a society, by passing the following Act: + +“In the name of God. Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal +subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, etc., etc., Having +undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian +Faith, and the honour of our King and country, a voyage to plant the +first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; Do by these presents +solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant +and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our +better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends +aforesaid: and by virtue hereof do enact, constitute and frame such +just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and officers, +from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the +general good of the Colony: unto which we promise all due submission +and obedience,” etc. *i + +i +[ The emigrants who founded the State of Rhode Island in 1638, those +who landed at New Haven in 1637, the first settlers in Connecticut in +1639, and the founders of Providence in 1640, began in like manner by +drawing up a social contract, which was acceded to by all the +interested parties. See “Pitkin’s History,” pp. 42 and 47.] + + +This happened in 1620, and from that time forwards the emigration went +on. The religious and political passions which ravaged the British +Empire during the whole reign of Charles I drove fresh crowds of +sectarians every year to the shores of America. In England the +stronghold of Puritanism was in the middle classes, and it was from the +middle classes that the majority of the emigrants came. The population +of New England increased rapidly; and whilst the hierarchy of rank +despotically classed the inhabitants of the mother-country, the colony +continued to present the novel spectacle of a community homogeneous in +all its parts. A democracy, more perfect than any which antiquity had +dreamt of, started in full size and panoply from the midst of an +ancient feudal society. + + + + + Chapter II: Origin Of The Anglo-Americans—Part II + + +The English Government was not dissatisfied with an emigration which +removed the elements of fresh discord and of further revolutions. On +the contrary, everything was done to encourage it, and great exertions +were made to mitigate the hardships of those who sought a shelter from +the rigor of their country’s laws on the soil of America. It seemed as +if New England was a region given up to the dreams of fancy and the +unrestrained experiments of innovators. + +The English colonies (and this is one of the main causes of their +prosperity) have always enjoyed more internal freedom and more +political independence than the colonies of other nations; but this +principle of liberty was nowhere more extensively applied than in the +States of New England. + +It was generally allowed at that period that the territories of the New +World belonged to that European nation which had been the first to +discover them. Nearly the whole coast of North America thus became a +British possession towards the end of the sixteenth century. The means +used by the English Government to people these new domains were of +several kinds; the King sometimes appointed a governor of his own +choice, who ruled a portion of the New World in the name and under the +immediate orders of the Crown; *j this is the colonial system adopted +by other countries of Europe. Sometimes grants of certain tracts were +made by the Crown to an individual or to a company, *k in which case +all the civil and political power fell into the hands of one or more +persons, who, under the inspection and control of the Crown, sold the +lands and governed the inhabitants. Lastly, a third system consisted in +allowing a certain number of emigrants to constitute a political +society under the protection of the mother-country, and to govern +themselves in whatever was not contrary to her laws. This mode of +colonization, so remarkably favorable to liberty, was only adopted in +New England. *l + +j +[ This was the case in the State of New York.] + + +k +[ Maryland, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were in this +situation. See “Pitkin’s History,” vol. i. pp. 11-31.] + + +l +[ See the work entitled “Historical Collection of State Papers and +other authentic Documents intended as materials for a History of the +United States of America, by Ebenezer Hasard. Philadelphia, 1792,” for +a great number of documents relating to the commencement of the +colonies, which are valuable from their contents and their +authenticity: amongst them are the various charters granted by the King +of England, and the first acts of the local governments. + + +See also the analysis of all these charters given by Mr. Story, Judge +of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the Introduction to his +“Commentary on the Constitution of the United States.” It results from +these documents that the principles of representative government and +the external forms of political liberty were introduced into all the +colonies at their origin. These principles were more fully acted upon +in the North than in the South, but they existed everywhere.] + +In 1628 *m a charter of this kind was granted by Charles I to the +emigrants who went to form the colony of Massachusetts. But, in +general, charters were not given to the colonies of New England till +they had acquired a certain existence. Plymouth, Providence, New Haven, +the State of Connecticut, and that of Rhode Island *n were founded +without the co-operation and almost without the knowledge of the +mother-country. The new settlers did not derive their incorporation +from the seat of the empire, although they did not deny its supremacy; +they constituted a society of their own accord, and it was not till +thirty or forty years afterwards, under Charles II. that their +existence was legally recognized by a royal charter. + +m +[ See “Pitkin’s History,” p, 35. See the “History of the Colony of +Massachusetts Bay,” by Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 9.] [Footnote n: See +“Pitkin’s History,” pp. 42, 47.] + + +This frequently renders its it difficult to detect the link which +connected the emigrants with the land of their forefathers in studying +the earliest historical and legislative records of New England. They +exercised the rights of sovereignty; they named their magistrates, +concluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted +laws as if their allegiance was due only to God. *o Nothing can be more +curious and, at the same time more instructive, than the legislation of +that period; it is there that the solution of the great social problem +which the United States now present to the world is to be found. + +o +[ The inhabitants of Massachusetts had deviated from the forms which +are preserved in the criminal and civil procedure of England; in 1650 +the decrees of justice were not yet headed by the royal style. See +Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 452.] + + +Amongst these documents we shall notice, as especially characteristic, +the code of laws promulgated by the little State of Connecticut in +1650. *p The legislators of Connecticut *q begin with the penal laws, +and, strange to say, they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy +Writ. “Whosoever shall worship any other God than the Lord,” says the +preamble of the Code, “shall surely be put to death.” This is followed +by ten or twelve enactments of the same kind, copied verbatim from the +books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Blasphemy, sorcery, +adultery, *r and rape were punished with death; an outrage offered by a +son to his parents was to be expiated by the same penalty. The +legislation of a rude and half-civilized people was thus applied to an +enlightened and moral community. The consequence was that the +punishment of death was never more frequently prescribed by the +statute, and never more rarely enforced towards the guilty. + +p +[ Code of 1650, p. 28; Hartford, 1830.] + + +q +[ See also in “Hutchinson’s History,” vol. i. pp. 435, 456, the +analysis of the penal code adopted in 1648 by the Colony of +Massachusetts: this code is drawn up on the same principles as that of +Connecticut.] + + +r +[ Adultery was also punished with death by the law of Massachusetts: +and Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 441, says that several persons actually +suffered for this crime. He quotes a curious anecdote on this subject, +which occurred in the year 1663. A married woman had had criminal +intercourse with a young man; her husband died, and she married the +lover. Several years had elapsed, when the public began to suspect the +previous intercourse of this couple: they were thrown into prison, put +upon trial, and very narrowly escaped capital punishment.] + + +The chief care of the legislators, in this body of penal laws, was the +maintenance of orderly conduct and good morals in the community: they +constantly invaded the domain of conscience, and there was scarcely a +sin which was not subject to magisterial censure. The reader is aware +of the rigor with which these laws punished rape and adultery; +intercourse between unmarried persons was likewise severely repressed. +The judge was empowered to inflict a pecuniary penalty, a whipping, or +marriage *s on the misdemeanants; and if the records of the old courts +of New Haven may be believed, prosecutions of this kind were not +unfrequent. We find a sentence bearing date the first of May, 1660, +inflicting a fine and reprimand on a young woman who was accused of +using improper language, and of allowing herself to be kissed. *t The +Code of 1650 abounds in preventive measures. It punishes idleness and +drunkenness with severity. *u Innkeepers are forbidden to furnish more +than a certain quantity of liquor to each consumer; and simple lying, +whenever it may be injurious, *v is checked by a fine or a flogging. In +other places, the legislator, entirely forgetting the great principles +of religious toleration which he had himself upheld in Europe, renders +attendance on divine service compulsory, *w and goes so far as to visit +with severe punishment, ** and even with death, the Christians who +chose to worship God according to a ritual differing from his own. *x +Sometimes indeed the zeal of his enactments induces him to descend to +the most frivolous particulars: thus a law is to be found in the same +Code which prohibits the use of tobacco. *y It must not be forgotten +that these fantastical and vexatious laws were not imposed by +authority, but that they were freely voted by all the persons +interested, and that the manners of the community were even more +austere and more puritanical than the laws. In 1649 a solemn +association was formed in Boston to check the worldly luxury of long +hair. *z + +s +[ Code of 1650, p. 48. It seems sometimes to have happened that the +judges superadded these punishments to each other, as is seen in a +sentence pronounced in 1643 (p. 114, “New Haven Antiquities”), by which +Margaret Bedford, convicted of loose conduct, was condemned to be +whipped, and afterwards to marry Nicholas Jemmings, her accomplice.] + + +t +[ “New Haven Antiquities,” p. 104. See also “Hutchinson’s History,” for +several causes equally extraordinary.] + + +u +[ Code of 1650, pp. 50, 57.] + + +v +[ Ibid., p. 64.] + + +w +[ Ibid., p. 44.] + + +* +[ This was not peculiar to Connecticut. See, for instance, the law +which, on September 13, 1644, banished the Anabaptists from the State +of Massachusetts. (“Historical Collection of State Papers,” vol. i. p. +538.) See also the law against the Quakers, passed on October 14, 1656: +“Whereas,” says the preamble, “an accursed race of heretics called +Quakers has sprung up,” etc. The clauses of the statute inflict a heavy +fine on all captains of ships who should import Quakers into the +country. The Quakers who may be found there shall be whipped and +imprisoned with hard labor. Those members of the sect who should defend +their opinions shall be first fined, then imprisoned, and finally +driven out of the province.—“Historical Collection of State Papers,” +vol. i. p. 630.] + + +x +[ By the penal law of Massachusetts, any Catholic priest who should set +foot in the colony after having been once driven out of it was liable +to capital punishment.] + + +y +[ Code of 1650, p. 96.] + + +z +[ “New England’s Memorial,” p. 316. See Appendix, E.] + + +These errors are no doubt discreditable to human reason; they attest +the inferiority of our nature, which is incapable of laying firm hold +upon what is true and just, and is often reduced to the alternative of +two excesses. In strict connection with this penal legislation, which +bears such striking marks of a narrow sectarian spirit, and of those +religious passions which had been warmed by persecution and were still +fermenting among the people, a body of political laws is to be found, +which, though written two hundred years ago, is still ahead of the +liberties of our age. The general principles which are the groundwork +of modern constitutions—principles which were imperfectly known in +Europe, and not completely triumphant even in Great Britain, in the +seventeenth century—were all recognized and determined by the laws of +New England: the intervention of the people in public affairs, the free +voting of taxes, the responsibility of authorities, personal liberty, +and trial by jury, were all positively established without discussion. +From these fruitful principles consequences have been derived and +applications have been made such as no nation in Europe has yet +ventured to attempt. + +In Connecticut the electoral body consisted, from its origin, of the +whole number of citizens; and this is readily to be understood, *a when +we recollect that this people enjoyed an almost perfect equality of +fortune, and a still greater uniformity of opinions. *b In Connecticut, +at this period, all the executive functionaries were elected, including +the Governor of the State. *c The citizens above the age of sixteen +were obliged to bear arms; they formed a national militia, which +appointed its own officers, and was to hold itself at all times in +readiness to march for the defence of the country. *d + +a +[ Constitution of 1638, p. 17.] + + +b +[ In 1641 the General Assembly of Rhode Island unanimously declared +that the government of the State was a democracy, and that the power +was vested in the body of free citizens, who alone had the right to +make the laws and to watch their execution.—Code of 1650, p. 70.] + + +c +[ “Pitkin’s History,” p. 47.] + + +d +[ Constitution of 1638, p. 12.] + + +In the laws of Connecticut, as well as in all those of New England, we +find the germ and gradual development of that township independence +which is the life and mainspring of American liberty at the present +day. The political existence of the majority of the nations of Europe +commenced in the superior ranks of society, and was gradually and +imperfectly communicated to the different members of the social body. +In America, on the other hand, it may be said that the township was +organized before the county, the county before the State, the State +before the Union. In New England townships were completely and +definitively constituted as early as 1650. The independence of the +township was the nucleus round which the local interests, passions, +rights, and duties collected and clung. It gave scope to the activity +of a real political life most thoroughly democratic and republican. The +colonies still recognized the supremacy of the mother-country; monarchy +was still the law of the State; but the republic was already +established in every township. The towns named their own magistrates of +every kind, rated themselves, and levied their own taxes. *e In the +parish of New England the law of representation was not adopted, but +the affairs of the community were discussed, as at Athens, in the +market-place, by a general assembly of the citizens. + +e +[ Code of 1650, p. 80.] + + +In studying the laws which were promulgated at this first era of the +American republics, it is impossible not to be struck by the remarkable +acquaintance with the science of government and the advanced theory of +legislation which they display. The ideas there formed of the duties of +society towards its members are evidently much loftier and more +comprehensive than those of the European legislators at that time: +obligations were there imposed which were elsewhere slighted. In the +States of New England, from the first, the condition of the poor was +provided for; *f strict measures were taken for the maintenance of +roads, and surveyors were appointed to attend to them; *g registers +were established in every parish, in which the results of public +deliberations, and the births, deaths, and marriages of the citizens +were entered; *h clerks were directed to keep these registers; *i +officers were charged with the administration of vacant inheritances, +and with the arbitration of litigated landmarks; and many others were +created whose chief functions were the maintenance of public order in +the community. *j The law enters into a thousand useful provisions for +a number of social wants which are at present very inadequately felt in +France. [Footnote f: Ibid., p. 78.] + +g +[ Ibid., p. 49.] + + +h +[ See “Hutchinson’s History,” vol. i. p. 455.] + + +i +[ Code of 1650, p. 86.] + + +j +[ Ibid., p. 40.] + + +But it is by the attention it pays to Public Education that the +original character of American civilization is at once placed in the +clearest light. “It being,” says the law, “one chief project of Satan +to keep men from the knowledge of the Scripture by persuading from the +use of tongues, to the end that learning may not be buried in the +graves of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth, the Lord +assisting our endeavors. . . .” *k Here follow clauses establishing +schools in every township, and obliging the inhabitants, under pain of +heavy fines, to support them. Schools of a superior kind were founded +in the same manner in the more populous districts. The municipal +authorities were bound to enforce the sending of children to school by +their parents; they were empowered to inflict fines upon all who +refused compliance; and in case of continued resistance society assumed +the place of the parent, took possession of the child, and deprived the +father of those natural rights which he used to so bad a purpose. The +reader will undoubtedly have remarked the preamble of these enactments: +in America religion is the road to knowledge, and the observance of the +divine laws leads man to civil freedom. + +k +[ Ibid., p. 90.] + + +If, after having cast a rapid glance over the state of American society +in 1650, we turn to the condition of Europe, and more especially to +that of the Continent, at the same period, we cannot fail to be struck +with astonishment. On the Continent of Europe, at the beginning of the +seventeenth century, absolute monarchy had everywhere triumphed over +the ruins of the oligarchical and feudal liberties of the Middle Ages. +Never were the notions of right more completely confounded than in the +midst of the splendor and literature of Europe; never was there less +political activity among the people; never were the principles of true +freedom less widely circulated; and at that very time those principles, +which were scorned or unknown by the nations of Europe, were proclaimed +in the deserts of the New World, and were accepted as the future creed +of a great people. The boldest theories of the human reason were put +into practice by a community so humble that not a statesman +condescended to attend to it; and a legislation without a precedent was +produced offhand by the imagination of the citizens. In the bosom of +this obscure democracy, which had as yet brought forth neither +generals, nor philosophers, nor authors, a man might stand up in the +face of a free people and pronounce the following fine definition of +liberty. *l + +l +[ Mather’s “Magnalia Christi Americana,” vol. ii. p. 13. This speech +was made by Winthrop; he was accused of having committed arbitrary +actions during his magistracy, but after having made the speech of +which the above is a fragment, he was acquitted by acclamation, and +from that time forwards he was always re-elected governor of the State. +See Marshal, vol. i. p. 166.] + + +“Nor would I have you to mistake in the point of your own liberty. +There is a liberty of a corrupt nature which is effected both by men +and beasts to do what they list, and this liberty is inconsistent with +authority, impatient of all restraint; by this liberty ‘sumus omnes +deteriores’: ’tis the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the +ordinances of God are bent against it. But there is a civil, a moral, a +federal liberty which is the proper end and object of authority; it is +a liberty for that only which is just and good: for this liberty you +are to stand with the hazard of your very lives and whatsoever crosses +it is not authority, but a distemper thereof. This liberty is +maintained in a way of subjection to authority; and the authority set +over you will, in all administrations for your good, be quietly +submitted unto by all but such as have a disposition to shake off the +yoke and lose their true liberty, by their murmuring at the honor and +power of authority.” + +The remarks I have made will suffice to display the character of +Anglo-American civilization in its true light. It is the result (and +this should be constantly present to the mind of two distinct +elements), which in other places have been in frequent hostility, but +which in America have been admirably incorporated and combined with one +another. I allude to the spirit of Religion and the spirit of Liberty. + +The settlers of New England were at the same time ardent sectarians and +daring innovators. Narrow as the limits of some of their religious +opinions were, they were entirely free from political prejudices. Hence +arose two tendencies, distinct but not opposite, which are constantly +discernible in the manners as well as in the laws of the country. + +It might be imagined that men who sacrificed their friends, their +family, and their native land to a religious conviction were absorbed +in the pursuit of the intellectual advantages which they purchased at +so dear a rate. The energy, however, with which they strove for the +acquirement of wealth, moral enjoyment, and the comforts as well as +liberties of the world, is scarcely inferior to that with which they +devoted themselves to Heaven. + +Political principles and all human laws and institutions were moulded +and altered at their pleasure; the barriers of the society in which +they were born were broken down before them; the old principles which +had governed the world for ages were no more; a path without a turn and +a field without an horizon were opened to the exploring and ardent +curiosity of man: but at the limits of the political world he checks +his researches, he discreetly lays aside the use of his most formidable +faculties, he no longer consents to doubt or to innovate, but carefully +abstaining from raising the curtain of the sanctuary, he yields with +submissive respect to truths which he will not discuss. Thus, in the +moral world everything is classed, adapted, decided, and foreseen; in +the political world everything is agitated, uncertain, and disputed: in +the one is a passive, though a voluntary, obedience; in the other an +independence scornful of experience and jealous of authority. + +These two tendencies, apparently so discrepant, are far from +conflicting; they advance together, and mutually support each other. +Religion perceives that civil liberty affords a noble exercise to the +faculties of man, and that the political world is a field prepared by +the Creator for the efforts of the intelligence. Contented with the +freedom and the power which it enjoys in its own sphere, and with the +place which it occupies, the empire of religion is never more surely +established than when it reigns in the hearts of men unsupported by +aught beside its native strength. Religion is no less the companion of +liberty in all its battles and its triumphs; the cradle of its infancy, +and the divine source of its claims. The safeguard of morality is +religion, and morality is the best security of law and the surest +pledge of freedom. *m + +m +[ See Appendix, F.] + + +Reasons Of Certain Anomalies Which The Laws And Customs Of The +Anglo-Americans Present + +Remains of aristocratic institutions in the midst of a complete +democracy—Why?—Distinction carefully to be drawn between what is of +Puritanical and what is of English origin. + +The reader is cautioned not to draw too general or too absolute an +inference from what has been said. The social condition, the religion, +and the manners of the first emigrants undoubtedly exercised an immense +influence on the destiny of their new country. Nevertheless they were +not in a situation to found a state of things solely dependent on +themselves: no man can entirely shake off the influence of the past, +and the settlers, intentionally or involuntarily, mingled habits and +notions derived from their education and from the traditions of their +country with those habits and notions which were exclusively their own. +To form a judgment on the Anglo-Americans of the present day it is +therefore necessary to distinguish what is of Puritanical and what is +of English origin. + +Laws and customs are frequently to be met with in the United States +which contrast strongly with all that surrounds them. These laws seem +to be drawn up in a spirit contrary to the prevailing tenor of the +American legislation; and these customs are no less opposed to the tone +of society. If the English colonies had been founded in an age of +darkness, or if their origin was already lost in the lapse of years, +the problem would be insoluble. + +I shall quote a single example to illustrate what I advance. The civil +and criminal procedure of the Americans has only two means of +action—committal and bail. The first measure taken by the magistrate is +to exact security from the defendant, or, in case of refusal, to +incarcerate him: the ground of the accusation and the importance of the +charges against him are then discussed. It is evident that a +legislation of this kind is hostile to the poor man, and favorable only +to the rich. The poor man has not always a security to produce, even in +a civil cause; and if he is obliged to wait for justice in prison, he +is speedily reduced to distress. The wealthy individual, on the +contrary, always escapes imprisonment in civil causes; nay, more, he +may readily elude the punishment which awaits him for a delinquency by +breaking his bail. So that all the penalties of the law are, for him, +reducible to fines. *n Nothing can be more aristocratic than this +system of legislation. Yet in America it is the poor who make the law, +and they usually reserve the greatest social advantages to themselves. +The explanation of the phenomenon is to be found in England; the laws +of which I speak are English, *o and the Americans have retained them, +however repugnant they may be to the tenor of their legislation and the +mass of their ideas. Next to its habits, the thing which a nation is +least apt to change is its civil legislation. Civil laws are only +familiarly known to legal men, whose direct interest it is to maintain +them as they are, whether good or bad, simply because they themselves +are conversant with them. The body of the nation is scarcely acquainted +with them; it merely perceives their action in particular cases; but it +has some difficulty in seizing their tendency, and obeys them without +premeditation. I have quoted one instance where it would have been easy +to adduce a great number of others. The surface of American society is, +if I may use the expression, covered with a layer of democracy, from +beneath which the old aristocratic colors sometimes peep. + +n +[ Crimes no doubt exist for which bail is inadmissible, but they are +few in number.] + + +o +[ See Blackstone; and Delolme, book I chap. x.] + + + + + Chapter III: Social Conditions Of The Anglo-Americans + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +A Social condition is commonly the result of circumstances, sometimes +of laws, oftener still of these two causes united; but wherever it +exists, it may justly be considered as the source of almost all the +laws, the usages, and the ideas which regulate the conduct of nations; +whatever it does not produce it modifies. It is therefore necessary, if +we would become acquainted with the legislation and the manners of a +nation, to begin by the study of its social condition. + +The Striking Characteristic Of The Social Condition Of The +Anglo-Americans In Its Essential Democracy. + +The first emigrants of New England—Their equality—Aristocratic laws +introduced in the South—Period of the Revolution—Change in the law of +descent—Effects produced by this change—Democracy carried to its utmost +limits in the new States of the West—Equality of education. + +Many important observations suggest themselves upon the social +condition of the Anglo-Americans, but there is one which takes +precedence of all the rest. The social condition of the Americans is +eminently democratic; this was its character at the foundation of the +Colonies, and is still more strongly marked at the present day. I have +stated in the preceding chapter that great equality existed among the +emigrants who settled on the shores of New England. The germ of +aristocracy was never planted in that part of the Union. The only +influence which obtained there was that of intellect; the people were +used to reverence certain names as the emblems of knowledge and virtue. +Some of their fellow-citizens acquired a power over the rest which +might truly have been called aristocratic, if it had been capable of +transmission from father to son. + +This was the state of things to the east of the Hudson: to the +south-west of that river, and in the direction of the Floridas, the +case was different. In most of the States situated to the south-west of +the Hudson some great English proprietors had settled, who had imported +with them aristocratic principles and the English law of descent. I +have explained the reasons why it was impossible ever to establish a +powerful aristocracy in America; these reasons existed with less force +to the south-west of the Hudson. In the South, one man, aided by +slaves, could cultivate a great extent of country: it was therefore +common to see rich landed proprietors. But their influence was not +altogether aristocratic as that term is understood in Europe, since +they possessed no privileges; and the cultivation of their estates +being carried on by slaves, they had no tenants depending on them, and +consequently no patronage. Still, the great proprietors south of the +Hudson constituted a superior class, having ideas and tastes of its +own, and forming the centre of political action. This kind of +aristocracy sympathized with the body of the people, whose passions and +interests it easily embraced; but it was too weak and too short-lived +to excite either love or hatred for itself. This was the class which +headed the insurrection in the South, and furnished the best leaders of +the American revolution. + +At the period of which we are now speaking society was shaken to its +centre: the people, in whose name the struggle had taken place, +conceived the desire of exercising the authority which it had acquired; +its democratic tendencies were awakened; and having thrown off the yoke +of the mother-country, it aspired to independence of every kind. The +influence of individuals gradually ceased to be felt, and custom and +law united together to produce the same result. + +But the law of descent was the last step to equality. I am surprised +that ancient and modern jurists have not attributed to this law a +greater influence on human affairs. *a It is true that these laws +belong to civil affairs; but they ought nevertheless to be placed at +the head of all political institutions; for, whilst political laws are +only the symbol of a nation’s condition, they exercise an incredible +influence upon its social state. They have, moreover, a sure and +uniform manner of operating upon society, affecting, as it were, +generations yet unborn. + +a +[ I understand by the law of descent all those laws whose principal +object is to regulate the distribution of property after the death of +its owner. The law of entail is of this number; it certainly prevents +the owner from disposing of his possessions before his death; but this +is solely with the view of preserving them entire for the heir. The +principal object, therefore, of the law of entail is to regulate the +descent of property after the death of its owner: its other provisions +are merely means to this end.] + + +Through their means man acquires a kind of preternatural power over the +future lot of his fellow-creatures. When the legislator has regulated +the law of inheritance, he may rest from his labor. The machine once +put in motion will go on for ages, and advance, as if self-guided, +towards a given point. When framed in a particular manner, this law +unites, draws together, and vests property and power in a few hands: +its tendency is clearly aristocratic. On opposite principles its action +is still more rapid; it divides, distributes, and disperses both +property and power. Alarmed by the rapidity of its progress, those who +despair of arresting its motion endeavor to obstruct it by difficulties +and impediments; they vainly seek to counteract its effect by contrary +efforts; but it gradually reduces or destroys every obstacle, until by +its incessant activity the bulwarks of the influence of wealth are +ground down to the fine and shifting sand which is the basis of +democracy. When the law of inheritance permits, still more when it +decrees, the equal division of a father’s property amongst all his +children, its effects are of two kinds: it is important to distinguish +them from each other, although they tend to the same end. + +In virtue of the law of partible inheritance, the death of every +proprietor brings about a kind of revolution in property; not only do +his possessions change hands, but their very nature is altered, since +they are parcelled into shares, which become smaller and smaller at +each division. This is the direct and, as it were, the physical effect +of the law. It follows, then, that in countries where equality of +inheritance is established by law, property, and especially landed +property, must have a tendency to perpetual diminution. The effects, +however, of such legislation would only be perceptible after a lapse of +time, if the law was abandoned to its own working; for supposing the +family to consist of two children (and in a country people as France is +the average number is not above three), these children, sharing amongst +them the fortune of both parents, would not be poorer than their father +or mother. + +But the law of equal division exercises its influence not merely upon +the property itself, but it affects the minds of the heirs, and brings +their passions into play. These indirect consequences tend powerfully +to the destruction of large fortunes, and especially of large domains. +Among nations whose law of descent is founded upon the right of +primogeniture landed estates often pass from generation to generation +without undergoing division, the consequence of which is that family +feeling is to a certain degree incorporated with the estate. The family +represents the estate, the estate the family; whose name, together with +its origin, its glory, its power, and its virtues, is thus perpetuated +in an imperishable memorial of the past and a sure pledge of the +future. + +When the equal partition of property is established by law, the +intimate connection is destroyed between family feeling and the +preservation of the paternal estate; the property ceases to represent +the family; for as it must inevitably be divided after one or two +generations, it has evidently a constant tendency to diminish, and must +in the end be completely dispersed. The sons of the great landed +proprietor, if they are few in number, or if fortune befriends them, +may indeed entertain the hope of being as wealthy as their father, but +not that of possessing the same property as he did; the riches must +necessarily be composed of elements different from his. + +Now, from the moment that you divest the landowner of that interest in +the preservation of his estate which he derives from association, from +tradition, and from family pride, you may be certain that sooner or +later he will dispose of it; for there is a strong pecuniary interest +in favor of selling, as floating capital produces higher interest than +real property, and is more readily available to gratify the passions of +the moment. + +Great landed estates which have once been divided never come together +again; for the small proprietor draws from his land a better revenue, +in proportion, than the large owner does from his, and of course he +sells it at a higher rate. *b The calculations of gain, therefore, +which decide the rich man to sell his domain will still more powerfully +influence him against buying small estates to unite them into a large +one. + +b +[ I do not mean to say that the small proprietor cultivates his land +better, but he cultivates it with more ardor and care; so that he makes +up by his labor for his want of skill.] + + +What is called family pride is often founded upon an illusion of +self-love. A man wishes to perpetuate and immortalize himself, as it +were, in his great-grandchildren. Where the esprit de famille ceases to +act individual selfishness comes into play. When the idea of family +becomes vague, indeterminate, and uncertain, a man thinks of his +present convenience; he provides for the establishment of his +succeeding generation, and no more. Either a man gives up the idea of +perpetuating his family, or at any rate he seeks to accomplish it by +other means than that of a landed estate. Thus not only does the law of +partible inheritance render it difficult for families to preserve their +ancestral domains entire, but it deprives them of the inclination to +attempt it, and compels them in some measure to co-operate with the law +in their own extinction. + +The law of equal distribution proceeds by two methods: by acting upon +things, it acts upon persons; by influencing persons, it affects +things. By these means the law succeeds in striking at the root of +landed property, and dispersing rapidly both families and fortunes. *c + +c +[ Land being the most stable kind of property, we find, from time to +time, rich individuals who are disposed to make great sacrifices in +order to obtain it, and who willingly forfeit a considerable part of +their income to make sure of the rest. But these are accidental cases. +The preference for landed property is no longer found habitually in any +class but among the poor. The small landowner, who has less +information, less imagination, and fewer passions than the great one, +is generally occupied with the desire of increasing his estate: and it +often happens that by inheritance, by marriage, or by the chances of +trade, he is gradually furnished with the means. Thus, to balance the +tendency which leads men to divide their estates, there exists another, +which incites them to add to them. This tendency, which is sufficient +to prevent estates from being divided ad infinitum, is not strong +enough to create great territorial possessions, certainly not to keep +them up in the same family.] + + +Most certainly it is not for us Frenchmen of the nineteenth century, +who daily witness the political and social changes which the law of +partition is bringing to pass, to question its influence. It is +perpetually conspicuous in our country, overthrowing the walls of our +dwellings and removing the landmarks of our fields. But although it has +produced great effects in France, much still remains for it to do. Our +recollections, opinions, and habits present powerful obstacles to its +progress. + +In the United States it has nearly completed its work of destruction, +and there we can best study its results. The English laws concerning +the transmission of property were abolished in almost all the States at +the time of the Revolution. The law of entail was so modified as not to +interrupt the free circulation of property. *d The first generation +having passed away, estates began to be parcelled out, and the change +became more and more rapid with the progress of time. At this moment, +after a lapse of a little more than sixty years, the aspect of society +is totally altered; the families of the great landed proprietors are +almost all commingled with the general mass. In the State of New York, +which formerly contained many of these, there are but two who still +keep their heads above the stream, and they must shortly disappear. The +sons of these opulent citizens are become merchants, lawyers, or +physicians. Most of them have lapsed into obscurity. The last trace of +hereditary ranks and distinctions is destroyed—the law of partition has +reduced all to one level. [Footnote d: See Appendix, G.] + +I do not mean that there is any deficiency of wealthy individuals in +the United States; I know of no country, indeed, where the love of +money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where the +profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent +equality of property. But wealth circulates with inconceivable +rapidity, and experience shows that it is rare to find two succeeding +generations in the full enjoyment of it. + +This picture, which may perhaps be thought to be overcharged, still +gives a very imperfect idea of what is taking place in the new States +of the West and South-west. At the end of the last century a few bold +adventurers began to penetrate into the valleys of the Mississippi, and +the mass of the population very soon began to move in that direction: +communities unheard of till then were seen to emerge from the wilds: +States whose names were not in existence a few years before claimed +their place in the American Union; and in the Western settlements we +may behold democracy arrived at its utmost extreme. In these States, +founded off-hand, and, as it were, by chance, the inhabitants are but +of yesterday. Scarcely known to one another, the nearest neighbors are +ignorant of each other’s history. In this part of the American +continent, therefore, the population has not experienced the influence +of great names and great wealth, nor even that of the natural +aristocracy of knowledge and virtue. None are there to wield that +respectable power which men willingly grant to the remembrance of a +life spent in doing good before their eyes. The new States of the West +are already inhabited, but society has no existence among them. *e + +e +[ This may have been true in 1832, but is not so in 1874, when great +cities like Chicago and San Francisco have sprung up in the Western +States. But as yet the Western States exert no powerful influence on +American society.—-Translator’s Note.] + + +It is not only the fortunes of men which are equal in America; even +their requirements partake in some degree of the same uniformity. I do +not believe that there is a country in the world where, in proportion +to the population, there are so few uninstructed and at the same time +so few learned individuals. Primary instruction is within the reach of +everybody; superior instruction is scarcely to be obtained by any. This +is not surprising; it is in fact the necessary consequence of what we +have advanced above. Almost all the Americans are in easy +circumstances, and can therefore obtain the first elements of human +knowledge. + +In America there are comparatively few who are rich enough to live +without a profession. Every profession requires an apprenticeship, +which limits the time of instruction to the early years of life. At +fifteen they enter upon their calling, and thus their education ends at +the age when ours begins. Whatever is done afterwards is with a view to +some special and lucrative object; a science is taken up as a matter of +business, and the only branch of it which is attended to is such as +admits of an immediate practical application. In America most of the +rich men were formerly poor; most of those who now enjoy leisure were +absorbed in business during their youth; the consequence of which is, +that when they might have had a taste for study they had no time for +it, and when time is at their disposal they have no longer the +inclination. + +There is no class, then, in America, in which the taste for +intellectual pleasures is transmitted with hereditary fortune and +leisure, and by which the labors of the intellect are held in honor. +Accordingly there is an equal want of the desire and the power of +application to these objects. + +A middle standard is fixed in America for human knowledge. All approach +as near to it as they can; some as they rise, others as they descend. +Of course, an immense multitude of persons are to be found who +entertain the same number of ideas on religion, history, science, +political economy, legislation, and government. The gifts of intellect +proceed directly from God, and man cannot prevent their unequal +distribution. But in consequence of the state of things which we have +here represented it happens that, although the capacities of men are +widely different, as the Creator has doubtless intended they should be, +they are submitted to the same method of treatment. + +In America the aristocratic element has always been feeble from its +birth; and if at the present day it is not actually destroyed, it is at +any rate so completely disabled that we can scarcely assign to it any +degree of influence in the course of affairs. The democratic principle, +on the contrary, has gained so much strength by time, by events, and by +legislation, as to have become not only predominant but all-powerful. +There is no family or corporate authority, and it is rare to find even +the influence of individual character enjoy any durability. + +America, then, exhibits in her social state a most extraordinary +phenomenon. Men are there seen on a greater equality in point of +fortune and intellect, or, in other words, more equal in their +strength, than in any other country of the world, or in any age of +which history has preserved the remembrance. + +Political Consequences Of The Social Condition Of The Anglo-Americans + +The political consequences of such a social condition as this are +easily deducible. It is impossible to believe that equality will not +eventually find its way into the political world as it does everywhere +else. To conceive of men remaining forever unequal upon one single +point, yet equal on all others, is impossible; they must come in the +end to be equal upon all. Now I know of only two methods of +establishing equality in the political world; every citizen must be put +in possession of his rights, or rights must be granted to no one. For +nations which are arrived at the same stage of social existence as the +Anglo-Americans, it is therefore very difficult to discover a medium +between the sovereignty of all and the absolute power of one man: and +it would be vain to deny that the social condition which I have been +describing is equally liable to each of these consequences. + +There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for equality which +excites men to wish all to be powerful and honored. This passion tends +to elevate the humble to the rank of the great; but there exists also +in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak +to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and reduces men to +prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom. Not that those +nations whose social condition is democratic naturally despise liberty; +on the contrary, they have an instinctive love of it. But liberty is +not the chief and constant object of their desires; equality is their +idol: they make rapid and sudden efforts to obtain liberty, and if they +miss their aim resign themselves to their disappointment; but nothing +can satisfy them except equality, and rather than lose it they resolve +to perish. + +On the other hand, in a State where the citizens are nearly on an +equality, it becomes difficult for them to preserve their independence +against the aggressions of power. No one among them being strong enough +to engage in the struggle with advantage, nothing but a general +combination can protect their liberty. And such a union is not always +to be found. + +From the same social position, then, nations may derive one or the +other of two great political results; these results are extremely +different from each other, but they may both proceed from the same +cause. + +The Anglo-Americans are the first nations who, having been exposed to +this formidable alternative, have been happy enough to escape the +dominion of absolute power. They have been allowed by their +circumstances, their origin, their intelligence, and especially by +their moral feeling, to establish and maintain the sovereignty of the +people. + + + + + Chapter IV: The Principle Of The Sovereignty Of The People In America + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +It predominates over the whole of society in America—Application made +of this principle by the Americans even before their +Revolution—Development given to it by that Revolution—Gradual and +irresistible extension of the elective qualification. + +The Principle Of The Sovereignty Of The People In America + +Whenever the political laws of the United States are to be discussed, +it is with the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people that we must +begin. The principle of the sovereignty of the people, which is to be +found, more or less, at the bottom of almost all human institutions, +generally remains concealed from view. It is obeyed without being +recognized, or if for a moment it be brought to light, it is hastily +cast back into the gloom of the sanctuary. “The will of the nation” is +one of those expressions which have been most profusely abused by the +wily and the despotic of every age. To the eyes of some it has been +represented by the venal suffrages of a few of the satellites of power; +to others by the votes of a timid or an interested minority; and some +have even discovered it in the silence of a people, on the supposition +that the fact of submission established the right of command. + +In America the principle of the sovereignty of the people is not either +barren or concealed, as it is with some other nations; it is recognized +by the customs and proclaimed by the laws; it spreads freely, and +arrives without impediment at its most remote consequences. If there be +a country in the world where the doctrine of the sovereignty of the +people can be fairly appreciated, where it can be studied in its +application to the affairs of society, and where its dangers and its +advantages may be foreseen, that country is assuredly America. + +I have already observed that, from their origin, the sovereignty of the +people was the fundamental principle of the greater number of British +colonies in America. It was far, however, from then exercising as much +influence on the government of society as it now does. Two obstacles, +the one external, the other internal, checked its invasive progress. It +could not ostensibly disclose itself in the laws of colonies which were +still constrained to obey the mother-country: it was therefore obliged +to spread secretly, and to gain ground in the provincial assemblies, +and especially in the townships. + +American society was not yet prepared to adopt it with all its +consequences. The intelligence of New England, and the wealth of the +country to the south of the Hudson (as I have shown in the preceding +chapter), long exercised a sort of aristocratic influence, which tended +to retain the exercise of social authority in the hands of a few. The +public functionaries were not universally elected, and the citizens +were not all of them electors. The electoral franchise was everywhere +placed within certain limits, and made dependent on a certain +qualification, which was exceedingly low in the North and more +considerable in the South. + +The American revolution broke out, and the doctrine of the sovereignty +of the people, which had been nurtured in the townships and +municipalities, took possession of the State: every class was enlisted +in its cause; battles were fought, and victories obtained for it, until +it became the law of laws. + +A no less rapid change was effected in the interior of society, where +the law of descent completed the abolition of local influences. + +At the very time when this consequence of the laws and of the +revolution was apparent to every eye, victory was irrevocably +pronounced in favor of the democratic cause. All power was, in fact, in +its hands, and resistance was no longer possible. The higher orders +submitted without a murmur and without a struggle to an evil which was +thenceforth inevitable. The ordinary fate of falling powers awaited +them; each of their several members followed his own interests; and as +it was impossible to wring the power from the hands of a people which +they did not detest sufficiently to brave, their only aim was to secure +its good-will at any price. The most democratic laws were consequently +voted by the very men whose interests they impaired; and thus, although +the higher classes did not excite the passions of the people against +their order, they accelerated the triumph of the new state of things; +so that by a singular change the democratic impulse was found to be +most irresistible in the very States where the aristocracy had the +firmest hold. The State of Maryland, which had been founded by men of +rank, was the first to proclaim universal suffrage, and to introduce +the most democratic forms into the conduct of its government. + +When a nation modifies the elective qualification, it may easily be +foreseen that sooner or later that qualification will be entirely +abolished. There is no more invariable rule in the history of society: +the further electoral rights are extended, the greater is the need of +extending them; for after each concession the strength of the democracy +increases, and its demands increase with its strength. The ambition of +those who are below the appointed rate is irritated in exact proportion +to the great number of those who are above it. The exception at last +becomes the rule, concession follows concession, and no stop can be +made short of universal suffrage. + +At the present day the principle of the sovereignty of the people has +acquired, in the United States, all the practical development which the +imagination can conceive. It is unencumbered by those fictions which +have been thrown over it in other countries, and it appears in every +possible form according to the exigency of the occasion. Sometimes the +laws are made by the people in a body, as at Athens; and sometimes its +representatives, chosen by universal suffrage, transact business in its +name, and almost under its immediate control. + +In some countries a power exists which, though it is in a degree +foreign to the social body, directs it, and forces it to pursue a +certain track. In others the ruling force is divided, being partly +within and partly without the ranks of the people. But nothing of the +kind is to be seen in the United States; there society governs itself +for itself. All power centres in its bosom; and scarcely an individual +is to be meet with who would venture to conceive, or, still less, to +express, the idea of seeking it elsewhere. The nation participates in +the making of its laws by the choice of its legislators, and in the +execution of them by the choice of the agents of the executive +government; it may almost be said to govern itself, so feeble and so +restricted is the share left to the administration, so little do the +authorities forget their popular origin and the power from which they +emanate. *a [Footnote a: See Appendix, H.] + + + + + Chapter V: Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States—Part I + + +Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States Before That Of The +Union At Large. + +It is proposed to examine in the following chapter what is the form of +government established in America on the principle of the sovereignty +of the people; what are its resources, its hindrances, its advantages, +and its dangers. The first difficulty which presents itself arises from +the complex nature of the constitution of the United States, which +consists of two distinct social structures, connected and, as it were, +encased one within the other; two governments, completely separate and +almost independent, the one fulfilling the ordinary duties and +responding to the daily and indefinite calls of a community, the other +circumscribed within certain limits, and only exercising an exceptional +authority over the general interests of the country. In short, there +are twenty-four small sovereign nations, whose agglomeration +constitutes the body of the Union. To examine the Union before we have +studied the States would be to adopt a method filled with obstacles. +The form of the Federal Government of the United States was the last +which was adopted; and it is in fact nothing more than a modification +or a summary of those republican principles which were current in the +whole community before it existed, and independently of its existence. +Moreover, the Federal Government is, as I have just observed, the +exception; the Government of the States is the rule. The author who +should attempt to exhibit the picture as a whole before he had +explained its details would necessarily fall into obscurity and +repetition. + +The great political principles which govern American society at this +day undoubtedly took their origin and their growth in the State. It is +therefore necessary to become acquainted with the State in order to +possess a clue to the remainder. The States which at present compose +the American Union all present the same features, as far as regards the +external aspect of their institutions. Their political or +administrative existence is centred in three focuses of action, which +may not inaptly be compared to the different nervous centres which +convey motion to the human body. The township is the lowest in order, +then the county, and lastly the State; and I propose to devote the +following chapter to the examination of these three divisions. + +The American System Of Townships And Municipal Bodies + +Why the Author begins the examination of the political institutions +with the township—Its existence in all nations—Difficulty of +establishing and preserving municipal independence—Its importance—Why +the Author has selected the township system of New England as the main +topic of his discussion. + +It is not undesignedly that I begin this subject with the Township. The +village or township is the only association which is so perfectly +natural that wherever a number of men are collected it seems to +constitute itself. + +The town, or tithing, as the smallest division of a community, must +necessarily exist in all nations, whatever their laws and customs may +be: if man makes monarchies and establishes republics, the first +association of mankind seems constituted by the hand of God. But +although the existence of the township is coeval with that of man, its +liberties are not the less rarely respected and easily destroyed. A +nation is always able to establish great political assemblies, because +it habitually contains a certain number of individuals fitted by their +talents, if not by their habits, for the direction of affairs. The +township is, on the contrary, composed of coarser materials, which are +less easily fashioned by the legislator. The difficulties which attend +the consolidation of its independence rather augment than diminish with +the increasing enlightenment of the people. A highly civilized +community spurns the attempts of a local independence, is disgusted at +its numerous blunders, and is apt to despair of success before the +experiment is completed. Again, no immunities are so ill protected from +the encroachments of the supreme power as those of municipal bodies in +general: they are unable to struggle, single-handed, against a strong +or an enterprising government, and they cannot defend their cause with +success unless it be identified with the customs of the nation and +supported by public opinion. Thus until the independence of townships +is amalgamated with the manners of a people it is easily destroyed, and +it is only after a long existence in the laws that it can be thus +amalgamated. Municipal freedom is not the fruit of human device; it is +rarely created; but it is, as it were, secretly and spontaneously +engendered in the midst of a semi-barbarous state of society. The +constant action of the laws and the national habits, peculiar +circumstances, and above all time, may consolidate it; but there is +certainly no nation on the continent of Europe which has experienced +its advantages. Nevertheless local assemblies of citizens constitute +the strength of free nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary +schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they +teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a +system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal +institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty. The transient +passions and the interests of an hour, or the chance of circumstances, +may have created the external forms of independence; but the despotic +tendency which has been repelled will, sooner or later, inevitably +reappear on the surface. + +In order to explain to the reader the general principles on which the +political organization of the counties and townships of the United +States rests, I have thought it expedient to choose one of the States +of New England as an example, to examine the mechanism of its +constitution, and then to cast a general glance over the country. The +township and the county are not organized in the same manner in every +part of the Union; it is, however, easy to perceive that the same +principles have guided the formation of both of them throughout the +Union. I am inclined to believe that these principles have been carried +further in New England than elsewhere, and consequently that they offer +greater facilities to the observations of a stranger. The institutions +of New England form a complete and regular whole; they have received +the sanction of time, they have the support of the laws, and the still +stronger support of the manners of the community, over which they +exercise the most prodigious influence; they consequently deserve our +attention on every account. + +Limits Of The Township + +The township of New England is a division which stands between the +commune and the canton of France, and which corresponds in general to +the English tithing, or town. Its average population is from two to +three thousand; *a so that, on the one hand, the interests of its +inhabitants are not likely to conflict, and, on the other, men capable +of conducting its affairs are always to be found among its citizens. + +a +[ In 1830 there were 305 townships in the State of Massachusetts, and +610,014 inhabitants, which gives an average of about 2,000 inhabitants +to each township.] + + +Authorities Of The Township In New England + +The people the source of all power here as elsewhere—Manages its own +affairs—No corporation—The greater part of the authority vested in the +hands of the Selectmen—How the Selectmen act—Town-meeting—Enumeration +of the public officers of the township—Obligatory and remunerated +functions. + +In the township, as well as everywhere else, the people is the only +source of power; but in no stage of government does the body of +citizens exercise a more immediate influence. In America the people is +a master whose exigencies demand obedience to the utmost limits of +possibility. + +In New England the majority acts by representatives in the conduct of +the public business of the State; but if such an arrangement be +necessary in general affairs, in the townships, where the legislative +and administrative action of the government is in more immediate +contact with the subject, the system of representation is not adopted. +There is no corporation; but the body of electors, after having +designated its magistrates, directs them in everything that exceeds the +simple and ordinary executive business of the State. *b + +b +[ The same rules are not applicable to the great towns, which generally +have a mayor, and a corporation divided into two bodies; this, however, +is an exception which requires the sanction of a law.—See the Act of +February 22, 1822, for appointing the authorities of the city of +Boston. It frequently happens that small towns as well as cities are +subject to a peculiar administration. In 1832, 104 townships in the +State of New York were governed in this manner.—Williams’ Register.] + + +This state of things is so contrary to our ideas, and so different from +our customs, that it is necessary for me to adduce some examples to +explain it thoroughly. + +The public duties in the township are extremely numerous and minutely +divided, as we shall see further on; but the larger proportion of +administrative power is vested in the hands of a small number of +individuals, called “the Selectmen.” *c The general laws of the State +impose a certain number of obligations on the selectmen, which they may +fulfil without the authorization of the body they represent, but which +they can only neglect on their own responsibility. The law of the State +obliges them, for instance, to draw up the list of electors in their +townships; and if they omit this part of their functions, they are +guilty of a misdemeanor. In all the affairs, however, which are +determined by the town-meeting, the selectmen are the organs of the +popular mandate, as in France the Maire executes the decree of the +municipal council. They usually act upon their own responsibility, and +merely put in practice principles which have been previously recognized +by the majority. But if any change is to be introduced in the existing +state of things, or if they wish to undertake any new enterprise, they +are obliged to refer to the source of their power. If, for instance, a +school is to be established, the selectmen convoke the whole body of +the electors on a certain day at an appointed place; they explain the +urgency of the case; they give their opinion on the means of satisfying +it, on the probable expense, and the site which seems to be most +favorable. The meeting is consulted on these several points; it adopts +the principle, marks out the site, votes the rate, and confides the +execution of its resolution to the selectmen. + +c +[ Three selectmen are appointed in the small townships, and nine in the +large ones. See “The Town-Officer,” p. 186. See also the principal laws +of the State of Massachusetts relative to the selectmen: + + +Act of February 20, 1786, vol. i. p. 219; February 24, 1796, vol. i. p. +488; March 7, 1801, vol. ii. p. 45; June 16, 1795, vol. i. p. 475; +March 12, 1808, vol. ii. p. 186; February 28, 1787, vol. i. p. 302; +June 22, 1797, vol. i. p. 539.] + +The selectmen have alone the right of calling a town-meeting, but they +may be requested to do so: if ten citizens are desirous of submitting a +new project to the assent of the township, they may demand a general +convocation of the inhabitants; the selectmen are obliged to comply, +but they have only the right of presiding at the meeting. *d + +d +[ See Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 150, Act of March 25, 1786.] + + +The selectmen are elected every year in the month of April or of May. +The town-meeting chooses at the same time a number of other municipal +magistrates, who are entrusted with important administrative functions. +The assessors rate the township; the collectors receive the rate. A +constable is appointed to keep the peace, to watch the streets, and to +forward the execution of the laws; the town-clerk records all the town +votes, orders, grants, births, deaths, and marriages; the treasurer +keeps the funds; the overseer of the poor performs the difficult task +of superintending the action of the poor-laws; committee-men are +appointed to attend to the schools and to public instruction; and the +road-surveyors, who take care of the greater and lesser thoroughfares +of the township, complete the list of the principal functionaries. They +are, however, still further subdivided; and amongst the municipal +officers are to be found parish commissioners, who audit the expenses +of public worship; different classes of inspectors, some of whom are to +direct the citizens in case of fire; tithing-men, listers, haywards, +chimney-viewers, fence-viewers to maintain the bounds of property, +timber-measurers, and sealers of weights and measures. *e + +e +[ All these magistrates actually exist; their different functions are +all detailed in a book called “The Town-Officer,” by Isaac Goodwin, +Worcester, 1827; and in the “Collection of the General Laws of +Massachusetts,” 3 vols., Boston, 1823.] + + +There are nineteen principal officers in a township. Every inhabitant +is constrained, on the pain of being fined, to undertake these +different functions; which, however, are almost all paid, in order that +the poorer citizens may be able to give up their time without loss. In +general the American system is not to grant a fixed salary to its +functionaries. Every service has its price, and they are remunerated in +proportion to what they have done. + +Existence Of The Township + +Every one the best judge of his own interest—Corollary of the principle +of the sovereignty of the people—Application of those doctrines in the +townships of America—The township of New England is sovereign in all +that concerns itself alone: subject to the State in all other +matters—Bond of the township and the State—In France the Government +lends its agent to the Commune—In America the reverse occurs. + +I have already observed that the principle of the sovereignty of the +people governs the whole political system of the Anglo-Americans. Every +page of this book will afford new instances of the same doctrine. In +the nations by which the sovereignty of the people is recognized every +individual possesses an equal share of power, and participates alike in +the government of the State. Every individual is, therefore, supposed +to be as well informed, as virtuous, and as strong as any of his +fellow-citizens. He obeys the government, not because he is inferior to +the authorities which conduct it, or that he is less capable than his +neighbor of governing himself, but because he acknowledges the utility +of an association with his fellow-men, and because he knows that no +such association can exist without a regulating force. If he be a +subject in all that concerns the mutual relations of citizens, he is +free and responsible to God alone for all that concerns himself. Hence +arises the maxim that every one is the best and the sole judge of his +own private interest, and that society has no right to control a man’s +actions, unless they are prejudicial to the common weal, or unless the +common weal demands his co-operation. This doctrine is universally +admitted in the United States. I shall hereafter examine the general +influence which it exercises on the ordinary actions of life; I am now +speaking of the nature of municipal bodies. + +The township, taken as a whole, and in relation to the government of +the country, may be looked upon as an individual to whom the theory I +have just alluded to is applied. Municipal independence is therefore a +natural consequence of the principle of the sovereignty of the people +in the United States: all the American republics recognize it more or +less; but circumstances have peculiarly favored its growth in New +England. + +In this part of the Union the impulsion of political activity was given +in the townships; and it may almost be said that each of them +originally formed an independent nation. When the Kings of England +asserted their supremacy, they were contented to assume the central +power of the State. The townships of New England remained as they were +before; and although they are now subject to the State, they were at +first scarcely dependent upon it. It is important to remember that they +have not been invested with privileges, but that they have, on the +contrary, forfeited a portion of their independence to the State. The +townships are only subordinate to the State in those interests which I +shall term social, as they are common to all the citizens. They are +independent in all that concerns themselves; and amongst the +inhabitants of New England I believe that not a man is to be found who +would acknowledge that the State has any right to interfere in their +local interests. The towns of New England buy and sell, sue or are +sued, augment or diminish their rates, without the slightest opposition +on the part of the administrative authority of the State. + +They are bound, however, to comply with the demands of the community. +If the State is in need of money, a town can neither give nor withhold +the supplies. If the State projects a road, the township cannot refuse +to let it cross its territory; if a police regulation is made by the +State, it must be enforced by the town. A uniform system of instruction +is organized all over the country, and every town is bound to establish +the schools which the law ordains. In speaking of the administration of +the United States I shall have occasion to point out the means by which +the townships are compelled to obey in these different cases: I here +merely show the existence of the obligation. Strict as this obligation +is, the government of the State imposes it in principle only, and in +its performance the township resumes all its independent rights. Thus, +taxes are voted by the State, but they are levied and collected by the +township; the existence of a school is obligatory, but the township +builds, pays, and superintends it. In France the State-collector +receives the local imposts; in America the town-collector receives the +taxes of the State. Thus the French Government lends its agents to the +commune; in America the township is the agent of the Government. This +fact alone shows the extent of the differences which exist between the +two nations. + +Public Spirit Of The Townships Of New England + +How the township of New England wins the affections of its +inhabitants—Difficulty of creating local public spirit in Europe—The +rights and duties of the American township favorable to +it—Characteristics of home in the United States—Manifestations of +public spirit in New England—Its happy effects. + +In America, not only do municipal bodies exist, but they are kept alive +and supported by public spirit. The township of New England possesses +two advantages which infallibly secure the attentive interest of +mankind, namely, independence and authority. Its sphere is indeed small +and limited, but within that sphere its action is unrestrained; and its +independence gives to it a real importance which its extent and +population may not always ensure. + +It is to be remembered that the affections of men generally lie on the +side of authority. Patriotism is not durable in a conquered nation. The +New Englander is attached to his township, not only because he was born +in it, but because it constitutes a social body of which he is a +member, and whose government claims and deserves the exercise of his +sagacity. In Europe the absence of local public spirit is a frequent +subject of regret to those who are in power; everyone agrees that there +is no surer guarantee of order and tranquility, and yet nothing is more +difficult to create. If the municipal bodies were made powerful and +independent, the authorities of the nation might be disunited and the +peace of the country endangered. Yet, without power and independence, a +town may contain good subjects, but it can have no active citizens. +Another important fact is that the township of New England is so +constituted as to excite the warmest of human affections, without +arousing the ambitious passions of the heart of man. The officers of +the country are not elected, and their authority is very limited. Even +the State is only a second-rate community, whose tranquil and obscure +administration offers no inducement sufficient to draw men away from +the circle of their interests into the turmoil of public affairs. The +federal government confers power and honor on the men who conduct it; +but these individuals can never be very numerous. The high station of +the Presidency can only be reached at an advanced period of life, and +the other federal functionaries are generally men who have been favored +by fortune, or distinguished in some other career. Such cannot be the +permanent aim of the ambitious. But the township serves as a centre for +the desire of public esteem, the want of exciting interests, and the +taste for authority and popularity, in the midst of the ordinary +relations of life; and the passions which commonly embroil society +change their character when they find a vent so near the domestic +hearth and the family circle. + +In the American States power has been disseminated with admirable skill +for the purpose of interesting the greatest possible number of persons +in the common weal. Independently of the electors who are from time to +time called into action, the body politic is divided into innumerable +functionaries and officers, who all, in their several spheres, +represent the same powerful whole in whose name they act. The local +administration thus affords an unfailing source of profit and interest +to a vast number of individuals. + +The American system, which divides the local authority among so many +citizens, does not scruple to multiply the functions of the town +officers. For in the United States it is believed, and with truth, that +patriotism is a kind of devotion which is strengthened by ritual +observance. In this manner the activity of the township is continually +perceptible; it is daily manifested in the fulfilment of a duty or the +exercise of a right, and a constant though gentle motion is thus kept +up in society which animates without disturbing it. + +The American attaches himself to his home as the mountaineer clings to +his hills, because the characteristic features of his country are there +more distinctly marked than elsewhere. The existence of the townships +of New England is in general a happy one. Their government is suited to +their tastes, and chosen by themselves. In the midst of the profound +peace and general comfort which reign in America the commotions of +municipal discord are unfrequent. The conduct of local business is +easy. The political education of the people has long been complete; say +rather that it was complete when the people first set foot upon the +soil. In New England no tradition exists of a distinction of ranks; no +portion of the community is tempted to oppress the remainder; and the +abuses which may injure isolated individuals are forgotten in the +general contentment which prevails. If the government is defective (and +it would no doubt be easy to point out its deficiencies), the fact that +it really emanates from those it governs, and that it acts, either ill +or well, casts the protecting spell of a parental pride over its +faults. No term of comparison disturbs the satisfaction of the citizen: +England formerly governed the mass of the colonies, but the people was +always sovereign in the township where its rule is not only an ancient +but a primitive state. + +The native of New England is attached to his township because it is +independent and free: his co-operation in its affairs ensures his +attachment to its interest; the well-being it affords him secures his +affection; and its welfare is the aim of his ambition and of his future +exertions: he takes a part in every occurrence in the place; he +practises the art of government in the small sphere within his reach; +he accustoms himself to those forms which can alone ensure the steady +progress of liberty; he imbibes their spirit; he acquires a taste for +order, comprehends the union or the balance of powers, and collects +clear practical notions on the nature of his duties and the extent of +his rights. + +The Counties Of New England + +The division of the countries in America has considerable analogy with +that of the arrondissements of France. The limits of the counties are +arbitrarily laid down, and the various districts which they contain +have no necessary connection, no common tradition or natural sympathy; +their object is simply to facilitate the administration of justice. + +The extent of the township was too small to contain a system of +judicial institutions; each county has, however, a court of justice, *f +a sheriff to execute its decrees, and a prison for criminals. There are +certain wants which are felt alike by all the townships of a county; it +is therefore natural that they should be satisfied by a central +authority. In the State of Massachusetts this authority is vested in +the hands of several magistrates, who are appointed by the Governor of +the State, with the advice *g of his council. *h The officers of the +county have only a limited and occasional authority, which is +applicable to certain predetermined cases. The State and the townships +possess all the power requisite to conduct public business. The budget +of the county is drawn up by its officers, and is voted by the +legislature, but there is no assembly which directly or indirectly +represents the county. It has, therefore, properly speaking, no +political existence. + +f +[ See the Act of February 14, 1821, Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. +551.] + + +g +[ See the Act of February 20, 1819, Laws of Massachusetts, vol. ii. p. +494.] + + +h +[ The council of the Governor is an elective body.] A twofold tendency +may be discerned in the American constitutions, which impels the +legislator to centralize the legislative and to disperse the executive +power. The township of New England has in itself an indestructible +element of independence; and this distinct existence could only be +fictitiously introduced into the county, where its utility has not been +felt. But all the townships united have but one representation, which +is the State, the centre of the national authority: beyond the action +of the township and that of the nation, nothing can be said to exist +but the influence of individual exertion. + + +Administration In New England + +Administration not perceived in America—Why?—The Europeans believe that +liberty is promoted by depriving the social authority of some of its +rights; the Americans, by dividing its exercise—Almost all the +administration confined to the township, and divided amongst the +town-officers—No trace of an administrative body to be perceived, +either in the township or above it—The reason of this—How it happens +that the administration of the State is uniform—Who is empowered to +enforce the obedience of the township and the county to the law—The +introduction of judicial power into the administration—Consequence of +the extension of the elective principle to all functionaries—The +Justice of the Peace in New England—By whom appointed—County officer: +ensures the administration of the townships—Court of Sessions—Its +action—Right of inspection and indictment disseminated like the other +administrative functions—Informers encouraged by the division of fines. + +Nothing is more striking to an European traveller in the United States +than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration. +Written laws exist in America, and one sees that they are daily +executed; but although everything is in motion, the hand which gives +the impulse to the social machine can nowhere be discovered. +Nevertheless, as all peoples are obliged to have recourse to certain +grammatical forms, which are the foundation of human language, in order +to express their thoughts; so all communities are obliged to secure +their existence by submitting to a certain dose of authority, without +which they fall a prey to anarchy. This authority may be distributed in +several ways, but it must always exist somewhere. + +There are two methods of diminishing the force of authority in a +nation: The first is to weaken the supreme power in its very principle, +by forbidding or preventing society from acting in its own defence +under certain circumstances. To weaken authority in this manner is what +is generally termed in Europe to lay the foundations of freedom. The +second manner of diminishing the influence of authority does not +consist in stripping society of any of its rights, nor in paralyzing +its efforts, but in distributing the exercise of its privileges in +various hands, and in multiplying functionaries, to each of whom the +degree of power necessary for him to perform his duty is entrusted. +There may be nations whom this distribution of social powers might lead +to anarchy; but in itself it is not anarchical. The action of authority +is indeed thus rendered less irresistible and less perilous, but it is +not totally suppressed. + +The revolution of the United States was the result of a mature and +dignified taste for freedom, and not of a vague or ill-defined craving +for independence. It contracted no alliance with the turbulent passions +of anarchy; but its course was marked, on the contrary, by an +attachment to whatever was lawful and orderly. + +It was never assumed in the United States that the citizen of a free +country has a right to do whatever he pleases; on the contrary, social +obligations were there imposed upon him more various than anywhere +else. No idea was ever entertained of attacking the principles or of +contesting the rights of society; but the exercise of its authority was +divided, to the end that the office might be powerful and the officer +insignificant, and that the community should be at once regulated and +free. In no country in the world does the law hold so absolute a +language as in America, and in no country is the right of applying it +vested in so many hands. The administrative power in the United States +presents nothing either central or hierarchical in its constitution, +which accounts for its passing, unperceived. The power exists, but its +representative is not to be perceived. + +We have already seen that the independent townships of New England +protect their own private interests; and the municipal magistrates are +the persons to whom the execution of the laws of the State is most +frequently entrusted. *i Besides the general laws, the State sometimes +passes general police regulations; but more commonly the townships and +town officers, conjointly with justices of the peace, regulate the +minor details of social life, according to the necessities of the +different localities, and promulgate such enactments as concern the +health of the community, and the peace as well as morality of the +citizens. *j Lastly, these municipal magistrates provide, of their own +accord and without any delegated powers, for those unforeseen +emergencies which frequently occur in society. *k + +i +[ See “The Town-Officer,” especially at the words Selectmen, Assessors, +Collectors, Schools, Surveyors of Highways. I take one example in a +thousand: the State prohibits travelling on the Sunday; the +tything-men, who are town-officers, are specially charged to keep watch +and to execute the law. See the Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 410. + + +The selectmen draw up the lists of electors for the election of the +Governor, and transmit the result of the ballot to the Secretary of the +State. See Act of February 24, 1796: Id., vol. i. p. 488.] + +j +[ Thus, for instance, the selectmen authorize the construction of +drains, point out the proper sites for slaughter-houses and other +trades which are a nuisance to the neighborhood. See the Act of June 7, +1785: Id., vol. i. p. 193.] + + +k +[ The selectmen take measures for the security of the public in case of +contagious diseases, conjointly with the justices of the peace. See Act +of June 22, 1797, vol. i. p. 539.] + + +It results from what we have said that in the State of Massachusetts +the administrative authority is almost entirely restricted to the +township, *l but that it is distributed among a great number of +individuals. In the French commune there is properly but one official +functionary, namely, the Maire; and in New England we have seen that +there are nineteen. These nineteen functionaries do not in general +depend upon one another. The law carefully prescribes a circle of +action to each of these magistrates; and within that circle they have +an entire right to perform their functions independently of any other +authority. Above the township scarcely any trace of a series of +official dignitaries is to be found. It sometimes happens that the +county officers alter a decision of the townships or town magistrates, +*m but in general the authorities of the county have no right to +interfere with the authorities of the township, *n except in such +matters as concern the county. + +l +[ I say almost, for there are various circumstances in the annals of a +township which are regulated by the justice of the peace in his +individual capacity, or by the justices of the peace assembled in the +chief town of the county; thus licenses are granted by the justices. +See the Act of February 28, 1787, vol. i. p. 297.] + + +m +[ Thus licenses are only granted to such persons as can produce a +certificate of good conduct from the selectmen. If the selectmen refuse +to give the certificate, the party may appeal to the justices assembled +in the Court of Sessions, and they may grant the license. See Act of +March 12, 1808, vol. ii. p. 186. + + +The townships have the right to make by-laws, and to enforce them by +fines which are fixed by law; but these by-laws must be approved by the +Court of Sessions. See Act of March 23, 1786, vol. i. p. 254.] + +n +[ In Massachusetts the county magistrates are frequently called upon to +investigate the acts of the town magistrates; but it will be shown +further on that this investigation is a consequence, not of their +administrative, but of their judicial power.] + + +The magistrates of the township, as well as those of the county, are +bound to communicate their acts to the central government in a very +small number of predetermined cases. *o But the central government is +not represented by an individual whose business it is to publish police +regulations and ordinances enforcing the execution of the laws; to keep +up a regular communication with the officers of the township and the +county; to inspect their conduct, to direct their actions, or to +reprimand their faults. There is no point which serves as a centre to +the radii of the administration. + +o +[ The town committees of schools are obliged to make an annual report +to the Secretary of the State on the condition of the school. See Act +of March 10, 1827, vol. iii. p. 183.] + + + + + Chapter V: Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States—Part II + + +What, then, is the uniform plan on which the government is conducted, +and how is the compliance of the counties and their magistrates or the +townships and their officers enforced? In the States of New England the +legislative authority embraces more subjects than it does in France; +the legislator penetrates to the very core of the administration; the +law descends to the most minute details; the same enactment prescribes +the principle and the method of its application, and thus imposes a +multitude of strict and rigorously defined obligations on the secondary +functionaries of the State. The consequence of this is that if all the +secondary functionaries of the administration conform to the law, +society in all its branches proceeds with the greatest uniformity: the +difficulty remains of compelling the secondary functionaries of the +administration to conform to the law. It may be affirmed that, in +general, society has only two methods of enforcing the execution of the +laws at its disposal: a discretionary power may be entrusted to a +superior functionary of directing all the others, and of cashiering +them in case of disobedience; or the courts of justice may be +authorized to inflict judicial penalties on the offender: but these two +methods are not always available. + +The right of directing a civil officer presupposes that of cashiering +him if he does not obey orders, and of rewarding him by promotion if he +fulfils his duties with propriety. But an elected magistrate can +neither be cashiered nor promoted. All elective functions are +inalienable until their term is expired. In fact, the elected +magistrate has nothing either to expect or to fear from his +constituents; and when all public offices are filled by ballot there +can be no series of official dignities, because the double right of +commanding and of enforcing obedience can never be vested in the same +individual, and because the power of issuing an order can never be +joined to that of inflicting a punishment or bestowing a reward. + +The communities therefore in which the secondary functionaries of the +government are elected are perforce obliged to make great use of +judicial penalties as a means of administration. This is not evident at +first sight; for those in power are apt to look upon the institution of +elective functionaries as one concession, and the subjection of the +elected magistrate to the judges of the land as another. They are +equally averse to both these innovations; and as they are more +pressingly solicited to grant the former than the latter, they accede +to the election of the magistrate, and leave him independent of the +judicial power. Nevertheless, the second of these measures is the only +thing that can possibly counterbalance the first; and it will be found +that an elective authority which is not subject to judicial power will, +sooner or later, either elude all control or be destroyed. The courts +of justice are the only possible medium between the central power and +the administrative bodies; they alone can compel the elected +functionary to obey, without violating the rights of the elector. The +extension of judicial power in the political world ought therefore to +be in the exact ratio of the extension of elective offices: if these +two institutions do not go hand in hand, the State must fall into +anarchy or into subjection. + +It has always been remarked that habits of legal business do not render +men apt to the exercise of administrative authority. The Americans have +borrowed from the English, their fathers, the idea of an institution +which is unknown upon the continent of Europe: I allude to that of the +Justices of the Peace. The Justice of the Peace is a sort of mezzo +termine between the magistrate and the man of the world, between the +civil officer and the judge. A justice of the peace is a well-informed +citizen, though he is not necessarily versed in the knowledge of the +laws. His office simply obliges him to execute the police regulations +of society; a task in which good sense and integrity are of more avail +than legal science. The justice introduces into the administration a +certain taste for established forms and publicity, which renders him a +most unserviceable instrument of despotism; and, on the other hand, he +is not blinded by those superstitions which render legal officers unfit +members of a government. The Americans have adopted the system of the +English justices of the peace, but they have deprived it of that +aristocratic character which is discernible in the mother-country. The +Governor of Massachusetts *p appoints a certain number of justices of +the peace in every county, whose functions last seven years. *q He +further designates three individuals from amongst the whole body of +justices who form in each county what is called the Court of Sessions. +The justices take a personal share in public business; they are +sometimes entrusted with administrative functions in conjunction with +elected officers, *r they sometimes constitute a tribunal, before which +the magistrates summarily prosecute a refractory citizen, or the +citizens inform against the abuses of the magistrate. But it is in the +Court of Sessions that they exercise their most important functions. +This court meets twice a year in the county town; in Massachusetts it +is empowered to enforce the obedience of the greater number *s of +public officers. *t It must be observed, that in the State of +Massachusetts the Court of Sessions is at the same time an +administrative body, properly so called, and a political tribunal. It +has been asserted that the county is a purely administrative division. +The Court of Sessions presides over that small number of affairs which, +as they concern several townships, or all the townships of the county +in common, cannot be entrusted to any one of them in particular. *u In +all that concerns county business the duties of the Court of Sessions +are purely administrative; and if in its investigations it occasionally +borrows the forms of judicial procedure, it is only with a view to its +own information, *v or as a guarantee to the community over which it +presides. But when the administration of the township is brought before +it, it always acts as a judicial body, and in some few cases as an +official assembly. + +p +[ We shall hereafter learn what a Governor is: I shall content myself +with remarking in this place that he represents the executive power of +the whole State.] + + +q +[ See the Constitution of Massachusetts, chap. II. sect. 1. Section 9; +chap. III. Section 3.] + + +r +[ Thus, for example, a stranger arrives in a township from a country +where a contagious disease prevails, and he falls ill. Two justices of +the peace can, with the assent of the selectmen, order the sheriff of +the county to remove and take care of him.—Act of June 22, 1797, vol. +i. p. 540. + + +In general the justices interfere in all the important acts of the +administration, and give them a semi-judicial character.] [Footnote s: +I say the greater number, because certain administrative misdemeanors +are brought before ordinary tribunals. If, for instance, a township +refuses to make the necessary expenditure for its schools or to name a +school-committee, it is liable to a heavy fine. But this penalty is +pronounced by the Supreme Judicial Court or the Court of Common Pleas. +See Act of March 10, 1827, Laws of Massachusetts, vol. iii. p. 190. Or +when a township neglects to provide the necessary war-stores.—Act of +February 21, 1822: Id., vol. ii. p. 570.] + +t +[ In their individual capacity the justices of the peace take a part in +the business of the counties and townships.] [Footnote u: These affairs +may be brought under the following heads:—1. The erection of prisons +and courts of justice. 2. The county budget, which is afterwards voted +by the State. 3. The distribution of the taxes so voted. 4. Grants of +certain patents. 5. The laying down and repairs of the country roads.] + + +v +[ Thus, when a road is under consideration, almost all difficulties are +disposed of by the aid of the jury.] + + +The first difficulty is to procure the obedience of an authority as +entirely independent of the general laws of the State as the township +is. We have stated that assessors are annually named by the +town-meetings to levy the taxes. If a township attempts to evade the +payment of the taxes by neglecting to name its assessors, the Court of +Sessions condemns it to a heavy penalty. *w The fine is levied on each +of the inhabitants; and the sheriff of the county, who is the officer +of justice, executes the mandate. Thus it is that in the United States +the authority of the Government is mysteriously concealed under the +forms of a judicial sentence; and its influence is at the same time +fortified by that irresistible power with which men have invested the +formalities of law. + +w +[ See Act of February 20, 1786, Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 217.] + + +These proceedings are easy to follow and to understand. The demands +made upon a township are in general plain and accurately defined; they +consist in a simple fact without any complication, or in a principle +without its application in detail. *x But the difficulty increases when +it is not the obedience of the township, but that of the town officers +which is to be enforced. All the reprehensible actions of which a +public functionary may be guilty are reducible to the following heads: + +x +[ There is an indirect method of enforcing the obedience of a township. +Suppose that the funds which the law demands for the maintenance of the +roads have not been voted, the town surveyor is then authorized, ex +officio, to levy the supplies. As he is personally responsible to +private individuals for the state of the roads, and indictable before +the Court of Sessions, he is sure to employ the extraordinary right +which the law gives him against the township. Thus by threatening the +officer the Court of Sessions exacts compliance from the town. See Act +of March 5, 1787, Id., vol. i. p. 305.] + + +He may execute the law without energy or zeal; + +He may neglect to execute the law; + +He may do what the law enjoins him not to do. + +The last two violations of duty can alone come under the cognizance of +a tribunal; a positive and appreciable fact is the indispensable +foundation of an action at law. Thus, if the selectmen omit to fulfil +the legal formalities usual at town elections, they may be condemned to +pay a fine; *y but when the public officer performs his duty without +ability, and when he obeys the letter of the law without zeal or +energy, he is at least beyond the reach of judicial interference. The +Court of Sessions, even when it is invested with its official powers, +is in this case unable to compel him to a more satisfactory obedience. +The fear of removal is the only check to these quasi-offences; and as +the Court of Sessions does not originate the town authorities, it +cannot remove functionaries whom it does not appoint. Moreover, a +perpetual investigation would be necessary to convict the officer of +negligence or lukewarmness; and the Court of Sessions sits but twice a +year and then only judges such offences as are brought before its +notice. The only security of that active and enlightened obedience +which a court of justice cannot impose upon public officers lies in the +possibility of their arbitrary removal. In France this security is +sought for in powers exercised by the heads of the administration; in +America it is sought for in the principle of election. + +y +[ Laws of Massachusetts, vol. ii. p. 45.] + + +Thus, to recapitulate in a few words what I have been showing: If a +public officer in New England commits a crime in the exercise of his +functions, the ordinary courts of justice are always called upon to +pass sentence upon him. If he commits a fault in his official capacity, +a purely administrative tribunal is empowered to punish him; and, if +the affair is important or urgent, the judge supplies the omission of +the functionary. *z Lastly, if the same individual is guilty of one of +those intangible offences of which human justice has no cognizance, he +annually appears before a tribunal from which there is no appeal, which +can at once reduce him to insignificance and deprive him of his charge. +This system undoubtedly possesses great advantages, but its execution +is attended with a practical difficulty which it is important to point +out. + +z +[ If, for instance, a township persists in refusing to name its +assessors, the Court of Sessions nominates them; and the magistrates +thus appointed are invested with the same authority as elected +officers. See the Act quoted above, February 20, 1787.] + + +I have already observed that the administrative tribunal, which is +called the Court of Sessions, has no right of inspection over the town +officers. It can only interfere when the conduct of a magistrate is +specially brought under its notice; and this is the delicate part of +the system. The Americans of New England are unacquainted with the +office of public prosecutor in the Court of Sessions, *a and it may +readily be perceived that it could not have been established without +difficulty. If an accusing magistrate had merely been appointed in the +chief town of each county, and if he had been unassisted by agents in +the townships, he would not have been better acquainted with what was +going on in the county than the members of the Court of Sessions. But +to appoint agents in each township would have been to centre in his +person the most formidable of powers, that of a judicial +administration. Moreover, laws are the children of habit, and nothing +of the kind exists in the legislation of England. The Americans have +therefore divided the offices of inspection and of prosecution, as well +as all the other functions of the administration. Grand jurors are +bound by the law to apprise the court to which they belong of all the +misdemeanors which may have been committed in their county. *b There +are certain great offences which are officially prosecuted by the +States; *c but more frequently the task of punishing delinquents +devolves upon the fiscal officer, whose province it is to receive the +fine: thus the treasurer of the township is charged with the +prosecution of such administrative offences as fall under his notice. +But a more special appeal is made by American legislation to the +private interest of the citizen; *d and this great principle is +constantly to be met with in studying the laws of the United States. +American legislators are more apt to give men credit for intelligence +than for honesty, and they rely not a little on personal cupidity for +the execution of the laws. When an individual is really and sensibly +injured by an administrative abuse, it is natural that his personal +interest should induce him to prosecute. But if a legal formality be +required, which, however advantageous to the community, is of small +importance to individuals, plaintiffs may be less easily found; and +thus, by a tacit agreement, the laws may fall into disuse. Reduced by +their system to this extremity, the Americans are obliged to encourage +informers by bestowing on them a portion of the penalty in certain +cases, *e and to insure the execution of the laws by the dangerous +expedient of degrading the morals of the people. The only +administrative authority above the county magistrates is, properly +speaking, that of the Government. + +a +[ I say the Court of Sessions, because in common courts there is a +magistrate who exercises some of the functions of a public prosecutor.] + + +b +[ The grand-jurors are, for instance, bound to inform the court of the +bad state of the roads.—Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 308.] + + +c +[ If, for instance, the treasurer of the county holds back his +accounts.—Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 406.] [Footnote d: Thus, if +a private individual breaks down or is wounded in consequence of the +badness of a road, he can sue the township or the county for damages at +the sessions.—Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 309.] + + +e +[ In cases of invasion or insurrection, if the town-officers neglect to +furnish the necessary stores and ammunition for the militia, the +township may be condemned to a fine of from $200 to $500. It may +readily be imagined that in such a case it might happen that no one +cared to prosecute; hence the law adds that all the citizens may indict +offences of this kind, and that half of the fine shall belong to the +plaintiff. See Act of March 6, 1810, vol. ii. p. 236. The same clause +is frequently to be met with in the law of Massachusetts. Not only are +private individuals thus incited to prosecute the public officers, but +the public officers are encouraged in the same manner to bring the +disobedience of private individuals to justice. If a citizen refuses to +perform the work which has been assigned to him upon a road, the road +surveyor may prosecute him, and he receives half the penalty for +himself. See the Laws above quoted, vol. i. p. 308.] + + +General Remarks On The Administration Of The United States Differences +of the States of the Union in their system of administration—Activity +and perfection of the local authorities decrease towards the +South—Power of the magistrate increases; that of the elector +diminishes—Administration passes from the township to the county—States +of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania—Principles of administration applicable +to the whole Union—Election of public officers, and inalienability of +their functions—Absence of gradation of ranks—Introduction of judicial +resources into the administration. + +I have already premised that, after having examined the constitution of +the township and the county of New England in detail, I should take a +general view of the remainder of the Union. Townships and a local +activity exist in every State; but in no part of the confederation is a +township to be met with precisely similar to those of New England. The +more we descend towards the South, the less active does the business of +the township or parish become; the number of magistrates, of functions, +and of rights decreases; the population exercises a less immediate +influence on affairs; town meetings are less frequent, and the subjects +of debate less numerous. The power of the elected magistrate is +augmented and that of the elector diminished, whilst the public spirit +of the local communities is less awakened and less influential. *f +These differences may be perceived to a certain extent in the State of +New York; they are very sensible in Pennsylvania; but they become less +striking as we advance to the northwest. The majority of the emigrants +who settle in the northwestern States are natives of New England, and +they carry the habits of their mother country with them into that which +they adopt. A township in Ohio is by no means dissimilar from a +township in Massachusetts. + +f +[ For details see the Revised Statutes of the State of New York, part +i. chap. xi. vol. i. pp. 336-364, entitled, “Of the Powers, Duties, and +Privileges of Towns.” + + +See in the Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, the words Assessors, +Collector, Constables, Overseer of the Poor, Supervisors of Highways; +and in the Acts of a general nature of the State of Ohio, the Act of +February 25, 1834, relating to townships, p. 412; besides the peculiar +dispositions relating to divers town-officers, such as Township’s +Clerk, Trustees, Overseers of the Poor, Fence Viewers, Appraisers of +Property, Township’s Treasurer, Constables, Supervisors of Highways.] + +We have seen that in Massachusetts the mainspring of public +administration lies in the township. It forms the common centre of the +interests and affections of the citizens. But this ceases to be the +case as we descend to States in which knowledge is less generally +diffused, and where the township consequently offers fewer guarantees +of a wise and active administration. As we leave New England, +therefore, we find that the importance of the town is gradually +transferred to the county, which becomes the centre of administration, +and the intermediate power between the Government and the citizen. In +Massachusetts the business of the county is conducted by the Court of +Sessions, which is composed of a quorum named by the Governor and his +council; but the county has no representative assembly, and its +expenditure is voted by the national legislature. In the great State of +New York, on the contrary, and in those of Ohio and Pennsylvania, the +inhabitants of each county choose a certain number of representatives, +who constitute the assembly of the county. *g The county assembly has +the right of taxing the inhabitants to a certain extent; and in this +respect it enjoys the privileges of a real legislative body: at the +same time it exercises an executive power in the county, frequently +directs the administration of the townships, and restricts their +authority within much narrower bounds than in Massachusetts. + +g +[ See the Revised Statutes of the State of New York, part i. chap. xi. +vol. i. p. 340. Id. chap. xii. p. 366; also in the Acts of the State of +Ohio, an act relating to county commissioners, February 25, 1824, p. +263. See the Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, at the words +County-rates and Levies, p. 170. In the State of New York each township +elects a representative, who has a share in the administration of the +county as well as in that of the township.] + + +Such are the principal differences which the systems of county and town +administration present in the Federal States. Were it my intention to +examine the provisions of American law minutely, I should have to point +out still further differences in the executive details of the several +communities. But what I have already said may suffice to show the +general principles on which the administration of the United States +rests. These principles are differently applied; their consequences are +more or less numerous in various localities; but they are always +substantially the same. The laws differ, and their outward features +change, but their character does not vary. If the township and the +county are not everywhere constituted in the same manner, it is at +least true that in the United States the county and the township are +always based upon the same principle, namely, that everyone is the best +judge of what concerns himself alone, and the most proper person to +supply his private wants. The township and the county are therefore +bound to take care of their special interests: the State governs, but +it does not interfere with their administration. Exceptions to this +rule may be met with, but not a contrary principle. + +The first consequence of this doctrine has been to cause all the +magistrates to be chosen either by or at least from amongst the +citizens. As the officers are everywhere elected or appointed for a +certain period, it has been impossible to establish the rules of a +dependent series of authorities; there are almost as many independent +functionaries as there are functions, and the executive power is +disseminated in a multitude of hands. Hence arose the indispensable +necessity of introducing the control of the courts of justice over the +administration, and the system of pecuniary penalties, by which the +secondary bodies and their representatives are constrained to obey the +laws. This system obtains from one end of the Union to the other. The +power of punishing the misconduct of public officers, or of performing +the part of the executive in urgent cases, has not, however, been +bestowed on the same judges in all the States. The Anglo-Americans +derived the institution of justices of the peace from a common source; +but although it exists in all the States, it is not always turned to +the same use. The justices of the peace everywhere participate in the +administration of the townships and the counties, *h either as public +officers or as the judges of public misdemeanors, but in most of the +States the more important classes of public offences come under the +cognizance of the ordinary tribunals. + +h +[ In some of the Southern States the county courts are charged with all +the details of the administration. See the Statutes of the State of +Tennessee, arts. Judiciary, Taxes, etc.] + + +The election of public officers, or the inalienability of their +functions, the absence of a gradation of powers, and the introduction +of a judicial control over the secondary branches of the +administration, are the universal characteristics of the American +system from Maine to the Floridas. In some States (and that of New York +has advanced most in this direction) traces of a centralized +administration begin to be discernible. In the State of New York the +officers of the central government exercise, in certain cases, a sort +of inspection or control over the secondary bodies. *i + +i +[ For instance, the direction of public instruction centres in the +hands of the Government. The legislature names the members of the +University, who are denominated Regents; the Governor and +Lieutentant-Governor of the State are necessarily of the +number.—Revised Statutes, vol. i. p. 455. The Regents of the University +annually visit the colleges and academies, and make their report to the +legislature. Their superintendence is not inefficient, for several +reasons: the colleges in order to become corporations stand in need of +a charter, which is only granted on the recommendation of the Regents; +every year funds are distributed by the State for the encouragement of +learning, and the Regents are the distributors of this money. See chap. +xv. “Instruction,” Revised Statutes, vol. i. p. 455. + + +The school-commissioners are obliged to send an annual report to the +Superintendent of the Republic.—Id. p. 488. + +A similar report is annually made to the same person on the number and +condition of the poor.—Id. p. 631.] + +At other times they constitute a court of appeal for the decision of +affairs. *j In the State of New York judicial penalties are less used +than in other parts as a means of administration, and the right of +prosecuting the offences of public officers is vested in fewer hands. +*k The same tendency is faintly observable in some other States; *l but +in general the prominent feature of the administration in the United +States is its excessive local independence. + +j +[ If any one conceives himself to be wronged by the +school-commissioners (who are town-officers), he can appeal to the +superintendent of the primary schools, whose decision is final.—Revised +Statutes, vol. i. p. 487. + + +Provisions similar to those above cited are to be met with from time to +time in the laws of the State of New York; but in general these +attempts at centralization are weak and unproductive. The great +authorities of the State have the right of watching and controlling the +subordinate agents, without that of rewarding or punishing them. The +same individual is never empowered to give an order and to punish +disobedience; he has therefore the right of commanding, without the +means of exacting compliance. In 1830 the Superintendent of Schools +complained in his Annual Report addressed to the legislature that +several school-commissioners had neglected, notwithstanding his +application, to furnish him with the accounts which were due. He added +that if this omission continued he should be obliged to prosecute them, +as the law directs, before the proper tribunals.] + +k +[ Thus the district-attorney is directed to recover all fines below the +sum of fifty dollars, unless such a right has been specially awarded to +another magistrate.—Revised Statutes, vol. i. p. 383.] + + +l +[ Several traces of centralization may be discovered in Massachusetts; +for instance, the committees of the town-schools are directed to make +an annual report to the Secretary of State. See Laws of Massachusetts, +vol. i. p. 367.] + + +Of The State + +I have described the townships and the administration; it now remains +for me to speak of the State and the Government. This is ground I may +pass over rapidly, without fear of being misunderstood; for all I have +to say is to be found in written forms of the various constitutions, +which are easily to be procured. These constitutions rest upon a simple +and rational theory; their forms have been adopted by all +constitutional nations, and are become familiar to us. In this place, +therefore, it is only necessary for me to give a short analysis; I +shall endeavor afterwards to pass judgment upon what I now describe. + + + + + Chapter V: Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States—Part III + +Legislative Power Of The State + +Division of the Legislative Body into two Houses—Senate—House of +Representatives—Different functions of these two Bodies. + +The legislative power of the State is vested in two assemblies, the +first of which generally bears the name of the Senate. The Senate is +commonly a legislative body; but it sometimes becomes an executive and +judicial one. It takes a part in the government in several ways, +according to the constitution of the different States; *m but it is in +the nomination of public functionaries that it most commonly assumes an +executive power. It partakes of judicial power in the trial of certain +political offences, and sometimes also in the decision of certain civil +cases. *n The number of its members is always small. The other branch +of the legislature, which is usually called the House of +Representatives, has no share whatever in the administration, and only +takes a part in the judicial power inasmuch as it impeaches public +functionaries before the Senate. The members of the two Houses are +nearly everywhere subject to the same conditions of election. They are +chosen in the same manner, and by the same citizens. The only +difference which exists between them is, that the term for which the +Senate is chosen is in general longer than that of the House of +Representatives. The latter seldom remain in office longer than a year; +the former usually sit two or three years. By granting to the senators +the privilege of being chosen for several years, and being renewed +seriatim, the law takes care to preserve in the legislative body a +nucleus of men already accustomed to public business, and capable of +exercising a salutary influence upon the junior members. + +m +[ In Massachusetts the Senate is not invested with any administrative +functions.] + + +n +[ As in the State of New York.] + + +The Americans, plainly, did not desire, by this separation of the +legislative body into two branches, to make one house hereditary and +the other elective; one aristocratic and the other democratic. It was +not their object to create in the one a bulwark to power, whilst the +other represented the interests and passions of the people. The only +advantages which result from the present constitution of the United +States are the division of the legislative power and the consequent +check upon political assemblies; with the creation of a tribunal of +appeal for the revision of the laws. + +Time and experience, however, have convinced the Americans that if +these are its only advantages, the division of the legislative power is +still a principle of the greatest necessity. Pennsylvania was the only +one of the United States which at first attempted to establish a single +House of Assembly, and Franklin himself was so far carried away by the +necessary consequences of the principle of the sovereignty of the +people as to have concurred in the measure; but the Pennsylvanians were +soon obliged to change the law, and to create two Houses. Thus the +principle of the division of the legislative power was finally +established, and its necessity may henceforward be regarded as a +demonstrated truth. This theory, which was nearly unknown to the +republics of antiquity—which was introduced into the world almost by +accident, like so many other great truths—and misunderstood by several +modern nations, is at length become an axiom in the political science +of the present age. + +[See Benjamin Franklin] + +The Executive Power Of The State + +Office of Governor in an American State—The place he occupies in +relation to the Legislature—His rights and his duties—His dependence on +the people. + +The executive power of the State may with truth be said to be +represented by the Governor, although he enjoys but a portion of its +rights. The supreme magistrate, under the title of Governor, is the +official moderator and counsellor of the legislature. He is armed with +a veto or suspensive power, which allows him to stop, or at least to +retard, its movements at pleasure. He lays the wants of the country +before the legislative body, and points out the means which he thinks +may be usefully employed in providing for them; he is the natural +executor of its decrees in all the undertakings which interest the +nation at large. *o In the absence of the legislature, the Governor is +bound to take all necessary steps to guard the State against violent +shocks and unforeseen dangers. The whole military power of the State is +at the disposal of the Governor. He is the commander of the militia, +and head of the armed force. When the authority, which is by general +consent awarded to the laws, is disregarded, the Governor puts himself +at the head of the armed force of the State, to quell resistance, and +to restore order. Lastly, the Governor takes no share in the +administration of townships and counties, except it be indirectly in +the nomination of Justices of the Peace, which nomination he has not +the power to cancel. *p The Governor is an elected magistrate, and is +generally chosen for one or two years only; so that he always continues +to be strictly dependent upon the majority who returned him. + +o +[ Practically speaking, it is not always the Governor who executes the +plans of the Legislature; it often happens that the latter, in voting a +measure, names special agents to superintend the execution of it.] + + +p +[ In some of the States the justices of the peace are not elected by +the Governor.] + + +Political Effects Of The System Of Local Administration In The United +States + +Necessary distinction between the general centralization of Government +and the centralization of the local administration—Local administration +not centralized in the United States: great general centralization of +the Government—Some bad consequences resulting to the United States +from the local administration—Administrative advantages attending this +order of things—The power which conducts the Government is less +regular, less enlightened, less learned, but much greater than in +Europe—Political advantages of this order of things—In the United +States the interests of the country are everywhere kept in view—Support +given to the Government by the community—Provincial institutions more +necessary in proportion as the social condition becomes more +democratic—Reason of this. + +Centralization is become a word of general and daily use, without any +precise meaning being attached to it. Nevertheless, there exist two +distinct kinds of centralization, which it is necessary to discriminate +with accuracy. Certain interests are common to all parts of a nation, +such as the enactment of its general laws and the maintenance of its +foreign relations. Other interests are peculiar to certain parts of the +nation; such, for instance, as the business of different townships. +When the power which directs the general interests is centred in one +place, or vested in the same persons, it constitutes a central +government. In like manner the power of directing partial or local +interests, when brought together into one place, constitutes what may +be termed a central administration. + +Upon some points these two kinds of centralization coalesce; but by +classifying the objects which fall more particularly within the +province of each of them, they may easily be distinguished. It is +evident that a central government acquires immense power when united to +administrative centralization. Thus combined, it accustoms men to set +their own will habitually and completely aside; to submit, not only for +once, or upon one point, but in every respect, and at all times. Not +only, therefore, does this union of power subdue them compulsorily, but +it affects them in the ordinary habits of life, and influences each +individual, first separately and then collectively. + +These two kinds of centralization mutually assist and attract each +other; but they must not be supposed to be inseparable. It is +impossible to imagine a more completely central government than that +which existed in France under Louis XIV.; when the same individual was +the author and the interpreter of the laws, and the representative of +France at home and abroad, he was justified in asserting that the State +was identified with his person. Nevertheless, the administration was +much less centralized under Louis XIV. than it is at the present day. + +In England the centralization of the government is carried to great +perfection; the State has the compact vigor of a man, and by the sole +act of its will it puts immense engines in motion, and wields or +collects the efforts of its authority. Indeed, I cannot conceive that a +nation can enjoy a secure or prosperous existence without a powerful +centralization of government. But I am of opinion that a central +administration enervates the nations in which it exists by incessantly +diminishing their public spirit. If such an administration succeeds in +condensing at a given moment, on a given point, all the disposable +resources of a people, it impairs at least the renewal of those +resources. It may ensure a victory in the hour of strife, but it +gradually relaxes the sinews of strength. It may contribute admirably +to the transient greatness of a man, but it cannot ensure the durable +prosperity of a nation. + +If we pay proper attention, we shall find that whenever it is said that +a State cannot act because it has no central point, it is the +centralization of the government in which it is deficient. It is +frequently asserted, and we are prepared to assent to the proposition, +that the German empire was never able to bring all its powers into +action. But the reason was, that the State was never able to enforce +obedience to its general laws, because the several members of that +great body always claimed the right, or found the means, of refusing +their co-operation to the representatives of the common authority, even +in the affairs which concerned the mass of the people; in other words, +because there was no centralization of government. The same remark is +applicable to the Middle Ages; the cause of all the confusion of feudal +society was that the control, not only of local but of general +interests, was divided amongst a thousand hands, and broken up in a +thousand different ways; the absence of a central government prevented +the nations of Europe from advancing with energy in any straightforward +course. + +We have shown that in the United States no central administration and +no dependent series of public functionaries exist. Local authority has +been carried to lengths which no European nation could endure without +great inconvenience, and which has even produced some disadvantageous +consequences in America. But in the United States the centralization of +the Government is complete; and it would be easy to prove that the +national power is more compact than it has ever been in the old nations +of Europe. Not only is there but one legislative body in each State; +not only does there exist but one source of political authority; but +district assemblies and county courts have not in general been +multiplied, lest they should be tempted to exceed their administrative +duties, and interfere with the Government. In America the legislature +of each State is supreme; nothing can impede its authority; neither +privileges, nor local immunities, nor personal influence, nor even the +empire of reason, since it represents that majority which claims to be +the sole organ of reason. Its own determination is, therefore, the only +limit to this action. In juxtaposition to it, and under its immediate +control, is the representative of the executive power, whose duty it is +to constrain the refractory to submit by superior force. The only +symptom of weakness lies in certain details of the action of the +Government. The American republics have no standing armies to +intimidate a discontented minority; but as no minority has as yet been +reduced to declare open war, the necessity of an army has not been +felt. *q The State usually employs the officers of the township or the +county to deal with the citizens. Thus, for instance, in New England, +the assessor fixes the rate of taxes; the collector receives them; the +town-treasurer transmits the amount to the public treasury; and the +disputes which may arise are brought before the ordinary courts of +justice. This method of collecting taxes is slow as well as +inconvenient, and it would prove a perpetual hindrance to a Government +whose pecuniary demands were large. It is desirable that, in whatever +materially affects its existence, the Government should be served by +officers of its own, appointed by itself, removable at pleasure, and +accustomed to rapid methods of proceeding. But it will always be easy +for the central government, organized as it is in America, to introduce +new and more efficacious modes of action, proportioned to its wants. +[Footnote q: [The Civil War of 1860-65 cruelly belied this statement, +and in the course of the struggle the North alone called two millions +and a half of men to arms; but to the honor of the United States it +must be added that, with the cessation of the contest, this army +disappeared as rapidly as it had been raised.—Translator’s Note.]] + +The absence of a central government will not, then, as has often been +asserted, prove the destruction of the republics of the New World; far +from supposing that the American governments are not sufficiently +centralized, I shall prove hereafter that they are too much so. The +legislative bodies daily encroach upon the authority of the Government, +and their tendency, like that of the French Convention, is to +appropriate it entirely to themselves. Under these circumstances the +social power is constantly changing hands, because it is subordinate to +the power of the people, which is too apt to forget the maxims of +wisdom and of foresight in the consciousness of its strength: hence +arises its danger; and thus its vigor, and not its impotence, will +probably be the cause of its ultimate destruction. + +The system of local administration produces several different effects +in America. The Americans seem to me to have outstepped the limits of +sound policy in isolating the administration of the Government; for +order, even in second-rate affairs, is a matter of national importance. +*r As the State has no administrative functionaries of its own, +stationed on different points of its territory, to whom it can give a +common impulse, the consequence is that it rarely attempts to issue any +general police regulations. The want of these regulations is severely +felt, and is frequently observed by Europeans. The appearance of +disorder which prevails on the surface leads him at first to imagine +that society is in a state of anarchy; nor does he perceive his mistake +till he has gone deeper into the subject. Certain undertakings are of +importance to the whole State; but they cannot be put in execution, +because there is no national administration to direct them. Abandoned +to the exertions of the towns or counties, under the care of elected or +temporary agents, they lead to no result, or at least to no durable +benefit. + +r +[ The authority which represents the State ought not, I think, to waive +the right of inspecting the local administration, even when it does not +interfere more actively. Suppose, for instance, that an agent of the +Government was stationed at some appointed spot in the country, to +prosecute the misdemeanors of the town and county officers, would not a +more uniform order be the result, without in any way compromising the +independence of the township? Nothing of the kind, however, exists in +America: there is nothing above the county-courts, which have, as it +were, only an incidental cognizance of the offences they are meant to +repress.] + + +The partisans of centralization in Europe are wont to maintain that the +Government directs the affairs of each locality better than the +citizens could do it for themselves; this may be true when the central +power is enlightened, and when the local districts are ignorant; when +it is as alert as they are slow; when it is accustomed to act, and they +to obey. Indeed, it is evident that this double tendency must augment +with the increase of centralization, and that the readiness of the one +and the incapacity of the others must become more and more prominent. +But I deny that such is the case when the people is as enlightened, as +awake to its interests, and as accustomed to reflect on them, as the +Americans are. I am persuaded, on the contrary, that in this case the +collective strength of the citizens will always conduce more +efficaciously to the public welfare than the authority of the +Government. It is difficult to point out with certainty the means of +arousing a sleeping population, and of giving it passions and knowledge +which it does not possess; it is, I am well aware, an arduous task to +persuade men to busy themselves about their own affairs; and it would +frequently be easier to interest them in the punctilios of court +etiquette than in the repairs of their common dwelling. But whenever a +central administration affects to supersede the persons most +interested, I am inclined to suppose that it is either misled or +desirous to mislead. However enlightened and however skilful a central +power may be, it cannot of itself embrace all the details of the +existence of a great nation. Such vigilance exceeds the powers of man. +And when it attempts to create and set in motion so many complicated +springs, it must submit to a very imperfect result, or consume itself +in bootless efforts. + +Centralization succeeds more easily, indeed, in subjecting the external +actions of men to a certain uniformity, which at least commands our +regard, independently of the objects to which it is applied, like those +devotees who worship the statue and forget the deity it represents. +Centralization imparts without difficulty an admirable regularity to +the routine of business; provides for the details of the social police +with sagacity; represses the smallest disorder and the most petty +misdemeanors; maintains society in a status quo alike secure from +improvement and decline; and perpetuates a drowsy precision in the +conduct of affairs, which is hailed by the heads of the administration +as a sign of perfect order and public tranquillity: *s in short, it +excels more in prevention than in action. Its force deserts it when +society is to be disturbed or accelerated in its course; and if once +the co-operation of private citizens is necessary to the furtherance of +its measures, the secret of its impotence is disclosed. Even whilst it +invokes their assistance, it is on the condition that they shall act +exactly as much as the Government chooses, and exactly in the manner it +appoints. They are to take charge of the details, without aspiring to +guide the system; they are to work in a dark and subordinate sphere, +and only to judge the acts in which they have themselves cooperated by +their results. These, however, are not conditions on which the alliance +of the human will is to be obtained; its carriage must be free and its +actions responsible, or (such is the constitution of man) the citizen +had rather remain a passive spectator than a dependent actor in schemes +with which he is unacquainted. + +s +[ China appears to me to present the most perfect instance of that +species of well-being which a completely central administration may +furnish to the nations among which it exists. Travellers assure us that +the Chinese have peace without happiness, industry without improvement, +stability without strength, and public order without public morality. +The condition of society is always tolerable, never excellent. I am +convinced that, when China is opened to European observation, it will +be found to contain the most perfect model of a central administration +which exists in the universe.] + + +It is undeniable that the want of those uniform regulations which +control the conduct of every inhabitant of France is not unfrequently +felt in the United States. Gross instances of social indifference and +neglect are to be met with, and from time to time disgraceful blemishes +are seen in complete contrast with the surrounding civilization. Useful +undertakings which cannot succeed without perpetual attention and +rigorous exactitude are very frequently abandoned in the end; for in +America, as well as in other countries, the people is subject to sudden +impulses and momentary exertions. The European who is accustomed to +find a functionary always at hand to interfere with all he undertakes +has some difficulty in accustoming himself to the complex mechanism of +the administration of the townships. In general it may be affirmed that +the lesser details of the police, which render life easy and +comfortable, are neglected in America; but that the essential +guarantees of man in society are as strong there as elsewhere. In +America the power which conducts the Government is far less regular, +less enlightened, and less learned, but an hundredfold more +authoritative than in Europe. In no country in the world do the +citizens make such exertions for the common weal; and I am acquainted +with no people which has established schools as numerous and as +efficacious, places of public worship better suited to the wants of the +inhabitants, or roads kept in better repair. Uniformity or permanence +of design, the minute arrangement of details, *t and the perfection of +an ingenious administration, must not be sought for in the United +States; but it will be easy to find, on the other hand, the symptoms of +a power which, if it is somewhat barbarous, is at least robust; and of +an existence which is checkered with accidents indeed, but cheered at +the same time by animation and effort. + +t +[ A writer of talent, who, in the comparison which he has drawn between +the finances of France and those of the United States, has proved that +ingenuity cannot always supply the place of a knowledge of facts, very +justly reproaches the Americans for the sort of confusion which exists +in the accounts of the expenditure in the townships; and after giving +the model of a departmental budget in France, he adds:—“We are indebted +to centralization, that admirable invention of a great man, for the +uniform order and method which prevail alike in all the municipal +budgets, from the largest town to the humblest commune.” Whatever may +be my admiration of this result, when I see the communes of France, +with their excellent system of accounts, plunged into the grossest +ignorance of their true interests, and abandoned to so incorrigible an +apathy that they seem to vegetate rather than to live; when, on the +other hand, I observe the activity, the information, and the spirit of +enterprise which keep society in perpetual labor, in those American +townships whose budgets are drawn up with small method and with still +less uniformity, I am struck by the spectacle; for to my mind the end +of a good government is to ensure the welfare of a people, and not to +establish order and regularity in the midst of its misery and its +distress. I am therefore led to suppose that the prosperity of the +American townships and the apparent confusion of their accounts, the +distress of the French communes and the perfection of their budget, may +be attributable to the same cause. At any rate I am suspicious of a +benefit which is united to so many evils, and I am not averse to an +evil which is compensated by so many benefits.] + + +Granting for an instant that the villages and counties of the United +States would be more usefully governed by a remote authority which they +had never seen than by functionaries taken from the midst of +them—admitting, for the sake of argument, that the country would be +more secure, and the resources of society better employed, if the whole +administration centred in a single arm—still the political advantages +which the Americans derive from their system would induce me to prefer +it to the contrary plan. It profits me but little, after all, that a +vigilant authority should protect the tranquillity of my pleasures and +constantly avert all dangers from my path, without my care or my +concern, if this same authority is the absolute mistress of my liberty +and of my life, and if it so monopolizes all the energy of existence +that when it languishes everything languishes around it, that when it +sleeps everything must sleep, that when it dies the State itself must +perish. + +In certain countries of Europe the natives consider themselves as a +kind of settlers, indifferent to the fate of the spot upon which they +live. The greatest changes are effected without their concurrence and +(unless chance may have apprised them of the event) without their +knowledge; nay more, the citizen is unconcerned as to the condition of +his village, the police of his street, the repairs of the church or of +the parsonage; for he looks upon all these things as unconnected with +himself, and as the property of a powerful stranger whom he calls the +Government. He has only a life-interest in these possessions, and he +entertains no notions of ownership or of improvement. This want of +interest in his own affairs goes so far that, if his own safety or that +of his children is endangered, instead of trying to avert the peril, he +will fold his arms, and wait till the nation comes to his assistance. +This same individual, who has so completely sacrificed his own free +will, has no natural propensity to obedience; he cowers, it is true, +before the pettiest officer; but he braves the law with the spirit of a +conquered foe as soon as its superior force is removed: his +oscillations between servitude and license are perpetual. When a nation +has arrived at this state it must either change its customs and its +laws or perish: the source of public virtue is dry, and, though it may +contain subjects, the race of citizens is extinct. Such communities are +a natural prey to foreign conquests, and if they do not disappear from +the scene of life, it is because they are surrounded by other nations +similar or inferior to themselves: it is because the instinctive +feeling of their country’s claims still exists in their hearts; and +because an involuntary pride in the name it bears, or a vague +reminiscence of its bygone fame, suffices to give them the impulse of +self-preservation. + +Nor can the prodigious exertions made by tribes in the defence of a +country to which they did not belong be adduced in favor of such a +system; for it will be found that in these cases their main incitement +was religion. The permanence, the glory, or the prosperity of the +nation were become parts of their faith, and in defending the country +they inhabited they defended that Holy City of which they were all +citizens. The Turkish tribes have never taken an active share in the +conduct of the affairs of society, but they accomplished stupendous +enterprises as long as the victories of the Sultan were the triumphs of +the Mohammedan faith. In the present age they are in rapid decay, +because their religion is departing, and despotism only remains. +Montesquieu, who attributed to absolute power an authority peculiar to +itself, did it, as I conceive, an undeserved honor; for despotism, +taken by itself, can produce no durable results. On close inspection we +shall find that religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the +long-lived prosperity of an absolute government. Whatever exertions may +be made, no true power can be founded among men which does not depend +upon the free union of their inclinations; and patriotism and religion +are the only two motives in the world which can permanently direct the +whole of a body politic to one end. + +Laws cannot succeed in rekindling the ardor of an extinguished faith, +but men may be interested in the fate of their country by the laws. By +this influence the vague impulse of patriotism, which never abandons +the human heart, may be directed and revived; and if it be connected +with the thoughts, the passions, and the daily habits of life, it may +be consolidated into a durable and rational sentiment. + +Let it not be said that the time for the experiment is already past; +for the old age of nations is not like the old age of men, and every +fresh generation is a new people ready for the care of the legislator. + +It is not the administrative but the political effects of the local +system that I most admire in America. In the United States the +interests of the country are everywhere kept in view; they are an +object of solicitude to the people of the whole Union, and every +citizen is as warmly attached to them as if they were his own. He takes +pride in the glory of his nation; he boasts of its success, to which he +conceives himself to have contributed, and he rejoices in the general +prosperity by which he profits. The feeling he entertains towards the +State is analogous to that which unites him to his family, and it is by +a kind of egotism that he interests himself in the welfare of his +country. + +The European generally submits to a public officer because he +represents a superior force; but to an American he represents a right. +In America it may be said that no one renders obedience to man, but to +justice and to law. If the opinion which the citizen entertains of +himself is exaggerated, it is at least salutary; he unhesitatingly +confides in his own powers, which appear to him to be all-sufficient. +When a private individual meditates an undertaking, however directly +connected it may be with the welfare of society, he never thinks of +soliciting the co-operation of the Government, but he publishes his +plan, offers to execute it himself, courts the assistance of other +individuals, and struggles manfully against all obstacles. Undoubtedly +he is often less successful than the State might have been in his +position; but in the end the sum of these private undertakings far +exceeds all that the Government could have done. + +As the administrative authority is within the reach of the citizens, +whom it in some degree represents, it excites neither their jealousy +nor their hatred; as its resources are limited, every one feels that he +must not rely solely on its assistance. Thus, when the administration +thinks fit to interfere, it is not abandoned to itself as in Europe; +the duties of the private citizens are not supposed to have lapsed +because the State assists in their fulfilment, but every one is ready, +on the contrary, to guide and to support it. This action of individual +exertions, joined to that of the public authorities, frequently +performs what the most energetic central administration would be unable +to execute. It would be easy to adduce several facts in proof of what I +advance, but I had rather give only one, with which I am more +thoroughly acquainted. *u In America the means which the authorities +have at their disposal for the discovery of crimes and the arrest of +criminals are few. The State police does not exist, and passports are +unknown. The criminal police of the United States cannot be compared to +that of France; the magistrates and public prosecutors are not +numerous, and the examinations of prisoners are rapid and oral. +Nevertheless in no country does crime more rarely elude punishment. The +reason is, that every one conceives himself to be interested in +furnishing evidence of the act committed, and in stopping the +delinquent. During my stay in the United States I witnessed the +spontaneous formation of committees for the pursuit and prosecution of +a man who had committed a great crime in a certain county. In Europe a +criminal is an unhappy being who is struggling for his life against the +ministers of justice, whilst the population is merely a spectator of +the conflict; in America he is looked upon as an enemy of the human +race, and the whole of mankind is against him. + +u +[ See Appendix, I.] + + +I believe that provincial institutions are useful to all nations, but +nowhere do they appear to me to be more indispensable than amongst a +democratic people. In an aristocracy order can always be maintained in +the midst of liberty, and as the rulers have a great deal to lose order +is to them a first-rate consideration. In like manner an aristocracy +protects the people from the excesses of despotism, because it always +possesses an organized power ready to resist a despot. But a democracy +without provincial institutions has no security against these evils. +How can a populace, unaccustomed to freedom in small concerns, learn to +use it temperately in great affairs? What resistance can be offered to +tyranny in a country where every private individual is impotent, and +where the citizens are united by no common tie? Those who dread the +license of the mob, and those who fear the rule of absolute power, +ought alike to desire the progressive growth of provincial liberties. + +On the other hand, I am convinced that democratic nations are most +exposed to fall beneath the yoke of a central administration, for +several reasons, amongst which is the following. The constant tendency +of these nations is to concentrate all the strength of the Government +in the hands of the only power which directly represents the people, +because beyond the people nothing is to be perceived but a mass of +equal individuals confounded together. But when the same power is +already in possession of all the attributes of the Government, it can +scarcely refrain from penetrating into the details of the +administration, and an opportunity of doing so is sure to present +itself in the end, as was the case in France. In the French Revolution +there were two impulses in opposite directions, which must never be +confounded—the one was favorable to liberty, the other to despotism. +Under the ancient monarchy the King was the sole author of the laws, +and below the power of the sovereign certain vestiges of provincial +institutions, half destroyed, were still distinguishable. These +provincial institutions were incoherent, ill compacted, and frequently +absurd; in the hands of the aristocracy they had sometimes been +converted into instruments of oppression. The Revolution declared +itself the enemy of royalty and of provincial institutions at the same +time; it confounded all that had preceded it—despotic power and the +checks to its abuses—in indiscriminate hatred, and its tendency was at +once to overthrow and to centralize. This double character of the +French Revolution is a fact which has been adroitly handled by the +friends of absolute power. Can they be accused of laboring in the cause +of despotism when they are defending that central administration which +was one of the great innovations of the Revolution? *v In this manner +popularity may be conciliated with hostility to the rights of the +people, and the secret slave of tyranny may be the professed admirer of +freedom. + +v +[ See Appendix K.] + + +I have visited the two nations in which the system of provincial +liberty has been most perfectly established, and I have listened to the +opinions of different parties in those countries. In America I met with +men who secretly aspired to destroy the democratic institutions of the +Union; in England I found others who attacked the aristocracy openly, +but I know of no one who does not regard provincial independence as a +great benefit. In both countries I have heard a thousand different +causes assigned for the evils of the State, but the local system was +never mentioned amongst them. I have heard citizens attribute the power +and prosperity of their country to a multitude of reasons, but they all +placed the advantages of local institutions in the foremost rank. Am I +to suppose that when men who are naturally so divided on religious +opinions and on political theories agree on one point (and that one of +which they have daily experience), they are all in error? The only +nations which deny the utility of provincial liberties are those which +have fewest of them; in other words, those who are unacquainted with +the institution are the only persons who pass a censure upon it. + + + + + Chapter VI: Judicial Power In The United States + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +The Anglo-Americans have retained the characteristics of judicial power +which are common to all nations—They have, however, made it a powerful +political organ—How—In what the judicial system of the Anglo-Americans +differs from that of all other nations—Why the American judges have the +right of declaring the laws to be unconstitutional—How they use this +right—Precautions taken by the legislator to prevent its abuse. + +Judicial Power In The United States And Its Influence On Political +Society. + +I have thought it essential to devote a separate chapter to the +judicial authorities of the United States, lest their great political +importance should be lessened in the reader’s eyes by a merely +incidental mention of them. Confederations have existed in other +countries beside America, and republics have not been established upon +the shores of the New World alone; the representative system of +government has been adopted in several States of Europe, but I am not +aware that any nation of the globe has hitherto organized a judicial +power on the principle now adopted by the Americans. The judicial +organization of the United States is the institution which a stranger +has the greatest difficulty in understanding. He hears the authority of +a judge invoked in the political occurrences of every day, and he +naturally concludes that in the United States the judges are important +political functionaries; nevertheless, when he examines the nature of +the tribunals, they offer nothing which is contrary to the usual habits +and privileges of those bodies, and the magistrates seem to him to +interfere in public affairs of chance, but by a chance which recurs +every day. + +When the Parliament of Paris remonstrated, or refused to enregister an +edict, or when it summoned a functionary accused of malversation to its +bar, its political influence as a judicial body was clearly visible; +but nothing of the kind is to be seen in the United States. The +Americans have retained all the ordinary characteristics of judicial +authority, and have carefully restricted its action to the ordinary +circle of its functions. + +The first characteristic of judicial power in all nations is the duty +of arbitration. But rights must be contested in order to warrant the +interference of a tribunal; and an action must be brought to obtain the +decision of a judge. As long, therefore, as the law is uncontested, the +judicial authority is not called upon to discuss it, and it may exist +without being perceived. When a judge in a given case attacks a law +relating to that case, he extends the circle of his customary duties, +without however stepping beyond it; since he is in some measure obliged +to decide upon the law in order to decide the case. But if he +pronounces upon a law without resting upon a case, he clearly steps +beyond his sphere, and invades that of the legislative authority. + +The second characteristic of judicial power is that it pronounces on +special cases, and not upon general principles. If a judge in deciding +a particular point destroys a general principle, by passing a judgment +which tends to reject all the inferences from that principle, and +consequently to annul it, he remains within the ordinary limits of his +functions. But if he directly attacks a general principle without +having a particular case in view, he leaves the circle in which all +nations have agreed to confine his authority, he assumes a more +important, and perhaps a more useful, influence than that of the +magistrate, but he ceases to be a representative of the judicial power. + +The third characteristic of the judicial power is its inability to act +unless it is appealed to, or until it has taken cognizance of an +affair. This characteristic is less general than the other two; but, +notwithstanding the exceptions, I think it may be regarded as +essential. The judicial power is by its nature devoid of action; it +must be put in motion in order to produce a result. When it is called +upon to repress a crime, it punishes the criminal; when a wrong is to +be redressed, it is ready to redress it; when an act requires +interpretation, it is prepared to interpret it; but it does not pursue +criminals, hunt out wrongs, or examine into evidence of its own accord. +A judicial functionary who should open proceedings, and usurp the +censorship of the laws, would in some measure do violence to the +passive nature of his authority. + +The Americans have retained these three distinguishing characteristics +of the judicial power; an American judge can only pronounce a decision +when litigation has arisen, he is only conversant with special cases, +and he cannot act until the cause has been duly brought before the +court. His position is therefore perfectly similar to that of the +magistrate of other nations; and he is nevertheless invested with +immense political power. If the sphere of his authority and his means +of action are the same as those of other judges, it may be asked whence +he derives a power which they do not possess. The cause of this +difference lies in the simple fact that the Americans have acknowledged +the right of the judges to found their decisions on the constitution +rather than on the laws. In other words, they have left them at liberty +not to apply such laws as may appear to them to be unconstitutional. + +I am aware that a similar right has been claimed—but claimed in vain—by +courts of justice in other countries; but in America it is recognized +by all authorities; and not a party, nor so much as an individual, is +found to contest it. This fact can only be explained by the principles +of the American constitution. In France the constitution is (or at +least is supposed to be) immutable; and the received theory is that no +power has the right of changing any part of it. In England the +Parliament has an acknowledged right to modify the constitution; as, +therefore, the constitution may undergo perpetual changes, it does not +in reality exist; the Parliament is at once a legislative and a +constituent assembly. The political theories of America are more simple +and more rational. An American constitution is not supposed to be +immutable as in France, nor is it susceptible of modification by the +ordinary powers of society as in England. It constitutes a detached +whole, which, as it represents the determination of the whole people, +is no less binding on the legislator than on the private citizen, but +which may be altered by the will of the people in predetermined cases, +according to established rules. In America the constitution may +therefore vary, but as long as it exists it is the origin of all +authority, and the sole vehicle of the predominating force. *a + +a +[ [The fifth article of the original Constitution of the United States +provides the mode in which amendments of the Constitution may be made. +Amendments must be proposed by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, +and ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several +States. Fifteen amendments of the Constitution have been made at +different times since 1789, the most important of which are the +Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth, framed and ratified after the +Civil War. The original Constitution of the United States, followed by +these fifteen amendments, is printed at the end of this edition. +—Translator’s Note, 1874.]] + + +It is easy to perceive in what manner these differences must act upon +the position and the rights of the judicial bodies in the three +countries I have cited. If in France the tribunals were authorized to +disobey the laws on the ground of their being opposed to the +constitution, the supreme power would in fact be placed in their hands, +since they alone would have the right of interpreting a constitution, +the clauses of which can be modified by no authority. They would +therefore take the place of the nation, and exercise as absolute a sway +over society as the inherent weakness of judicial power would allow +them to do. Undoubtedly, as the French judges are incompetent to +declare a law to be unconstitutional, the power of changing the +constitution is indirectly given to the legislative body, since no +legal barrier would oppose the alterations which it might prescribe. +But it is better to grant the power of changing the constitution of the +people to men who represent (however imperfectly) the will of the +people, than to men who represent no one but themselves. + +It would be still more unreasonable to invest the English judges with +the right of resisting the decisions of the legislative body, since the +Parliament which makes the laws also makes the constitution; and +consequently a law emanating from the three powers of the State can in +no case be unconstitutional. But neither of these remarks is applicable +to America. + +In the United States the constitution governs the legislator as much as +the private citizen; as it is the first of laws it cannot be modified +by a law, and it is therefore just that the tribunals should obey the +constitution in preference to any law. This condition is essential to +the power of the judicature, for to select that legal obligation by +which he is most strictly bound is the natural right of every +magistrate. + +In France the constitution is also the first of laws, and the judges +have the same right to take it as the ground of their decisions, but +were they to exercise this right they must perforce encroach on rights +more sacred than their own, namely, on those of society, in whose name +they are acting. In this case the State-motive clearly prevails over +the motives of an individual. In America, where the nation can always +reduce its magistrates to obedience by changing its constitution, no +danger of this kind is to be feared. Upon this point, therefore, the +political and the logical reasons agree, and the people as well as the +judges preserve their privileges. + +Whenever a law which the judge holds to be unconstitutional is argued +in a tribunal of the United States he may refuse to admit it as a rule; +this power is the only one which is peculiar to the American +magistrate, but it gives rise to immense political influence. Few laws +can escape the searching analysis of the judicial power for any length +of time, for there are few which are not prejudicial to some private +interest or other, and none which may not be brought before a court of +justice by the choice of parties, or by the necessity of the case. But +from the time that a judge has refused to apply any given law in a +case, that law loses a portion of its moral cogency. The persons to +whose interests it is prejudicial learn that means exist of evading its +authority, and similar suits are multiplied, until it becomes +powerless. One of two alternatives must then be resorted to: the people +must alter the constitution, or the legislature must repeal the law. +The political power which the Americans have intrusted to their courts +of justice is therefore immense, but the evils of this power are +considerably diminished by the obligation which has been imposed of +attacking the laws through the courts of justice alone. If the judge +had been empowered to contest the laws on the ground of theoretical +generalities, if he had been enabled to open an attack or to pass a +censure on the legislator, he would have played a prominent part in the +political sphere; and as the champion or the antagonist of a party, he +would have arrayed the hostile passions of the nation in the conflict. +But when a judge contests a law applied to some particular case in an +obscure proceeding, the importance of his attack is concealed from the +public gaze, his decision bears upon the interest of an individual, and +if the law is slighted it is only collaterally. Moreover, although it +is censured, it is not abolished; its moral force may be diminished, +but its cogency is by no means suspended, and its final destruction can +only be accomplished by the reiterated attacks of judicial +functionaries. It will readily be understood that by connecting the +censorship of the laws with the private interests of members of the +community, and by intimately uniting the prosecution of the law with +the prosecution of an individual, legislation is protected from wanton +assailants, and from the daily aggressions of party spirit. The errors +of the legislator are exposed whenever their evil consequences are most +felt, and it is always a positive and appreciable fact which serves as +the basis of a prosecution. + +I am inclined to believe this practice of the American courts to be at +once the most favorable to liberty as well as to public order. If the +judge could only attack the legislator openly and directly, he would +sometimes be afraid to oppose any resistance to his will; and at other +moments party spirit might encourage him to brave it at every turn. The +laws would consequently be attacked when the power from which they +emanate is weak, and obeyed when it is strong. That is to say, when it +would be useful to respect them they would be contested, and when it +would be easy to convert them into an instrument of oppression they +would be respected. But the American judge is brought into the +political arena independently of his own will. He only judges the law +because he is obliged to judge a case. The political question which he +is called upon to resolve is connected with the interest of the +suitors, and he cannot refuse to decide it without abdicating the +duties of his post. He performs his functions as a citizen by +fulfilling the precise duties which belong to his profession as a +magistrate. It is true that upon this system the judicial censorship +which is exercised by the courts of justice over the legislation cannot +extend to all laws indiscriminately, inasmuch as some of them can never +give rise to that exact species of contestation which is termed a +lawsuit; and even when such a contestation is possible, it may happen +that no one cares to bring it before a court of justice. The Americans +have often felt this disadvantage, but they have left the remedy +incomplete, lest they should give it an efficacy which might in some +cases prove dangerous. Within these limits the power vested in the +American courts of justice of pronouncing a statute to be +unconstitutional forms one of the most powerful barriers which has ever +been devised against the tyranny of political assemblies. + +Other Powers Granted To American Judges + +The United States all the citizens have the right of indicting public +functionaries before the ordinary tribunals—How they use this +right—Art. 75 of the French Constitution of the An VIII—The Americans +and the English cannot understand the purport of this clause. + +It is perfectly natural that in a free country like America all the +citizens should have the right of indicting public functionaries before +the ordinary tribunals, and that all the judges should have the power +of punishing public offences. The right granted to the courts of +justice of judging the agents of the executive government, when they +have violated the laws, is so natural a one that it cannot be looked +upon as an extraordinary privilege. Nor do the springs of government +appear to me to be weakened in the United States by the custom which +renders all public officers responsible to the judges of the land. The +Americans seem, on the contrary, to have increased by this means that +respect which is due to the authorities, and at the same time to have +rendered those who are in power more scrupulous of offending public +opinion. I was struck by the small number of political trials which +occur in the United States, but I had no difficulty in accounting for +this circumstance. A lawsuit, of whatever nature it may be, is always a +difficult and expensive undertaking. It is easy to attack a public man +in a journal, but the motives which can warrant an action at law must +be serious. A solid ground of complaint must therefore exist to induce +an individual to prosecute a public officer, and public officers are +careful not to furnish these grounds of complaint when they are afraid +of being prosecuted. + +This does not depend upon the republican form of American institutions, +for the same facts present themselves in England. These two nations do +not regard the impeachment of the principal officers of State as a +sufficient guarantee of their independence. But they hold that the +right of minor prosecutions, which are within the reach of the whole +community, is a better pledge of freedom than those great judicial +actions which are rarely employed until it is too late. + +In the Middle Ages, when it was very difficult to overtake offenders, +the judges inflicted the most dreadful tortures on the few who were +arrested, which by no means diminished the number of crimes. It has +since been discovered that when justice is more certain and more mild, +it is at the same time more efficacious. The English and the Americans +hold that tyranny and oppression are to be treated like any other +crime, by lessening the penalty and facilitating conviction. + +In the year VIII of the French Republic a constitution was drawn up in +which the following clause was introduced: “Art. 75. All the agents of +the government below the rank of ministers can only be prosecuted for +offences relating to their several functions by virtue of a decree of +the Conseil d’Etat; in which the case the prosecution takes place +before the ordinary tribunals.” This clause survived the “Constitution +de l’An VIII,” and it is still maintained in spite of the just +complaints of the nation. I have always found the utmost difficulty in +explaining its meaning to Englishmen or Americans. They were at once +led to conclude that the Conseil d’Etat in France was a great tribunal, +established in the centre of the kingdom, which exercised a preliminary +and somewhat tyrannical jurisdiction in all political causes. But when +I told them that the Conseil d’Etat was not a judicial body, in the +common sense of the term, but an administrative council composed of men +dependent on the Crown, so that the king, after having ordered one of +his servants, called a Prefect, to commit an injustice, has the power +of commanding another of his servants, called a Councillor of State, to +prevent the former from being punished; when I demonstrated to them +that the citizen who has been injured by the order of the sovereign is +obliged to solicit from the sovereign permission to obtain redress, +they refused to credit so flagrant an abuse, and were tempted to accuse +me of falsehood or of ignorance. It frequently happened before the +Revolution that a Parliament issued a warrant against a public officer +who had committed an offence, and sometimes the proceedings were +stopped by the authority of the Crown, which enforced compliance with +its absolute and despotic will. It is painful to perceive how much +lower we are sunk than our forefathers, since we allow things to pass +under the color of justice and the sanction of the law which violence +alone could impose upon them. + + + + + Chapter VII: Political Jurisdiction In The United States + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Definition of political jurisdiction—What is understood by political +jurisdiction in France, in England, and in the United States—In America +the political judge can only pass sentence on public officers—He more +frequently passes a sentence of removal from office than a +penalty—Political jurisdiction as it exists in the United States is, +notwithstanding its mildness, and perhaps in consequence of that +mildness, a most powerful instrument in the hands of the majority. + +Political Jurisdiction In The United States + +I understand, by political jurisdiction, that temporary right of +pronouncing a legal decision with which a political body may be +invested. + +In absolute governments no utility can accrue from the introduction of +extraordinary forms of procedure; the prince in whose name an offender +is prosecuted is as much the sovereign of the courts of justice as of +everything else, and the idea which is entertained of his power is of +itself a sufficient security. The only thing he has to fear is, that +the external formalities of justice should be neglected, and that his +authority should be dishonored from a wish to render it more absolute. +But in most free countries, in which the majority can never exercise +the same influence upon the tribunals as an absolute monarch, the +judicial power has occasionally been vested for a time in the +representatives of the nation. It has been thought better to introduce +a temporary confusion between the functions of the different +authorities than to violate the necessary principle of the unity of +government. + +England, France, and the United States have established this political +jurisdiction by law; and it is curious to examine the different +adaptations which these three great nations have made of the principle. +In England and in France the House of Lords and the Chambre des Paris +*a constitute the highest criminal court of their respective nations, +and although they do not habitually try all political offences, they +are competent to try them all. Another political body enjoys the right +of impeachment before the House of Lords: the only difference which +exists between the two countries in this respect is, that in England +the Commons may impeach whomsoever they please before the Lords, whilst +in France the Deputies can only employ this mode of prosecution against +the ministers of the Crown. + +a +[ [As it existed under the constitutional monarchy down to 1848.]] + + +In both countries the Upper House may make use of all the existing +penal laws of the nation to punish the delinquents. + +In the United States, as well as in Europe, one branch of the +legislature is authorized to impeach and another to judge: the House of +Representatives arraigns the offender, and the Senate awards his +sentence. But the Senate can only try such persons as are brought +before it by the House of Representatives, and those persons must +belong to the class of public functionaries. Thus the jurisdiction of +the Senate is less extensive than that of the Peers of France, whilst +the right of impeachment by the Representatives is more general than +that of the Deputies. But the great difference which exists between +Europe and America is, that in Europe political tribunals are empowered +to inflict all the dispositions of the penal code, while in America, +when they have deprived the offender of his official rank, and have +declared him incapable of filling any political office for the future, +their jurisdiction terminates and that of the ordinary tribunals +begins. + +Suppose, for instance, that the President of the United States has +committed the crime of high treason; the House of Representatives +impeaches him, and the Senate degrades him; he must then be tried by a +jury, which alone can deprive him of his liberty or his life. This +accurately illustrates the subject we are treating. The political +jurisdiction which is established by the laws of Europe is intended to +try great offenders, whatever may be their birth, their rank, or their +powers in the State; and to this end all the privileges of the courts +of justice are temporarily extended to a great political assembly. The +legislator is then transformed into the magistrate; he is called upon +to admit, to distinguish, and to punish the offence; and as he +exercises all the authority of a judge, the law restricts him to the +observance of all the duties of that high office, and of all the +formalities of justice. When a public functionary is impeached before +an English or a French political tribunal, and is found guilty, the +sentence deprives him ipso facto of his functions, and it may pronounce +him to be incapable of resuming them or any others for the future. But +in this case the political interdict is a consequence of the sentence, +and not the sentence itself. In Europe the sentence of a political +tribunal is to be regarded as a judicial verdict rather than as an +administrative measure. In the United States the contrary takes place; +and although the decision of the Senate is judicial in its form, since +the Senators are obliged to comply with the practices and formalities +of a court of justice; although it is judicial in respect to the +motives on which it is founded, since the Senate is in general obliged +to take an offence at common law as the basis of its sentence; +nevertheless the object of the proceeding is purely administrative. If +it had been the intention of the American legislator to invest a +political body with great judicial authority, its action would not have +been limited to the circle of public functionaries, since the most +dangerous enemies of the State may be in the possession of no functions +at all; and this is especially true in republics, where party influence +is the first of authorities, and where the strength of many a reader is +increased by his exercising no legal power. + +If it had been the intention of the American legislator to give society +the means of repressing State offences by exemplary punishment, +according to the practice of ordinary justice, the resources of the +penal code would all have been placed at the disposal of the political +tribunals. But the weapon with which they are intrusted is an imperfect +one, and it can never reach the most dangerous offenders, since men who +aim at the entire subversion of the laws are not likely to murmur at a +political interdict. + +The main object of the political jurisdiction which obtains in the +United States is, therefore, to deprive the ill-disposed citizen of an +authority which he has used amiss, and to prevent him from ever +acquiring it again. This is evidently an administrative measure +sanctioned by the formalities of a judicial decision. In this matter +the Americans have created a mixed system; they have surrounded the act +which removes a public functionary with the securities of a political +trial; and they have deprived all political condemnations of their +severest penalties. Every link of the system may easily be traced from +this point; we at once perceive why the American constitutions subject +all the civil functionaries to the jurisdiction of the Senate, whilst +the military, whose crimes are nevertheless more formidable, are +exempted from that tribunal. In the civil service none of the American +functionaries can be said to be removable; the places which some of +them occupy are inalienable, and the others are chosen for a term which +cannot be shortened. It is therefore necessary to try them all in order +to deprive them of their authority. But military officers are dependent +on the chief magistrate of the State, who is himself a civil +functionary, and the decision which condemns him is a blow upon them +all. + +If we now compare the American and the European systems, we shall meet +with differences no less striking in the different effects which each +of them produces or may produce. In France and in England the +jurisdiction of political bodies is looked upon as an extraordinary +resource, which is only to be employed in order to rescue society from +unwonted dangers. It is not to be denied that these tribunals, as they +are constituted in Europe, are apt to violate the conservative +principle of the balance of power in the State, and to threaten +incessantly the lives and liberties of the subject. The same political +jurisdiction in the United States is only indirectly hostile to the +balance of power; it cannot menace the lives of the citizens, and it +does not hover, as in Europe, over the heads of the community, since +those only who have submitted to its authority on accepting office are +exposed to the severity of its investigations. It is at the same time +less formidable and less efficacious; indeed, it has not been +considered by the legislators of the United States as a remedy for the +more violent evils of society, but as an ordinary means of conducting +the government. In this respect it probably exercises more real +influence on the social body in America than in Europe. We must not be +misled by the apparent mildness of the American legislation in all that +relates to political jurisdiction. It is to be observed, in the first +place, that in the United States the tribunal which passes sentence is +composed of the same elements, and subject to the same influences, as +the body which impeaches the offender, and that this uniformity gives +an almost irresistible impulse to the vindictive passions of parties. +If political judges in the United States cannot inflict such heavy +penalties as those of Europe, there is the less chance of their +acquitting a prisoner; and the conviction, if it is less formidable, is +more certain. The principal object of the political tribunals of Europe +is to punish the offender; the purpose of those in America is to +deprive him of his authority. A political condemnation in the United +States may, therefore, be looked upon as a preventive measure; and +there is no reason for restricting the judges to the exact definitions +of criminal law. Nothing can be more alarming than the excessive +latitude with which political offences are described in the laws of +America. Article II., Section 4, of the Constitution of the United +States runs thus:—“The President, Vice-President, and all civil +officers of the United States shall be removed from office on +impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high +crimes and misdemeanors.” Many of the Constitutions of the States are +even less explicit. “Public officers,” says the Constitution of +Massachusetts, *b “shall be impeached for misconduct or +maladministration;” the Constitution of Virginia declares that all the +civil officers who shall have offended against the State, by +maladministration, corruption, or other high crimes, may be impeached +by the House of Delegates; in some constitutions no offences are +specified, in order to subject the public functionaries to an unlimited +responsibility. *c But I will venture to affirm that it is precisely +their mildness which renders the American laws most formidable in this +respect. We have shown that in Europe the removal of a functionary and +his political interdiction are the consequences of the penalty he is to +undergo, and that in America they constitute the penalty itself. The +consequence is that in Europe political tribunals are invested with +rights which they are afraid to use, and that the fear of punishing too +much hinders them from punishing at all. But in America no one +hesitates to inflict a penalty from which humanity does not recoil. To +condemn a political opponent to death, in order to deprive him of his +power, is to commit what all the world would execrate as a horrible +assassination; but to declare that opponent unworthy to exercise that +authority, to deprive him of it, and to leave him uninjured in life and +limb, may be judged to be the fair issue of the struggle. But this +sentence, which it is so easy to pronounce, is not the less fatally +severe to the majority of those upon whom it is inflicted. Great +criminals may undoubtedly brave its intangible rigor, but ordinary +offenders will dread it as a condemnation which destroys their position +in the world, casts a blight upon their honor, and condemns them to a +shameful inactivity worse than death. The influence exercised in the +United States upon the progress of society by the jurisdiction of +political bodies may not appear to be formidable, but it is only the +more immense. It does not directly coerce the subject, but it renders +the majority more absolute over those in power; it does not confer an +unbounded authority on the legislator which can be exerted at some +momentous crisis, but it establishes a temperate and regular influence, +which is at all times available. If the power is decreased, it can, on +the other hand, be more conveniently employed and more easily abused. +By preventing political tribunals from inflicting judicial punishments +the Americans seem to have eluded the worst consequences of legislative +tyranny, rather than tyranny itself; and I am not sure that political +jurisdiction, as it is constituted in the United States, is not the +most formidable weapon which has ever been placed in the rude grasp of +a popular majority. When the American republics begin to degenerate it +will be easy to verify the truth of this observation, by remarking +whether the number of political impeachments augments.*d + +b +[ Chap. I. sect. ii. Section 8.] + + +c +[ See the constitutions of Illinois, Maine, Connecticut, and Georgia.] + + +d +[ See Appendix, N. + + +[The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in 1868—which was resorted +to by his political opponents solely as a means of turning him out of +office, for it could not be contended that he had been guilty of high +crimes and misdemeanors, and he was in fact honorably acquitted and +reinstated in office—is a striking confirmation of the truth of this +remark.—Translator’s Note, 1874.]] + + + + + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part I + + +I have hitherto considered each State as a separate whole, and I have +explained the different springs which the people sets in motion, and +the different means of action which it employs. But all the States +which I have considered as independent are forced to submit, in certain +cases, to the supreme authority of the Union. The time is now come for +me to examine separately the supremacy with which the Union has been +invested, and to cast a rapid glance over the Federal Constitution. + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Origin of the first Union—Its weakness—Congress appeals to the +constituent authority—Interval of two years between this appeal and the +promulgation of the new Constitution. + +History Of The Federal Constitution + +The thirteen colonies which simultaneously threw off the yoke of +England towards the end of the last century professed, as I have +already observed, the same religion, the same language, the same +customs, and almost the same laws; they were struggling against a +common enemy; and these reasons were sufficiently strong to unite them +one to another, and to consolidate them into one nation. But as each of +them had enjoyed a separate existence and a government within its own +control, the peculiar interests and customs which resulted from this +system were opposed to a compact and intimate union which would have +absorbed the individual importance of each in the general importance of +all. Hence arose two opposite tendencies, the one prompting the +Anglo-Americans to unite, the other to divide their strength. As long +as the war with the mother-country lasted the principle of union was +kept alive by necessity; and although the laws which constituted it +were defective, the common tie subsisted in spite of their +imperfections. *a But no sooner was peace concluded than the faults of +the legislation became manifest, and the State seemed to be suddenly +dissolved. Each colony became an independent republic, and assumed an +absolute sovereignty. The federal government, condemned to impotence by +its constitution, and no longer sustained by the presence of a common +danger, witnessed the outrages offered to its flag by the great nations +of Europe, whilst it was scarcely able to maintain its ground against +the Indian tribes, and to pay the interest of the debt which had been +contracted during the war of independence. It was already on the verge +of destruction, when it officially proclaimed its inability to conduct +the government, and appealed to the constituent authority of the +nation. *b If America ever approached (for however brief a time) that +lofty pinnacle of glory to which the fancy of its inhabitants is wont +to point, it was at the solemn moment at which the power of the nation +abdicated, as it were, the empire of the land. All ages have furnished +the spectacle of a people struggling with energy to win its +independence; and the efforts of the Americans in throwing off the +English yoke have been considerably exaggerated. Separated from their +enemies by three thousand miles of ocean, and backed by a powerful +ally, the success of the United States may be more justly attributed to +their geographical position than to the valor of their armies or the +patriotism of their citizens. It would be ridiculous to compare the +American was to the wars of the French Revolution, or the efforts of +the Americans to those of the French when they were attacked by the +whole of Europe, without credit and without allies, yet capable of +opposing a twentieth part of their population to the world, and of +bearing the torch of revolution beyond their frontiers whilst they +stifled its devouring flame within the bosom of their country. But it +is a novelty in the history of society to see a great people turn a +calm and scrutinizing eye upon itself, when apprised by the legislature +that the wheels of government are stopped; to see it carefully examine +the extent of the evil, and patiently wait for two whole years until a +remedy was discovered, which it voluntarily adopted without having +wrung a tear or a drop of blood from mankind. At the time when the +inadequacy of the first constitution was discovered America possessed +the double advantage of that calm which had succeeded the effervescence +of the revolution, and of those great men who had led the revolution to +a successful issue. The assembly which accepted the task of composing +the second constitution was small; *c but George Washington was its +President, and it contained the choicest talents and the noblest hearts +which had ever appeared in the New World. This national commission, +after long and mature deliberation, offered to the acceptance of the +people the body of general laws which still rules the Union. All the +States adopted it successively. *d The new Federal Government commenced +its functions in 1789, after an interregnum of two years. The +Revolution of America terminated when that of France began. + +a +[ See the articles of the first confederation formed in 1778. This +constitution was not adopted by all the States until 1781. See also the +analysis given of this constitution in “The Federalist” from No. 15 to +No. 22, inclusive, and Story’s “Commentaries on the Constitution of the +United States,” pp. 85-115.] + + +b +[ Congress made this declaration on February 21, 1787.] + + +c +[ It consisted of fifty-five members; Washington, Madison, Hamilton, +and the two Morrises were amongst the number.] + + +d +[ It was not adopted by the legislative bodies, but representatives +were elected by the people for this sole purpose; and the new +constitution was discussed at length in each of these assemblies.] + + + + + Summary Of The Federal Constitution + + +Division of authority between the Federal Government and the States—The +Government of the States is the rule, the Federal Government the +exception. + +The first question which awaited the Americans was intricate, and by no +means easy of solution: the object was so to divide the authority of +the different States which composed the Union that each of them should +continue to govern itself in all that concerned its internal +prosperity, whilst the entire nation, represented by the Union, should +continue to form a compact body, and to provide for the general +exigencies of the people. It was as impossible to determine beforehand, +with any degree of accuracy, the share of authority which each of two +governments was to enjoy, as to foresee all the incidents in the +existence of a nation. + +The obligations and the claims of the Federal Government were simple +and easily definable, because the Union had been formed with the +express purpose of meeting the general exigencies of the people; but +the claims and obligations of the States were, on the other hand, +complicated and various, because those Governments had penetrated into +all the details of social life. The attributes of the Federal +Government were therefore carefully enumerated and all that was not +included amongst them was declared to constitute a part of the +privileges of the several Governments of the States. Thus the +government of the States remained the rule, and that of the +Confederation became the exception. *e + +e +[ See the Amendment to the Federal Constitution; “Federalist,” No. 32; +Story, p. 711; Kent’s “Commentaries,” vol. i. p. 364. + + +It is to be observed that whenever the exclusive right of regulating +certain matters is not reserved to Congress by the Constitution, the +States may take up the affair until it is brought before the National +Assembly. For instance, Congress has the right of making a general law +on bankruptcy, which, however, it neglects to do. Each State is then at +liberty to make a law for itself. This point has been established by +discussion in the law-courts, and may be said to belong more properly +to jurisprudence.] + +But as it was foreseen that, in practice, questions might arise as to +the exact limits of this exceptional authority, and that it would be +dangerous to submit these questions to the decision of the ordinary +courts of justice, established in the States by the States themselves, +a high Federal court was created, *f which was destined, amongst other +functions, to maintain the balance of power which had been established +by the Constitution between the two rival Governments. *g + +f +[ The action of this court is indirect, as we shall hereafter show.] + + +g +[ It is thus that “The Federalist,” No. 45, explains the division of +supremacy between the Union and the States: “The powers delegated by +the Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those +which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and +indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external +objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers +reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in +the ordinary course of affairs, concern the internal order and +prosperity of the State.” I shall often have occasion to quote “The +Federalist” in this work. When the bill which has since become the +Constitution of the United States was submitted to the approval of the +people, and the discussions were still pending, three men, who had +already acquired a portion of that celebrity which they have since +enjoyed—John Jay, Hamilton, and Madison—formed an association with the +intention of explaining to the nation the advantages of the measure +which was proposed. With this view they published a series of articles +in the shape of a journal, which now form a complete treatise. They +entitled their journal “The Federalist,” a name which has been retained +in the work. “The Federalist” is an excellent book, which ought to be +familiar to the statesmen of all countries, although it especially +concerns America.] + + +Prerogative Of The Federal Government + +Power of declaring war, making peace, and levying general taxes vested +in the Federal Government—What part of the internal policy of the +country it may direct—The Government of the Union in some respects more +central than the King’s Government in the old French monarchy. + +The external relations of a people may be compared to those of private +individuals, and they cannot be advantageously maintained without the +agency of a single head of a Government. The exclusive right of making +peace and war, of concluding treaties of commerce, of raising armies, +and equipping fleets, was granted to the Union. *h The necessity of a +national Government was less imperiously felt in the conduct of the +internal policy of society; but there are certain general interests +which can only be attended to with advantage by a general authority. +The Union was invested with the power of controlling the monetary +system, of directing the post office, and of opening the great roads +which were to establish a communication between the different parts of +the country. *i The independence of the Government of each State was +formally recognized in its sphere; nevertheless, the Federal Government +was authorized to interfere in the internal affairs of the States *j in +a few predetermined cases, in which an indiscreet abuse of their +independence might compromise the security of the Union at large. Thus, +whilst the power of modifying and changing their legislation at +pleasure was preserved in all the republics, they were forbidden to +enact ex post facto laws, or to create a class of nobles in their +community. *k Lastly, as it was necessary that the Federal Government +should be able to fulfil its engagements, it was endowed with an +unlimited power of levying taxes. *l + +h +[ See Constitution, sect. 8; “Federalist,” Nos. 41 and 42; Kent’s +“Commentaries,” vol. i. p. 207; Story, pp. 358-382; Ibid. pp. 409-426.] + + +i +[ Several other privileges of the same kind exist, such as that which +empowers the Union to legislate on bankruptcy, to grant patents, and +other matters in which its intervention is clearly necessary.] + + +j +[ Even in these cases its interference is indirect. The Union +interferes by means of the tribunals, as will be hereafter shown.] + + +k +[ Federal Constitution, sect. 10, art. I.] + + +l +[ Constitution, sects. 8, 9, and 10; “Federalist,” Nos. 30-36, +inclusive, and 41-44; Kent’s “Commentaries,” vol. i. pp. 207 and 381; +Story, pp. 329 and 514.] + + +In examining the balance of power as established by the Federal +Constitution; in remarking on the one hand the portion of sovereignty +which has been reserved to the several States, and on the other the +share of power which the Union has assumed, it is evident that the +Federal legislators entertained the clearest and most accurate notions +on the nature of the centralization of government. The United States +form not only a republic, but a confederation; nevertheless the +authority of the nation is more central than it was in several of the +monarchies of Europe when the American Constitution was formed. Take, +for instance, the two following examples. + +Thirteen supreme courts of justice existed in France, which, generally +speaking, had the right of interpreting the law without appeal; and +those provinces which were styled pays d’etats were authorized to +refuse their assent to an impost which had been levied by the sovereign +who represented the nation. In the Union there is but one tribunal to +interpret, as there is one legislature to make the laws; and an impost +voted by the representatives of the nation is binding upon all the +citizens. In these two essential points, therefore, the Union exercises +more central authority than the French monarchy possessed, although the +Union is only an assemblage of confederate republics. + +In Spain certain provinces had the right of establishing a system of +custom-house duties peculiar to themselves, although that privilege +belongs, by its very nature, to the national sovereignty. In America +the Congress alone has the right of regulating the commercial relations +of the States. The government of the Confederation is therefore more +centralized in this respect than the kingdom of Spain. It is true that +the power of the Crown in France or in Spain was always able to obtain +by force whatever the Constitution of the country denied, and that the +ultimate result was consequently the same; but I am here discussing the +theory of the Constitution. + +Federal Powers + +After having settled the limits within which the Federal Government was +to act, the next point was to determine the powers which it was to +exert. + +Legislative Powers *m + +m +[ [In this chapter the author points out the essence of the conflict +between the seceding States and the Union which caused the Civil War of +1861.]] + + +Division of the Legislative Body into two branches—Difference in the +manner of forming the two Houses—The principle of the independence of +the States predominates in the formation of the Senate—The principle of +the sovereignty of the nation in the composition of the House of +Representatives—Singular effects of the fact that a Constitution can +only be logical in the early stages of a nation. + +The plan which had been laid down beforehand for the Constitutions of +the several States was followed, in many points, in the organization of +the powers of the Union. The Federal legislature of the Union was +composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. A spirit of +conciliation prescribed the observance of distinct principles in the +formation of these two assemblies. I have already shown that two +contrary interests were opposed to each other in the establishment of +the Federal Constitution. These two interests had given rise to two +opinions. It was the wish of one party to convert the Union into a +league of independent States, or a sort of congress, at which the +representatives of the several peoples would meet to discuss certain +points of their common interests. The other party desired to unite the +inhabitants of the American colonies into one sole nation, and to +establish a Government which should act as the sole representative of +the nation, as far as the limited sphere of its authority would permit. +The practical consequences of these two theories were exceedingly +different. + +The question was, whether a league was to be established instead of a +national Government; whether the majority of the State, instead of the +majority of the inhabitants of the Union, was to give the law: for +every State, the small as well as the great, would then remain in the +full enjoyment of its independence, and enter the Union upon a footing +of perfect equality. If, however, the inhabitants of the United States +were to be considered as belonging to one and the same nation, it would +be just that the majority of the citizens of the Union should prescribe +the law. Of course the lesser States could not subscribe to the +application of this doctrine without, in fact, abdicating their +existence in relation to the sovereignty of the Confederation; since +they would have passed from the condition of a co-equal and +co-legislative authority to that of an insignificant fraction of a +great people. But if the former system would have invested them with an +excessive authority, the latter would have annulled their influence +altogether. Under these circumstances the result was, that the strict +rules of logic were evaded, as is usually the case when interests are +opposed to arguments. A middle course was hit upon by the legislators, +which brought together by force two systems theoretically +irreconcilable. + +The principle of the independence of the States prevailed in the +formation of the Senate, and that of the sovereignty of the nation +predominated in the composition of the House of Representatives. It was +decided that each State should send two senators to Congress, and a +number of representatives proportioned to its population. *n It results +from this arrangement that the State of New York has at the present day +forty representatives and only two senators; the State of Delaware has +two senators and only one representative; the State of Delaware is +therefore equal to the State of New York in the Senate, whilst the +latter has forty times the influence of the former in the House of +Representatives. Thus, if the minority of the nation preponderates in +the Senate,. it may paralyze the decisions of the majority represented +in the other House, which is contrary to the spirit of constitutional +government. + +n +[ Every ten years Congress fixes anew the number of representatives +which each State is to furnish. The total number was 69 in 1789, and +240 in 1833. (See “American Almanac,” 1834, p. 194.) The Constitution +decided that there should not be more than one representative for every +30,000 persons; but no minimum was fixed on. The Congress has not +thought fit to augment the number of representatives in proportion to +the increase of population. The first Act which was passed on the +subject (April 14, 1792: see “Laws of the United States,” by Story, +vol. i. p. 235) decided that there should be one representative for +every 33,000 inhabitants. The last Act, which was passed in 1832, fixes +the proportion at one for 48,000. The population represented is +composed of all the free men and of three-fifths of the slaves. + + +[The last Act of apportionment, passed February 2, 1872, fixes the +representation at one to 134,684 inhabitants. There are now (1875) 283 +members of the lower House of Congress, and 9 for the States at large, +making in all 292 members. The old States have of course lost the +representatives which the new States have gained.—Translator’s Note.]] + +These facts show how rare and how difficult it is rationally and +logically to combine all the several parts of legislation. In the +course of time different interests arise, and different principles are +sanctioned by the same people; and when a general constitution is to be +established, these interests and principles are so many natural +obstacles to the rigorous application of any political system, with all +its consequences. The early stages of national existence are the only +periods at which it is possible to maintain the complete logic of +legislation; and when we perceive a nation in the enjoyment of this +advantage, before we hasten to conclude that it is wise, we should do +well to remember that it is young. When the Federal Constitution was +formed, the interests of independence for the separate States, and the +interest of union for the whole people, were the only two conflicting +interests which existed amongst the Anglo-Americans, and a compromise +was necessarily made between them. + +It is, however, just to acknowledge that this part of the Constitution +has not hitherto produced those evils which might have been feared. All +the States are young and contiguous; their customs, their ideas, and +their exigencies are not dissimilar; and the differences which result +from their size or inferiority do not suffice to set their interests at +variance. The small States have consequently never been induced to +league themselves together in the Senate to oppose the designs of the +larger ones; and indeed there is so irresistible an authority in the +legitimate expression of the will of a people that the Senate could +offer but a feeble opposition to the vote of the majority of the House +of Representatives. + +It must not be forgotten, on the other hand, that it was not in the +power of the American legislators to reduce to a single nation the +people for whom they were making laws. The object of the Federal +Constitution was not to destroy the independence of the States, but to +restrain it. By acknowledging the real authority of these secondary +communities (and it was impossible to deprive them of it), they +disavowed beforehand the habitual use of constraint in enforcing g the +decisions of the majority. Upon this principle the introduction of the +influence of the States into the mechanism of the Federal Government +was by no means to be wondered at, since it only attested the existence +of an acknowledged power, which was to be humored and not forcibly +checked. + +A Further Difference Between The Senate And The House Of +Representatives + +The Senate named by the provincial legislators, the Representatives by +the people—Double election of the former; single election of the +latter—Term of the different offices—Peculiar functions of each House. + +The Senate not only differs from the other House in the principle which +it represents, but also in the mode of its election, in the term for +which it is chosen, and in the nature of its functions. The House of +Representatives is named by the people, the Senate by the legislators +of each State; the former is directly elected, the latter is elected by +an elected body; the term for which the representatives are chosen is +only two years, that of the senators is six. The functions of the House +of Representatives are purely legislative, and the only share it takes +in the judicial power is in the impeachment of public officers. The +Senate co-operates in the work of legislation, and tries those +political offences which the House of Representatives submits to its +decision. It also acts as the great executive council of the nation; +the treaties which are concluded by the President must be ratified by +the Senate, and the appointments he may make must be definitely +approved by the same body. *o + +o +[ See “The Federalist,” Nos. 52-56, inclusive; Story, pp. 199-314; +Constitution of the United States, sects. 2 and 3.] The Executive Power +*p + + +p +[ See “The Federalist,” Nos. 67-77; Constitution of the United States, +art. 2; Story, p. 315, pp. 615-780; Kent’s “Commentaries,” p. 255.] + + +Dependence of the President—He is elective and responsible—He is free +to act in his own sphere under the inspection, but not under the +direction, of the Senate—His salary fixed at his entry into +office—Suspensive veto. + +The American legislators undertook a difficult task in attempting to +create an executive power dependent on the majority of the people, and +nevertheless sufficiently strong to act without restraint in its own +sphere. It was indispensable to the maintenance of the republican form +of government that the representative of the executive power should be +subject to the will of the nation. + +The President is an elective magistrate. His honor, his property, his +liberty, and his life are the securities which the people has for the +temperate use of his power. But in the exercise of his authority he +cannot be said to be perfectly independent; the Senate takes cognizance +of his relations with foreign powers, and of the distribution of public +appointments, so that he can neither be bribed nor can he employ the +means of corruption. The legislators of the Union acknowledged that the +executive power would be incompetent to fulfil its task with dignity +and utility, unless it enjoyed a greater degree of stability and of +strength than had been granted to it in the separate States. + +The President is chosen for four years, and he may be reelected; so +that the chances of a prolonged administration may inspire him with +hopeful undertakings for the public good, and with the means of +carrying them into execution. The President was made the sole +representative of the executive power of the Union, and care was taken +not to render his decisions subordinate to the vote of a council—a +dangerous measure, which tends at the same time to clog the action of +the Government and to diminish its responsibility. The Senate has the +right of annulling g certain acts of the President; but it cannot +compel him to take any steps, nor does it participate in the exercise +of the executive power. + +The action of the legislature on the executive power may be direct; and +we have just shown that the Americans carefully obviated this +influence; but it may, on the other hand, be indirect. Public +assemblies which have the power of depriving an officer of state of his +salary encroach upon his independence; and as they are free to make the +laws, it is to be feared lest they should gradually appropriate to +themselves a portion of that authority which the Constitution had +vested in his hands. This dependence of the executive power is one of +the defects inherent in republican constitutions. The Americans have +not been able to counteract the tendency which legislative assemblies +have to get possession of the government, but they have rendered this +propensity less irresistible. The salary of the President is fixed, at +the time of his entering upon office, for the whole period of his +magistracy. The President is, moreover, provided with a suspensive +veto, which allows him to oppose the passing of such laws as might +destroy the portion of independence which the Constitution awards him. +The struggle between the President and the legislature must always be +an unequal one, since the latter is certain of bearing down all +resistance by persevering in its plans; but the suspensive veto forces +it at least to reconsider the matter, and, if the motion be persisted +in, it must then be backed by a majority of two-thirds of the whole +house. The veto is, in fact, a sort of appeal to the people. The +executive power, which, without this security, might have been secretly +oppressed, adopts this means of pleading its cause and stating its +motives. But if the legislature is certain of overpowering all +resistance by persevering in its plans, I reply, that in the +constitutions of all nations, of whatever kind they may be, a certain +point exists at which the legislator is obliged to have recourse to the +good sense and the virtue of his fellow-citizens. This point is more +prominent and more discoverable in republics, whilst it is more remote +and more carefully concealed in monarchies, but it always exists +somewhere. There is no country in the world in which everything can be +provided for by the laws, or in which political institutions can prove +a substitute for common sense and public morality. + +Differences Between The Position Of The President Of The United States +And That Of A Constitutional King Of France + +Executive power in the Northern States as limited and as partial as the +supremacy which it represents—Executive power in France as universal as +the supremacy it represents—The King a branch of the legislature—The +President the mere executor of the law—Other differences resulting from +the duration of the two powers—The President checked in the exercise of +the executive authority—The King independent in its +exercise—Notwithstanding these discrepancies France is more akin to a +republic than the Union to a monarchy—Comparison of the number of +public officers depending upon the executive power in the two +countries. + +The executive power has so important an influence on the destinies of +nations that I am inclined to pause for an instant at this portion of +my subject, in order more clearly to explain the part it sustains in +America. In order to form an accurate idea of the position of the +President of the United States, it may not be irrelevant to compare it +to that of one of the constitutional kings of Europe. In this +comparison I shall pay but little attention to the external signs of +power, which are more apt to deceive the eye of the observer than to +guide his researches. When a monarchy is being gradually transformed +into a republic, the executive power retains the titles, the honors, +the etiquette, and even the funds of royalty long after its authority +has disappeared. The English, after having cut off the head of one king +and expelled another from his throne, were accustomed to accost the +successor of those princes upon their knees. On the other hand, when a +republic falls under the sway of a single individual, the demeanor of +the sovereign is simple and unpretending, as if his authority was not +yet paramount. When the emperors exercised an unlimited control over +the fortunes and the lives of their fellow-citizens, it was customary +to call them Caesar in conversation, and they were in the habit of +supping without formality at their friends’ houses. It is therefore +necessary to look below the surface. + +The sovereignty of the United States is shared between the Union and +the States, whilst in France it is undivided and compact: hence arises +the first and the most notable difference which exists between the +President of the United States and the King of France. In the United +States the executive power is as limited and partial as the sovereignty +of the Union in whose name it acts; in France it is as universal as the +authority of the State. The Americans have a federal and the French a +national Government. + + + + + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part II + + +This cause of inferiority results from the nature of things, but it is +not the only one; the second in importance is as follows: Sovereignty +may be defined to be the right of making laws: in France, the King +really exercises a portion of the sovereign power, since the laws have +no weight till he has given his assent to them; he is, moreover, the +executor of all they ordain. The President is also the executor of the +laws, but he does not really co-operate in their formation, since the +refusal of his assent does not annul them. He is therefore merely to be +considered as the agent of the sovereign power. But not only does the +King of France exercise a portion of the sovereign power, he also +contributes to the nomination of the legislature, which exercises the +other portion. He has the privilege of appointing the members of one +chamber, and of dissolving the other at his pleasure; whereas the +President of the United States has no share in the formation of the +legislative body, and cannot dissolve any part of it. The King has the +same right of bringing forward measures as the Chambers; a right which +the President does not possess. The King is represented in each +assembly by his ministers, who explain his intentions, support his +opinions, and maintain the principles of the Government. The President +and his ministers are alike excluded from Congress; so that his +influence and his opinions can only penetrate indirectly into that +great body. The King of France is therefore on an equal footing with +the legislature, which can no more act without him than he can without +it. The President exercises an authority inferior to, and depending +upon, that of the legislature. + +Even in the exercise of the executive power, properly so called—the +point upon which his position seems to be most analogous to that of the +King of France—the President labors under several causes of +inferiority. The authority of the King, in France, has, in the first +place, the advantage of duration over that of the President, and +durability is one of the chief elements of strength; nothing is either +loved or feared but what is likely to endure. The President of the +United States is a magistrate elected for four years; the King, in +France, is an hereditary sovereign. In the exercise of the executive +power the President of the United States is constantly subject to a +jealous scrutiny. He may make, but he cannot conclude, a treaty; he may +designate, but he cannot appoint, a public officer. *q The King of +France is absolute within the limits of his authority. The President of +the United States is responsible for his actions; but the person of the +King is declared inviolable by the French Charter. *r + +q +[ The Constitution had left it doubtful whether the President was +obliged to consult the Senate in the removal as well as in the +appointment of Federal officers. “The Federalist” (No. 77) seemed to +establish the affirmative; but in 1789 Congress formally decided that, +as the President was responsible for his actions, he ought not to be +forced to employ agents who had forfeited his esteem. See Kent’s +“Commentaries”, vol. i. p. 289.] + + +r +[ [This comparison applied to the Constitutional King of France and to +the powers he held under the Charter of 1830, till the overthrow of the +monarchy in 1848.—Translator’s Note.]] + + +Nevertheless, the supremacy of public opinion is no less above the head +of the one than of the other. This power is less definite, less +evident, and less sanctioned by the laws in France than in America, but +in fact it exists. In America, it acts by elections and decrees; in +France it proceeds by revolutions; but notwithstanding the different +constitutions of these two countries, public opinion is the predominant +authority in both of them. The fundamental principle of legislation—a +principle essentially republican—is the same in both countries, +although its consequences may be different, and its results more or +less extensive. Whence I am led to conclude that France with its King +is nearer akin to a republic than the Union with its President is to a +monarchy. + +In what I have been saying I have only touched upon the main points of +distinction; and if I could have entered into details, the contrast +would have been rendered still more striking. I have remarked that the +authority of the President in the United States is only exercised +within the limits of a partial sovereignty, whilst that of the King in +France is undivided. I might have gone on to show that the power of the +King’s government in France exceeds its natural limits, however +extensive they may be, and penetrates in a thousand different ways into +the administration of private interests. Amongst the examples of this +influence may be quoted that which results from the great number of +public functionaries, who all derive their appointments from the +Government. This number now exceeds all previous limits; it amounts to +138,000 *s nominations, each of which may be considered as an element +of power. The President of the United States has not the exclusive +right of making any public appointments, and their whole number +scarcely exceeds 12,000. *t + +s +[ The sums annually paid by the State to these officers amount to +200,000,000 fr. ($40,000,000).] + + +t +[ This number is extracted from the “National Calendar” for 1833. The +“National Calendar” is an American almanac which contains the names of +all the Federal officers. It results from this comparison that the King +of France has eleven times as many places at his disposal as the +President, although the population of France is not much more than +double that of the Union. + + +[I have not the means of ascertaining the number of appointments now at +the disposal of the President of the United States, but his patronage +and the abuse of it have largely increased since 1833.—Translator’s +Note, 1875.]] + +Accidental Causes Which May Increase The Influence Of The Executive +Government + +External security of the Union—Army of six thousand men—Few ships—The +President has no opportunity of exercising his great prerogatives—In +the prerogatives he exercises he is weak. + +If the executive government is feebler in America than in France, the +cause is more attributable to the circumstances than to the laws of the +country. + +It is chiefly in its foreign relations that the executive power of a +nation is called upon to exert its skill and its vigor. If the +existence of the Union were perpetually threatened, and if its chief +interests were in daily connection with those of other powerful +nations, the executive government would assume an increased importance +in proportion to the measures expected of it, and those which it would +carry into effect. The President of the United States is the +commander-in-chief of the army, but of an army composed of only six +thousand men; he commands the fleet, but the fleet reckons but few +sail; he conducts the foreign relations of the Union, but the United +States are a nation without neighbors. Separated from the rest of the +world by the ocean, and too weak as yet to aim at the dominion of the +seas, they have no enemies, and their interests rarely come into +contact with those of any other nation of the globe. + +The practical part of a Government must not be judged by the theory of +its constitution. The President of the United States is in the +possession of almost royal prerogatives, which he has no opportunity of +exercising; and those privileges which he can at present use are very +circumscribed. The laws allow him to possess a degree of influence +which circumstances do not permit him to employ. + +On the other hand, the great strength of the royal prerogative in +France arises from circumstances far more than from the laws. There the +executive government is constantly struggling against prodigious +obstacles, and exerting all its energies to repress them; so that it +increases by the extent of its achievements, and by the importance of +the events it controls, without modifying its constitution. If the laws +had made it as feeble and as circumscribed as it is in the Union, its +influence would very soon become still more preponderant. + +Why The President Of The United States Does Not Require The Majority Of +The Two Houses In Order To Carry On The Government It is an established +axiom in Europe that a constitutional King cannot persevere in a system +of government which is opposed by the two other branches of the +legislature. But several Presidents of the United States have been +known to lose the majority in the legislative body without being +obliged to abandon the supreme power, and without inflicting a serious +evil upon society. I have heard this fact quoted as an instance of the +independence and the power of the executive government in America: a +moment’s reflection will convince us, on the contrary, that it is a +proof of its extreme weakness. + +A King in Europe requires the support of the legislature to enable him +to perform the duties imposed upon him by the Constitution, because +those duties are enormous. A constitutional King in Europe is not +merely the executor of the law, but the execution of its provisions +devolves so completely upon him that he has the power of paralyzing its +influence if it opposes his designs. He requires the assistance of the +legislative assemblies to make the law, but those assemblies stand in +need of his aid to execute it: these two authorities cannot subsist +without each other, and the mechanism of government is stopped as soon +as they are at variance. + +In America the President cannot prevent any law from being passed, nor +can he evade the obligation of enforcing it. His sincere and zealous +co-operation is no doubt useful, but it is not indispensable, in the +carrying on of public affairs. All his important acts are directly or +indirectly submitted to the legislature, and of his own free authority +he can do but little. It is therefore his weakness, and not his power, +which enables him to remain in opposition to Congress. In Europe, +harmony must reign between the Crown and the other branches of the +legislature, because a collision between them may prove serious; in +America, this harmony is not indispensable, because such a collision is +impossible. + +Election Of The President + +Dangers of the elective system increase in proportion to the extent of +the prerogative—This system possible in America because no powerful +executive authority is required—What circumstances are favorable to the +elective system—Why the election of the President does not cause a +deviation from the principles of the Government—Influence of the +election of the President on secondary functionaries. + +The dangers of the system of election applied to the head of the +executive government of a great people have been sufficiently +exemplified by experience and by history, and the remarks I am about to +make refer to America alone. These dangers may be more or less +formidable in proportion to the place which the executive power +occupies, and to the importance it possesses in the State; and they may +vary according to the mode of election and the circumstances in which +the electors are placed. The most weighty argument against the election +of a chief magistrate is, that it offers so splendid a lure to private +ambition, and is so apt to inflame men in the pursuit of power, that +when legitimate means are wanting force may not unfrequently seize what +right denied. + +It is clear that the greater the privileges of the executive authority +are, the greater is the temptation; the more the ambition of the +candidates is excited, the more warmly are their interests espoused by +a throng of partisans who hope to share the power when their patron has +won the prize. The dangers of the elective system increase, therefore, +in the exact ratio of the influence exercised by the executive power in +the affairs of State. The revolutions of Poland were not solely +attributable to the elective system in general, but to the fact that +the elected monarch was the sovereign of a powerful kingdom. Before we +can discuss the absolute advantages of the elective system we must make +preliminary inquiries as to whether the geographical position, the +laws, the habits, the manners, and the opinions of the people amongst +whom it is to be introduced will admit of the establishment of a weak +and dependent executive government; for to attempt to render the +representative of the State a powerful sovereign, and at the same time +elective, is, in my opinion, to entertain two incompatible designs. To +reduce hereditary royalty to the condition of an elective authority, +the only means that I am acquainted with are to circumscribe its sphere +of action beforehand, gradually to diminish its prerogatives, and to +accustom the people to live without its protection. Nothing, however, +is further from the designs of the republicans of Europe than this +course: as many of them owe their hatred of tyranny to the sufferings +which they have personally undergone, it is oppression, and not the +extent of the executive power, which excites their hostility, and they +attack the former without perceiving how nearly it is connected with +the latter. + +Hitherto no citizen has shown any disposition to expose his honor and +his life in order to become the President of the United States; because +the power of that office is temporary, limited, and subordinate. The +prize of fortune must be great to encourage adventurers in so desperate +a game. No candidate has as yet been able to arouse the dangerous +enthusiasm or the passionate sympathies of the people in his favor, for +the very simple reason that when he is at the head of the Government he +has but little power, but little wealth, and but little glory to share +amongst his friends; and his influence in the State is too small for +the success or the ruin of a faction to depend upon the elevation of an +individual to power. + +The great advantage of hereditary monarchies is, that as the private +interest of a family is always intimately connected with the interests +of the State, the executive government is never suspended for a single +instant; and if the affairs of a monarchy are not better conducted than +those of a republic, at least there is always some one to conduct them, +well or ill, according to his capacity. In elective States, on the +contrary, the wheels of government cease to act, as it were, of their +own accord at the approach of an election, and even for some time +previous to that event. The laws may indeed accelerate the operation of +the election, which may be conducted with such simplicity and rapidity +that the seat of power will never be left vacant; but, notwithstanding +these precautions, a break necessarily occurs in the minds of the +people. + +At the approach of an election the head of the executive government is +wholly occupied by the coming struggle; his future plans are doubtful; +he can undertake nothing new, and the he will only prosecute with +indifference those designs which another will perhaps terminate. “I am +so near the time of my retirement from office,” said President +Jefferson on the 21st of January, 1809 (six weeks before the election), +“that I feel no passion, I take no part, I express no sentiment. It +appears to me just to leave to my successor the commencement of those +measures which he will have to prosecute, and for which he will be +responsible.” + +On the other hand, the eyes of the nation are centred on a single +point; all are watching the gradual birth of so important an event. The +wider the influence of the executive power extends, the greater and the +more necessary is its constant action, the more fatal is the term of +suspense; and a nation which is accustomed to the government, or, still +more, one used to the administrative protection of a powerful executive +authority would be infallibly convulsed by an election of this kind. In +the United States the action of the Government may be slackened with +impunity, because it is always weak and circumscribed. *u + +u +[ [This, however, may be a great danger. The period during which Mr. +Buchanan retained office, after the election of Mr. Lincoln, from +November, 1860, to March, 1861, was that which enabled the seceding +States of the South to complete their preparations for the Civil War, +and the Executive Government was paralyzed. No greater evil could +befall a nation.—Translator’s Note.]] + + +One of the principal vices of the elective system is that it always +introduces a certain degree of instability into the internal and +external policy of the State. But this disadvantage is less sensibly +felt if the share of power vested in the elected magistrate is small. +In Rome the principles of the Government underwent no variation, +although the Consuls were changed every year, because the Senate, which +was an hereditary assembly, possessed the directing authority. If the +elective system were adopted in Europe, the condition of most of the +monarchical States would be changed at every new election. In America +the President exercises a certain influence on State affairs, but he +does not conduct them; the preponderating power is vested in the +representatives of the whole nation. The political maxims of the +country depend therefore on the mass of the people, not on the +President alone; and consequently in America the elective system has no +very prejudicial influence on the fixed principles of the Government. +But the want of fixed principles is an evil so inherent in the elective +system that it is still extremely perceptible in the narrow sphere to +which the authority of the President extends. + +The Americans have admitted that the head of the executive power, who +has to bear the whole responsibility of the duties he is called upon to +fulfil, ought to be empowered to choose his own agents, and to remove +them at pleasure: the legislative bodies watch the conduct of the +President more than they direct it. The consequence of this arrangement +is, that at every new election the fate of all the Federal public +officers is in suspense. Mr. Quincy Adams, on his entry into office, +discharged the majority of the individuals who had been appointed by +his predecessor: and I am not aware that General Jackson allowed a +single removable functionary employed in the Federal service to retain +his place beyond the first year which succeeded his election. It is +sometimes made a subject of complaint that in the constitutional +monarchies of Europe the fate of the humbler servants of an +Administration depends upon that of the Ministers. But in elective +Governments this evil is far greater. In a constitutional monarchy +successive ministries are rapidly formed; but as the principal +representative of the executive power does not change, the spirit of +innovation is kept within bounds; the changes which take place are in +the details rather than in the principles of the administrative system; +but to substitute one system for another, as is done in America every +four years, by law, is to cause a sort of revolution. As to the +misfortunes which may fall upon individuals in consequence of this +state of things, it must be allowed that the uncertain situation of the +public officers is less fraught with evil consequences in America than +elsewhere. It is so easy to acquire an independent position in the +United States that the public officer who loses his place may be +deprived of the comforts of life, but not of the means of subsistence. + +I remarked at the beginning of this chapter that the dangers of the +elective system applied to the head of the State are augmented or +decreased by the peculiar circumstances of the people which adopts it. +However the functions of the executive power may be restricted, it must +always exercise a great influence upon the foreign policy of the +country, for a negotiation cannot be opened or successfully carried on +otherwise than by a single agent. The more precarious and the more +perilous the position of a people becomes, the more absolute is the +want of a fixed and consistent external policy, and the more dangerous +does the elective system of the Chief Magistrate become. The policy of +the Americans in relation to the whole world is exceedingly simple; for +it may almost be said that no country stands in need of them, nor do +they require the co-operation of any other people. Their independence +is never threatened. In their present condition, therefore, the +functions of the executive power are no less limited by circumstances +than by the laws; and the President may frequently change his line of +policy without involving the State in difficulty or destruction. + +Whatever the prerogatives of the executive power may be, the period +which immediately precedes an election and the moment of its duration +must always be considered as a national crisis, which is perilous in +proportion to the internal embarrassments and the external dangers of +the country. Few of the nations of Europe could escape the calamities +of anarchy or of conquest every time they might have to elect a new +sovereign. In America society is so constituted that it can stand +without assistance upon its own basis; nothing is to be feared from the +pressure of external dangers, and the election of the President is a +cause of agitation, but not of ruin. + +Mode Of Election + +Skill of the American legislators shown in the mode of election adopted +by them—Creation of a special electoral body—Separate votes of these +electors—Case in which the House of Representatives is called upon to +choose the President—Results of the twelve elections which have taken +place since the Constitution has been established. + +Besides the dangers which are inherent in the system, many other +difficulties may arise from the mode of election, which may be obviated +by the precaution of the legislator. When a people met in arms on some +public spot to choose its head, it was exposed to all the chances of +civil war resulting from so martial a mode of proceeding, besides the +dangers of the elective system in itself. The Polish laws, which +subjected the election of the sovereign to the veto of a single +individual, suggested the murder of that individual or prepared the way +to anarchy. + +In the examination of the institutions and the political as well as +social condition of the United States, we are struck by the admirable +harmony of the gifts of fortune and the efforts of man. The nation +possessed two of the main causes of internal peace; it was a new +country, but it was inhabited by a people grown old in the exercise of +freedom. America had no hostile neighbors to dread; and the American +legislators, profiting by these favorable circumstances, created a weak +and subordinate executive power which could without danger be made +elective. + +It then only remained for them to choose the least dangerous of the +various modes of election; and the rules which they laid down upon this +point admirably correspond to the securities which the physical and +political constitution of the country already afforded. Their object +was to find the mode of election which would best express the choice of +the people with the least possible excitement and suspense. It was +admitted in the first place that the simple majority should be +decisive; but the difficulty was to obtain this majority without an +interval of delay which it was most important to avoid. It rarely +happens that an individual can at once collect the majority of the +suffrages of a great people; and this difficulty is enhanced in a +republic of confederate States, where local influences are apt to +preponderate. The means by which it was proposed to obviate this second +obstacle was to delegate the electoral powers of the nation to a body +of representatives. This mode of election rendered a majority more +probable; for the fewer the electors are, the greater is the chance of +their coming to a final decision. It also offered an additional +probability of a judicious choice. It then remained to be decided +whether this right of election was to be entrusted to a legislative +body, the habitual representative assembly of the nation, or whether an +electoral assembly should be formed for the express purpose of +proceeding to the nomination of a President. The Americans chose the +latter alternative, from a belief that the individuals who were +returned to make the laws were incompetent to represent the wishes of +the nation in the election of its chief magistrate; and that, as they +are chosen for more than a year, the constituency they represent might +have changed its opinion in that time. It was thought that if the +legislature was empowered to elect the head of the executive power, its +members would, for some time before the election, be exposed to the +manoeuvres of corruption and the tricks of intrigue; whereas the +special electors would, like a jury, remain mixed up with the crowd +till the day of action, when they would appear for the sole purpose of +giving their votes. + +It was therefore established that every State should name a certain +number of electors, *v who in their turn should elect the President; +and as it had been observed that the assemblies to which the choice of +a chief magistrate had been entrusted in elective countries inevitably +became the centres of passion and of cabal; that they sometimes usurped +an authority which did not belong to them; and that their proceedings, +or the uncertainty which resulted from them, were sometimes prolonged +so much as to endanger the welfare of the State, it was determined that +the electors should all vote upon the same day, without being convoked +to the same place. *w This double election rendered a majority +probable, though not certain; for it was possible that as many +differences might exist between the electors as between their +constituents. In this case it was necessary to have recourse to one of +three measures; either to appoint new electors, or to consult a second +time those already appointed, or to defer the election to another +authority. The first two of these alternatives, independently of the +uncertainty of their results, were likely to delay the final decision, +and to perpetuate an agitation which must always be accompanied with +danger. The third expedient was therefore adopted, and it was agreed +that the votes should be transmitted sealed to the President of the +Senate, and that they should be opened and counted in the presence of +the Senate and the House of Representatives. If none of the candidates +has a majority, the House of Representatives then proceeds immediately +to elect a President, but with the condition that it must fix upon one +of the three candidates who have the highest numbers. *x + +v +[ As many as it sends members to Congress. The number of electors at +the election of 1833 was 288. (See “The National Calendar,” 1833.)] + + +w +[ The electors of the same State assemble, but they transmit to the +central government the list of their individual votes, and not the mere +result of the vote of the majority.] [Footnote x: In this case it is +the majority of the States, and not the majority of the members, which +decides the question; so that New York has not more influence in the +debate than Rhode Island. Thus the citizens of the Union are first +consulted as members of one and the same community; and, if they cannot +agree, recourse is had to the division of the States, each of which has +a separate and independent vote. This is one of the singularities of +the Federal Constitution which can only be explained by the jar of +conflicting interests.] + + +Thus it is only in case of an event which cannot often happen, and +which can never be foreseen, that the election is entrusted to the +ordinary representatives of the nation; and even then they are obliged +to choose a citizen who has already been designated by a powerful +minority of the special electors. It is by this happy expedient that +the respect which is due to the popular voice is combined with the +utmost celerity of execution and those precautions which the peace of +the country demands. But the decision of the question by the House of +Representatives does not necessarily offer an immediate solution of the +difficulty, for the majority of that assembly may still be doubtful, +and in this case the Constitution prescribes no remedy. Nevertheless, +by restricting the number of candidates to three, and by referring the +matter to the judgment of an enlightened public body, it has smoothed +all the obstacles *y which are not inherent in the elective system. + +y +[ Jefferson, in 1801, was not elected until the thirty-sixth time of +balloting.] + + +In the forty-four years which have elapsed since the promulgation of +the Federal Constitution the United States have twelve times chosen a +President. Ten of these elections took place simultaneously by the +votes of the special electors in the different States. The House of +Representatives has only twice exercised its conditional privilege of +deciding in cases of uncertainty; the first time was at the election of +Mr. Jefferson in 1801; the second was in 1825, when Mr. Quincy Adams +was named. *z + +z +[ [General Grant is now (1874) the eighteenth President of the United +States.]] + + +Crises Of The Election + +The Election may be considered as a national crisis—Why?—Passions of +the people—Anxiety of the President—Calm which succeeds the agitation +of the election. + +I have shown what the circumstances are which favored the adoption of +the elective system in the United States, and what precautions were +taken by the legislators to obviate its dangers. The Americans are +habitually accustomed to all kinds of elections, and they know by +experience the utmost degree of excitement which is compatible with +security. The vast extent of the country and the dissemination of the +inhabitants render a collision between parties less probable and less +dangerous there than elsewhere. The political circumstances under which +the elections have hitherto been carried on have presented no real +embarrassments to the nation. + +Nevertheless, the epoch of the election of a President of the United +States may be considered as a crisis in the affairs of the nation. The +influence which he exercises on public business is no doubt feeble and +indirect; but the choice of the President, which is of small importance +to each individual citizen, concerns the citizens collectively; and +however trifling an interest may be, it assumes a great degree of +importance as soon as it becomes general. The President possesses but +few means of rewarding his supporters in comparison to the kings of +Europe, but the places which are at his disposal are sufficiently +numerous to interest, directly or indirectly, several thousand electors +in his success. Political parties in the United States are led to rally +round an individual, in order to acquire a more tangible shape in the +eyes of the crowd, and the name of the candidate for the Presidency is +put forward as the symbol and personification of their theories. For +these reasons parties are strongly interested in gaining the election, +not so much with a view to the triumph of their principles under the +auspices of the President-elect as to show by the majority which +returned him, the strength of the supporters of those principles. + +For a long while before the appointed time is at hand the election +becomes the most important and the all-engrossing topic of discussion. +The ardor of faction is redoubled; and all the artificial passions +which the imagination can create in the bosom of a happy and peaceful +land are agitated and brought to light. The President, on the other +hand, is absorbed by the cares of self-defence. He no longer governs +for the interest of the State, but for that of his re-election; he does +homage to the majority, and instead of checking its passions, as his +duty commands him to do, he frequently courts its worst caprices. As +the election draws near, the activity of intrigue and the agitation of +the populace increase; the citizens are divided into hostile camps, +each of which assumes the name of its favorite candidate; the whole +nation glows with feverish excitement; the election is the daily theme +of the public papers, the subject of private conversation, the end of +every thought and every action, the sole interest of the present. As +soon as the choice is determined, this ardor is dispelled; and as a +calmer season returns, the current of the State, which had nearly +broken its banks, sinks to its usual level: *a but who can refrain from +astonishment at the causes of the storm. + +a +[ [Not always. The election of President Lincoln was the signal of +civil war.—Translator’s Note.]] + + + + + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part III + +Re-election Of The President + +When the head of the executive power is re-eligible, it is the State +which is the source of intrigue and corruption—The desire of being +re-elected the chief aim of a President of the United +States—Disadvantage of the system peculiar to America—The natural evil +of democracy is that it subordinates all authority to the slightest +desires of the majority—The re-election of the President encourages +this evil. + +It may be asked whether the legislators of the United States did right +or wrong in allowing the re-election of the President. It seems at +first sight contrary to all reason to prevent the head of the executive +power from being elected a second time. The influence which the talents +and the character of a single individual may exercise upon the fate of +a whole people, in critical circumstances or arduous times, is well +known: a law preventing the re-election of the chief magistrate would +deprive the citizens of the surest pledge of the prosperity and the +security of the commonwealth; and, by a singular inconsistency, a man +would be excluded from the government at the very time when he had +shown his ability in conducting its affairs. + +But if these arguments are strong, perhaps still more powerful reasons +may be advanced against them. Intrigue and corruption are the natural +defects of elective government; but when the head of the State can be +re-elected these evils rise to a great height, and compromise the very +existence of the country. When a simple candidate seeks to rise by +intrigue, his manoeuvres must necessarily be limited to a narrow +sphere; but when the chief magistrate enters the lists, he borrows the +strength of the government for his own purposes. In the former case the +feeble resources of an individual are in action; in the latter, the +State itself, with all its immense influence, is busied in the work of +corruption and cabal. The private citizen, who employs the most immoral +practices to acquire power, can only act in a manner indirectly +prejudicial to the public prosperity. But if the representative of the +executive descends into the combat, the cares of government dwindle +into second-rate importance, and the success of his election is his +first concern. All laws and all the negotiations he undertakes are to +him nothing more than electioneering schemes; places become the reward +of services rendered, not to the nation, but to its chief; and the +influence of the government, if not injurious to the country, is at +least no longer beneficial to the community for which it was created. + +It is impossible to consider the ordinary course of affairs in the +United States without perceiving that the desire of being re-elected is +the chief aim of the President; that his whole administration, and even +his most indifferent measures, tend to this object; and that, as the +crisis approaches, his personal interest takes the place of his +interest in the public good. The principle of re-eligibility renders +the corrupt influence of elective government still more extensive and +pernicious. + +In America it exercises a peculiarly fatal influence on the sources of +national existence. Every government seems to be afflicted by some evil +which is inherent in its nature, and the genius of the legislator is +shown in eluding its attacks. A State may survive the influence of a +host of bad laws, and the mischief they cause is frequently +exaggerated; but a law which encourages the growth of the canker within +must prove fatal in the end, although its bad consequences may not be +immediately perceived. + +The principle of destruction in absolute monarchies lies in the +excessive and unreasonable extension of the prerogative of the crown; +and a measure tending to remove the constitutional provisions which +counterbalance this influence would be radically bad, even if its +immediate consequences were unattended with evil. By a parity of +reasoning, in countries governed by a democracy, where the people is +perpetually drawing all authority to itself, the laws which increase or +accelerate its action are the direct assailants of the very principle +of the government. + +The greatest proof of the ability of the American legislators is, that +they clearly discerned this truth, and that they had the courage to act +up to it. They conceived that a certain authority above the body of the +people was necessary, which should enjoy a degree of independence, +without, however, being entirely beyond the popular control; an +authority which would be forced to comply with the permanent +determinations of the majority, but which would be able to resist its +caprices, and to refuse its most dangerous demands. To this end they +centred the whole executive power of the nation in a single arm; they +granted extensive prerogatives to the President, and they armed him +with the veto to resist the encroachments of the legislature. + +But by introducing the principle of re-election they partly destroyed +their work; and they rendered the President but little inclined to +exert the great power they had vested in his hands. If ineligible a +second time, the President would be far from independent of the people, +for his responsibility would not be lessened; but the favor of the +people would not be so necessary to him as to induce him to court it by +humoring its desires. If re-eligible (and this is more especially true +at the present day, when political morality is relaxed, and when great +men are rare), the President of the United States becomes an easy tool +in the hands of the majority. He adopts its likings and its +animosities, he hastens to anticipate its wishes, he forestalls its +complaints, he yields to its idlest cravings, and instead of guiding +it, as the legislature intended that he should do, he is ever ready to +follow its bidding. Thus, in order not to deprive the State of the +talents of an individual, those talents have been rendered almost +useless; and to reserve an expedient for extraordinary perils, the +country has been exposed to daily dangers. + +Federal Courts *b + +b +[ See chap. VI, entitled “Judicial Power in the United States.” This +chapter explains the general principles of the American theory of +judicial institutions. See also the Federal Constitution, Art. 3. See +“The Federalists,” Nos. 78-83, inclusive; and a work entitled +“Constitutional Law,” being a view of the practice and jurisdiction of +the courts of the United States, by Thomas Sergeant. See Story, pp. +134, 162, 489, 511, 581, 668; and the organic law of September 24, +1789, in the “Collection of the Laws of the United States,” by Story, +vol. i. p. 53.] + + +Political importance of the judiciary in the United States—Difficulty +of treating this subject—Utility of judicial power in +confederations—What tribunals could be introduced into the +Union—Necessity of establishing federal courts of justice—Organization +of the national judiciary—The Supreme Court—In what it differs from all +known tribunals. + +I have inquired into the legislative and executive power of the Union, +and the judicial power now remains to be examined; but in this place I +cannot conceal my fears from the reader. Their judicial institutions +exercise a great influence on the condition of the Anglo-Americans, and +they occupy a prominent place amongst what are probably called +political institutions: in this respect they are peculiarly deserving +of our attention. But I am at a loss to explain the political action of +the American tribunals without entering into some technical details of +their constitution and their forms of proceeding; and I know not how to +descend to these minutiae without wearying the curiosity of the reader +by the natural aridity of the subject, or without risking to fall into +obscurity through a desire to be succinct. I can scarcely hope to +escape these various evils; for if I appear too lengthy to a man of the +world, a lawyer may on the other hand complain of my brevity. But these +are the natural disadvantages of my subject, and more especially of the +point which I am about to discuss. + +The great difficulty was, not to devise the Constitution to the Federal +Government, but to find out a method of enforcing its laws. Governments +have in general but two means of overcoming the opposition of the +people they govern, viz., the physical force which is at their own +disposal, and the moral force which they derive from the decisions of +the courts of justice. + +A government which should have no other means of exacting obedience +than open war must be very near its ruin, for one of two alternatives +would then probably occur: if its authority was small and its character +temperate, it would not resort to violence till the last extremity, and +it would connive at a number of partial acts of insubordination, in +which case the State would gradually fall into anarchy; if it was +enterprising and powerful, it would perpetually have recourse to its +physical strength, and would speedily degenerate into a military +despotism. So that its activity would not be less prejudicial to the +community than its inaction. + +The great end of justice is to substitute the notion of right for that +of violence, and to place a legal barrier between the power of the +government and the use of physical force. The authority which is +awarded to the intervention of a court of justice by the general +opinion of mankind is so surprisingly great that it clings to the mere +formalities of justice, and gives a bodily influence to the shadow of +the law. The moral force which courts of justice possess renders the +introduction of physical force exceedingly rare, and is very frequently +substituted for it; but if the latter proves to be indispensable, its +power is doubled by the association of the idea of law. + +A federal government stands in greater need of the support of judicial +institutions than any other, because it is naturally weak and exposed +to formidable opposition. *c If it were always obliged to resort to +violence in the first instance, it could not fulfil its task. The +Union, therefore, required a national judiciary to enforce the +obedience of the citizens to the laws, and to repeal the attacks which +might be directed against them. The question then remained as to what +tribunals were to exercise these privileges; were they to be entrusted +to the courts of justice which were already organized in every State? +or was it necessary to create federal courts? It may easily be proved +that the Union could not adapt the judicial power of the States to its +wants. The separation of the judiciary from the administrative power of +the State no doubt affects the security of every citizen and the +liberty of all. But it is no less important to the existence of the +nation that these several powers should have the same origin, should +follow the same principles, and act in the same sphere; in a word, that +they should be correlative and homogeneous. No one, I presume, ever +suggested the advantage of trying offences committed in France by a +foreign court of justice, in order to secure the impartiality of the +judges. The Americans form one people in relation to their Federal +Government; but in the bosom of this people divers political bodies +have been allowed to subsist which are dependent on the national +Government in a few points, and independent in all the rest; which have +all a distinct origin, maxims peculiar to themselves, and special means +of carrying on their affairs. To entrust the execution of the laws of +the Union to tribunals instituted by these political bodies would be to +allow foreign judges to preside over the nation. Nay, more; not only is +each State foreign to the Union at large, but it is in perpetual +opposition to the common interests, since whatever authority the Union +loses turns to the advantage of the States. Thus to enforce the laws of +the Union by means of the tribunals of the States would be to allow not +only foreign but partial judges to preside over the nation. + +c +[ Federal laws are those which most require courts of justice, and +those at the same time which have most rarely established them. The +reason is that confederations have usually been formed by independent +States, which entertained no real intention of obeying the central +Government, and which very readily ceded the right of command to the +federal executive, and very prudently reserved the right of +non-compliance to themselves.] + + +But the number, still more than the mere character, of the tribunals of +the States rendered them unfit for the service of the nation. When the +Federal Constitution was formed there were already thirteen courts of +justice in the United States which decided causes without appeal. That +number is now increased to twenty-four. To suppose that a State can +subsist when its fundamental laws may be subjected to four-and-twenty +different interpretations at the same time is to advance a proposition +alike contrary to reason and to experience. + +The American legislators therefore agreed to create a federal judiciary +power to apply the laws of the Union, and to determine certain +questions affecting general interests, which were carefully determined +beforehand. The entire judicial power of the Union was centred in one +tribunal, which was denominated the Supreme Court of the United States. +But, to facilitate the expedition of business, inferior courts were +appended to it, which were empowered to decide causes of small +importance without appeal, and with appeal causes of more magnitude. +The members of the Supreme Court are named neither by the people nor +the legislature, but by the President of the United States, acting with +the advice of the Senate. In order to render them independent of the +other authorities, their office was made inalienable; and it was +determined that their salary, when once fixed, should not be altered by +the legislature. *d It was easy to proclaim the principle of a Federal +judiciary, but difficulties multiplied when the extent of its +jurisdiction was to be determined. + +d +[ The Union was divided into districts, in each of which a resident +Federal judge was appointed, and the court in which he presided was +termed a “District Court.” Each of the judges of the Supreme Court +annually visits a certain portion of the Republic, in order to try the +most important causes upon the spot; the court presided over by this +magistrate is styled a “Circuit Court.” Lastly, all the most serious +cases of litigation are brought before the Supreme Court, which holds a +solemn session once a year, at which all the judges of the Circuit +Courts must attend. The jury was introduced into the Federal Courts in +the same manner, and in the same cases, as into the courts of the +States. + + +It will be observed that no analogy exists between the Supreme Court of +the United States and the French Cour de Cassation, since the latter +only hears appeals on questions of law. The Supreme Court decides upon +the evidence of the fact as well as upon the law of the case, whereas +the Cour de Cassation does not pronounce a decision of its own, but +refers the cause to the arbitration of another tribunal. See the law of +September 24, 1789, “Laws of the United States,” by Story, vol. i. p. +53.] + +Means Of Determining The Jurisdiction Of The Federal Courts Difficulty +of determining the jurisdiction of separate courts of justice in +confederations—The courts of the Union obtained the right of fixing +their own jurisdiction—In what respect this rule attacks the portion of +sovereignty reserved to the several States—The sovereignty of these +States restricted by the laws, and the interpretation of the +laws—Consequently, the danger of the several States is more apparent +than real. + +As the Constitution of the United States recognized two distinct powers +in presence of each other, represented in a judicial point of view by +two distinct classes of courts of justice, the utmost care which could +be taken in defining their separate jurisdictions would have been +insufficient to prevent frequent collisions between those tribunals. +The question then arose to whom the right of deciding the competency of +each court was to be referred. + +In nations which constitute a single body politic, when a question is +debated between two courts relating to their mutual jurisdiction, a +third tribunal is generally within reach to decide the difference; and +this is effected without difficulty, because in these nations the +questions of judicial competency have no connection with the privileges +of the national supremacy. But it was impossible to create an arbiter +between a superior court of the Union and the superior court of a +separate State which would not belong to one of these two classes. It +was, therefore, necessary to allow one of these courts to judge its own +cause, and to take or to retain cognizance of the point which was +contested. To grant this privilege to the different courts of the +States would have been to destroy the sovereignty of the Union de facto +after having established it de jure; for the interpretation of the +Constitution would soon have restored that portion of independence to +the States of which the terms of that act deprived them. The object of +the creation of a Federal tribunal was to prevent the courts of the +States from deciding questions affecting the national interests in +their own department, and so to form a uniform body of jurisprudene for +the interpretation of the laws of the Union. This end would not have +been accomplished if the courts of the several States had been +competent to decide upon cases in their separate capacities from which +they were obliged to abstain as Federal tribunals. The Supreme Court of +the United States was therefore invested with the right of determining +all questions of jurisdiction. *e + +e +[ In order to diminish the number of these suits, it was decided that +in a great many Federal causes the courts of the States should be +empowered to decide conjointly with those of the Union, the losing +party having then a right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United +States. The Supreme Court of Virginia contested the right of the +Supreme Court of the United States to judge an appeal from its +decisions, but unsuccessfully. See “Kent’s Commentaries,” vol. i. p. +300, pp. 370 et seq.; Story’s “Commentaries,” p. 646; and “The Organic +Law of the United States,” vol. i. p. 35.] + + +This was a severe blow upon the independence of the States, which was +thus restricted not only by the laws, but by the interpretation of +them; by one limit which was known, and by another which was dubious; +by a rule which was certain, and a rule which was arbitrary. It is true +the Constitution had laid down the precise limits of the Federal +supremacy, but whenever this supremacy is contested by one of the +States, a Federal tribunal decides the question. Nevertheless, the +dangers with which the independence of the States was threatened by +this mode of proceeding are less serious than they appeared to be. We +shall see hereafter that in America the real strength of the country is +vested in the provincial far more than in the Federal Government. The +Federal judges are conscious of the relative weakness of the power in +whose name they act, and they are more inclined to abandon a right of +jurisdiction in cases where it is justly their own than to assert a +privilege to which they have no legal claim. + +Different Cases Of Jurisdiction + +The matter and the party are the first conditions of the Federal +jurisdiction—Suits in which ambassadors are engaged—Suits of the +Union—Of a separate State—By whom tried—Causes resulting from the laws +of the Union—Why judged by the Federal tribunals—Causes relating to the +performance of contracts tried by the Federal courts—Consequence of +this arrangement. + +After having appointed the means of fixing the competency of the +Federal courts, the legislators of the Union defined the cases which +should come within their jurisdiction. It was established, on the one +hand, that certain parties must always be brought before the Federal +courts, without any regard to the special nature of the cause; and, on +the other, that certain causes must always be brought before the same +courts, without any regard to the quality of the parties in the suit. +These distinctions were therefore admitted to be the basis of the +Federal jurisdiction. + +Ambassadors are the representatives of nations in a state of amity with +the Union, and whatever concerns these personages concerns in some +degree the whole Union. When an ambassador is a party in a suit, that +suit affects the welfare of the nation, and a Federal tribunal is +naturally called upon to decide it. + +The Union itself may be invoked in legal proceedings, and in this case +it would be alike contrary to the customs of all nations and to common +sense to appeal to a tribunal representing any other sovereignty than +its own; the Federal courts, therefore, take cognizance of these +affairs. + +When two parties belonging to two different States are engaged in a +suit, the case cannot with propriety be brought before a court of +either State. The surest expedient is to select a tribunal like that of +the Union, which can excite the suspicions of neither party, and which +offers the most natural as well as the most certain remedy. + +When the two parties are not private individuals, but States, an +important political consideration is added to the same motive of +equity. The quality of the parties in this case gives a national +importance to all their disputes; and the most trifling litigation of +the States may be said to involve the peace of the whole Union. *f + +f +[ The Constitution also says that the Federal courts shall decide +“controversies between a State and the citizens of another State.” And +here a most important question of a constitutional nature arose, which +was, whether the jurisdiction given by the Constitution in cases in +which a State is a party extended to suits brought against a State as +well as by it, or was exclusively confined to the latter. The question +was most elaborately considered in the case of Chisholm v. Georgia, and +was decided by the majority of the Supreme Court in the affirmative. +The decision created general alarm among the States, and an amendment +was proposed and ratified by which the power was entirely taken away, +so far as it regards suits brought against a State. See Story’s +“Commentaries,” p. 624, or in the large edition Section 1677.] + + +The nature of the cause frequently prescribes the rule of competency. +Thus all the questions which concern maritime commerce evidently fall +under the cognizance of the Federal tribunals. *g Almost all these +questions are connected with the interpretation of the law of nations, +and in this respect they essentially interest the Union in relation to +foreign powers. Moreover, as the sea is not included within the limits +of any peculiar jurisdiction, the national courts can only hear causes +which originate in maritime affairs. + +g +[ As for instance, all cases of piracy.] + + +The Constitution comprises under one head almost all the cases which by +their very nature come within the limits of the Federal courts. The +rule which it lays down is simple, but pregnant with an entire system +of ideas, and with a vast multitude of facts. It declares that the +judicial power of the Supreme Court shall extend to all cases in law +and equity arising under the laws of the United States. + +Two examples will put the intention of the legislator in the clearest +light: + +The Constitution prohibits the States from making laws on the value and +circulation of money: If, notwithstanding this prohibition, a State +passes a law of this kind, with which the interested parties refuse to +comply because it is contrary to the Constitution, the case must come +before a Federal court, because it arises under the laws of the United +States. Again, if difficulties arise in the levying of import duties +which have been voted by Congress, the Federal court must decide the +case, because it arises under the interpretation of a law of the United +States. + +This rule is in perfect accordance with the fundamental principles of +the Federal Constitution. The Union, as it was established in 1789, +possesses, it is true, a limited supremacy; but it was intended that +within its limits it should form one and the same people. *h Within +those limits the Union is sovereign. When this point is established and +admitted, the inference is easy; for if it be acknowledged that the +United States constitute one and the same people within the bounds +prescribed by their Constitution, it is impossible to refuse them the +rights which belong to other nations. But it has been allowed, from the +origin of society, that every nation has the right of deciding by its +own courts those questions which concern the execution of its own laws. +To this it is answered that the Union is in so singular a position that +in relation to some matters it constitutes a people, and that in +relation to all the rest it is a nonentity. But the inference to be +drawn is, that in the laws relating to these matters the Union +possesses all the rights of absolute sovereignty. The difficulty is to +know what these matters are; and when once it is resolved (and we have +shown how it was resolved, in speaking of the means of determining the +jurisdiction of the Federal courts) no further doubt can arise; for as +soon as it is established that a suit is Federal—that is to say, that +it belongs to the share of sovereignty reserved by the Constitution of +the Union—the natural consequence is that it should come within the +jurisdiction of a Federal court. + +h +[ This principle was in some measure restricted by the introduction of +the several States as independent powers into the Senate, and by +allowing them to vote separately in the House of Representatives when +the President is elected by that body. But these are exceptions, and +the contrary principle is the rule.] + + +Whenever the laws of the United States are attacked, or whenever they +are resorted to in self-defence, the Federal courts must be appealed +to. Thus the jurisdiction of the tribunals of the Union extends and +narrows its limits exactly in the same ratio as the sovereignty of the +Union augments or decreases. We have shown that the principal aim of +the legislators of 1789 was to divide the sovereign authority into two +parts. In the one they placed the control of all the general interests +of the Union, in the other the control of the special interests of its +component States. Their chief solicitude was to arm the Federal +Government with sufficient power to enable it to resist, within its +sphere, the encroachments of the several States. As for these +communities, the principle of independence within certain limits of +their own was adopted in their behalf; and they were concealed from the +inspection, and protected from the control, of the central Government. +In speaking of the division of authority, I observed that this latter +principle had not always been held sacred, since the States are +prevented from passing certain laws which apparently belong to their +own particular sphere of interest. When a State of the Union passes a +law of this kind, the citizens who are injured by its execution can +appeal to the Federal courts. + +Thus the jurisdiction of the Federal courts extends not only to all the +cases which arise under the laws of the Union, but also to those which +arise under laws made by the several States in opposition to the +Constitution. The States are prohibited from making ex post facto laws +in criminal cases, and any person condemned by virtue of a law of this +kind can appeal to the judicial power of the Union. The States are +likewise prohibited from making laws which may have a tendency to +impair the obligations of contracts. *i If a citizen thinks that an +obligation of this kind is impaired by a law passed in his State, he +may refuse to obey it, and may appeal to the Federal courts. *j + +i +[ It is perfectly clear, says Mr. Story (“Commentaries,” p. 503, or in +the large edition Section 1379), that any law which enlarges, abridges, +or in any manner changes the intention of the parties, resulting from +the stipulations in the contract, necessarily impairs it. He gives in +the same place a very long and careful definition of what is understood +by a contract in Federal jurisprudence. A grant made by the State to a +private individual, and accepted by him, is a contract, and cannot be +revoked by any future law. A charter granted by the State to a company +is a contract, and equally binding to the State as to the grantee. The +clause of the Constitution here referred to insures, therefore, the +existence of a great part of acquired rights, but not of all. Property +may legally be held, though it may not have passed into the possessor’s +hands by means of a contract; and its possession is an acquired right, +not guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.] + + +j +[ A remarkable instance of this is given by Mr. Story (p. 508, or in +the large edition Section 1388): “Dartmouth College in New Hampshire +had been founded by a charter granted to certain individuals before the +American Revolution, and its trustees formed a corporation under this +charter. The legislature of New Hampshire had, without the consent of +this corporation, passed an act changing the organization of the +original provincial charter of the college, and transferring all the +rights, privileges, and franchises from the old charter trustees to new +trustees appointed under the act. The constitutionality of the act was +contested, and, after solemn arguments, it was deliberately held by the +Supreme Court that the provincial charter was a contract within the +meaning of the Constitution (Art. I. Section 10), and that the +emendatory act was utterly void, as impairing the obligation of that +charter. The college was deemed, like other colleges of private +foundation, to be a private eleemosynary institution, endowed by its +charter with a capacity to take property unconnected with the +Government. Its funds were bestowed upon the faith of the charter, and +those funds consisted entirely of private donations. It is true that +the uses were in some sense public, that is, for the general benefit, +and not for the mere benefit of the corporators; but this did not make +the corporation a public corporation. It was a private institution for +general charity. It was not distinguishable in principle from a private +donation, vested in private trustees, for a public charity, or for a +particular purpose of beneficence. And the State itself, if it had +bestowed funds upon a charity of the same nature, could not resume +those funds.”] + + +This provision appears to me to be the most serious attack upon the +independence of the States. The rights awarded to the Federal +Government for purposes of obvious national importance are definite and +easily comprehensible; but those with which this last clause invests it +are not either clearly appreciable or accurately defined. For there are +vast numbers of political laws which influence the existence of +obligations of contracts, which may thus furnish an easy pretext for +the aggressions of the central authority. + + + + + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part IV + +Procedure Of The Federal Courts + +Natural weakness of the judiciary power in confederations—Legislators +ought to strive as much as possible to bring private individuals, and +not States, before the Federal Courts—How the Americans have succeeded +in this—Direct prosecution of private individuals in the Federal +Courts—Indirect prosecution of the States which violate the laws of the +Union—The decrees of the Supreme Court enervate but do not destroy the +provincial laws. + +I have shown what the privileges of the Federal courts are, and it is +no less important to point out the manner in which they are exercised. +The irresistible authority of justice in countries in which the +sovereignty in undivided is derived from the fact that the tribunals of +those countries represent the entire nation at issue with the +individual against whom their decree is directed, and the idea of power +is thus introduced to corroborate the idea of right. But this is not +always the case in countries in which the sovereignty is divided; in +them the judicial power is more frequently opposed to a fraction of the +nation than to an isolated individual, and its moral authority and +physical strength are consequently diminished. In federal States the +power of the judge is naturally decreased, and that of the justiciable +parties is augmented. The aim of the legislator in confederate States +ought therefore to be to render the position of the courts of justice +analogous to that which they occupy in countries where the sovereignty +is undivided; in other words, his efforts ought constantly to tend to +maintain the judicial power of the confederation as the representative +of the nation, and the justiciable party as the representative of an +individual interest. + +Every government, whatever may be its constitution, requires the means +of constraining its subjects to discharge their obligations, and of +protecting its privileges from their assaults. As far as the direct +action of the Government on the community is concerned, the +Constitution of the United States contrived, by a master-stroke of +policy, that the federal courts, acting in the name of the laws, should +only take cognizance of parties in an individual capacity. For, as it +had been declared that the Union consisted of one and the same people +within the limits laid down by the Constitution, the inference was that +the Government created by this Constitution, and acting within these +limits, was invested with all the privileges of a national government, +one of the principal of which is the right of transmitting its +injunctions directly to the private citizen. When, for instance, the +Union votes an impost, it does not apply to the States for the levying +of it, but to every American citizen in proportion to his assessment. +The Supreme Court, which is empowered to enforce the execution of this +law of the Union, exerts its influence not upon a refractory State, but +upon the private taxpayer; and, like the judicial power of other +nations, it is opposed to the person of an individual. It is to be +observed that the Union chose its own antagonist; and as that +antagonist is feeble, he is naturally worsted. + +But the difficulty increases when the proceedings are not brought +forward by but against the Union. The Constitution recognizes the +legislative power of the States; and a law so enacted may impair the +privileges of the Union, in which case a collision in unavoidable +between that body and the State which has passed the law: and it only +remains to select the least dangerous remedy, which is very clearly +deducible from the general principles I have before established. *k + +k +[ See Chapter VI. on “Judicial Power in America.”] + + +It may be conceived that, in the case under consideration, the Union +might have used the State before a Federal court, which would have +annulled the act, and by this means it would have adopted a natural +course of proceeding; but the judicial power would have been placed in +open hostility to the State, and it was desirable to avoid this +predicament as much as possible. The Americans hold that it is nearly +impossible that a new law should not impair the interests of some +private individual by its provisions: these private interests are +assumed by the American legislators as the ground of attack against +such measures as may be prejudicial to the Union, and it is to these +cases that the protection of the Supreme Court is extended. + +Suppose a State vends a certain portion of its territory to a company, +and that a year afterwards it passes a law by which the territory is +otherwise disposed of, and that clause of the Constitution which +prohibits laws impairing the obligation of contracts violated. When the +purchaser under the second act appears to take possession, the +possessor under the first act brings his action before the tribunals of +the Union, and causes the title of the claimant to be pronounced null +and void. *l Thus, in point of fact, the judicial power of the Union is +contesting the claims of the sovereignty of a State; but it only acts +indirectly and upon a special application of detail: it attacks the law +in its consequences, not in its principle, and it rather weakens than +destroys it. + +l +[ See Kent’s “Commentaries,” vol. i. p. 387.] + + +The last hypothesis that remained was that each State formed a +corporation enjoying a separate existence and distinct civil rights, +and that it could therefore sue or be sued before a tribunal. Thus a +State could bring an action against another State. In this instance the +Union was not called upon to contest a provincial law, but to try a +suit in which a State was a party. This suit was perfectly similar to +any other cause, except that the quality of the parties was different; +and here the danger pointed out at the beginning of this chapter exists +with less chance of being avoided. The inherent disadvantage of the +very essence of Federal constitutions is that they engender parties in +the bosom of the nation which present powerful obstacles to the free +course of justice. + +High Rank Of The Supreme Court Amongst The Great Powers Of State No +nation ever constituted so great a judicial power as the +Americans—Extent of its prerogative—Its political influence—The +tranquillity and the very existence of the Union depend on the +discretion of the seven Federal Judges. + +When we have successively examined in detail the organization of the +Supreme Court, and the entire prerogatives which it exercises, we shall +readily admit that a more imposing judicial power was never constituted +by any people. The Supreme Court is placed at the head of all known +tribunals, both by the nature of its rights and the class of +justiciable parties which it controls. + +In all the civilized countries of Europe the Government has always +shown the greatest repugnance to allow the cases to which it was itself +a party to be decided by the ordinary course of justice. This +repugnance naturally attains its utmost height in an absolute +Government; and, on the other hand, the privileges of the courts of +justice are extended with the increasing liberties of the people: but +no European nation has at present held that all judicial controversies, +without regard to their origin, can be decided by the judges of common +law. + +In America this theory has been actually put in practice, and the +Supreme Court of the United States is the sole tribunal of the nation. +Its power extends to all the cases arising under laws and treaties made +by the executive and legislative authorities, to all cases of admiralty +and maritime jurisdiction, and in general to all points which affect +the law of nations. It may even be affirmed that, although its +constitution is essentially judicial, its prerogatives are almost +entirely political. Its sole object is to enforce the execution of the +laws of the Union; and the Union only regulates the relations of the +Government with the citizens, and of the nation with Foreign Powers: +the relations of citizens amongst themselves are almost exclusively +regulated by the sovereignty of the States. + +A second and still greater cause of the preponderance of this court may +be adduced. In the nations of Europe the courts of justice are only +called upon to try the controversies of private individuals; but the +Supreme Court of the United States summons sovereign powers to its bar. +When the clerk of the court advances on the steps of the tribunal, and +simply says, “The State of New York versus the State of Ohio,” it is +impossible not to feel that the Court which he addresses is no ordinary +body; and when it is recollected that one of these parties represents +one million, and the other two millions of men, one is struck by the +responsibility of the seven judges whose decision is about to satisfy +or to disappoint so large a number of their fellow-citizens. + +The peace, the prosperity, and the very existence of the Union are +vested in the hands of the seven judges. Without their active +co-operation the Constitution would be a dead letter: the Executive +appeals to them for assistance against the encroachments of the +legislative powers; the Legislature demands their protection from the +designs of the Executive; they defend the Union from the disobedience +of the States, the States from the exaggerated claims of the Union, the +public interest against the interests of private citizens, and the +conservative spirit of order against the fleeting innovations of +democracy. Their power is enormous, but it is clothed in the authority +of public opinion. They are the all-powerful guardians of a people +which respects law, but they would be impotent against popular neglect +or popular contempt. The force of public opinion is the most +intractable of agents, because its exact limits cannot be defined; and +it is not less dangerous to exceed than to remain below the boundary +prescribed. + +The Federal judges must not only be good citizens, and men possessed of +that information and integrity which are indispensable to magistrates, +but they must be statesmen—politicians, not unread in the signs of the +times, not afraid to brave the obstacles which can be subdued, nor slow +to turn aside such encroaching elements as may threaten the supremacy +of the Union and the obedience which is due to the laws. + +The President, who exercises a limited power, may err without causing +great mischief in the State. Congress may decide amiss without +destroying the Union, because the electoral body in which Congress +originates may cause it to retract its decision by changing its +members. But if the Supreme Court is ever composed of imprudent men or +bad citizens, the Union may be plunged into anarchy or civil war. + +The real cause of this danger, however, does not lie in the +constitution of the tribunal, but in the very nature of Federal +Governments. We have observed that in confederate peoples it is +especially necessary to consolidate the judicial authority, because in +no other nations do those independent persons who are able to cope with +the social body exist in greater power or in a better condition to +resist the physical strength of the Government. But the more a power +requires to be strengthened, the more extensive and independent it must +be made; and the dangers which its abuse may create are heightened by +its independence and its strength. The source of the evil is not, +therefore, in the constitution of the power, but in the constitution of +those States which render its existence necessary. + +In What Respects The Federal Constitution Is Superior To That Of The +States + +In what respects the Constitution of the Union can be compared to that +of the States—Superiority of the Constitution of the Union attributable +to the wisdom of the Federal legislators—Legislature of the Union less +dependent on the people than that of the States—Executive power more +independent in its sphere—Judicial power less subjected to the +inclinations of the majority—Practical consequence of these facts—The +dangers inherent in a democratic government eluded by the Federal +legislators, and increased by the legislators of the States. + +The Federal Constitution differs essentially from that of the States in +the ends which it is intended to accomplish, but in the means by which +these ends are promoted a greater analogy exists between them. The +objects of the Governments are different, but their forms are the same; +and in this special point of view there is some advantage in comparing +them together. + +I am of opinion that the Federal Constitution is superior to all the +Constitutions of the States, for several reasons. + +The present Constitution of the Union was formed at a later period than +those of the majority of the States, and it may have derived some +ameliorations from past experience. But we shall be led to acknowledge +that this is only a secondary cause of its superiority, when we +recollect that eleven new States *n have been added to the American +Confederation since the promulgation of the Federal Constitution, and +that these new republics have always rather exaggerated than avoided +the defects which existed in the former Constitutions. + +n +[ [The number of States has now risen to 46 (1874), besides the +District of Columbia.]] + + +The chief cause of the superiority of the Federal Constitution lay in +the character of the legislators who composed it. At the time when it +was formed the dangers of the Confederation were imminent, and its ruin +seemed inevitable. In this extremity the people chose the men who most +deserved the esteem, rather than those who had gained the affections, +of the country. I have already observed that distinguished as almost +all the legislators of the Union were for their intelligence, they were +still more so for their patriotism. They had all been nurtured at a +time when the spirit of liberty was braced by a continual struggle +against a powerful and predominant authority. When the contest was +terminated, whilst the excited passions of the populace persisted in +warring with dangers which had ceased to threaten them, these men +stopped short in their career; they cast a calmer and more penetrating +look upon the country which was now their own; they perceived that the +war of independence was definitely ended, and that the only dangers +which America had to fear were those which might result from the abuse +of the freedom she had won. They had the courage to say what they +believed to be true, because they were animated by a warm and sincere +love of liberty; and they ventured to propose restrictions, because +they were resolutely opposed to destruction. *o + +o +[ At this time Alexander Hamilton, who was one of the principal +founders of the Constitution, ventured to express the following +sentiments in “The Federalist,” No. 71:— + + +“There are some who would be inclined to regard the servile pliancy of +the Executive to a prevailing current, either in the community or in +the Legislature, as its best recommendation. But such men entertain +very crude notions, as well of the purposes for which government was +instituted as of the true means by which the public happiness may be +promoted. The Republican principle demands that the deliberative sense +of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they +entrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require an +unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion, or to every +transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men who +flatter their prejudices to betray their interests. It is a just +observation, that the people commonly intend the public good. This +often applies to their very errors. But their good sense would despise +the adulator who should pretend that they always reason right about the +means of promoting it. They know from experience that they sometimes +err; and the wonder is that they so seldom err as they do, beset, as +they continually are, by the wiles of parasites and sycophants; by the +snares of the ambitious, the avaricious, the desperate; by the +artifices of men who possess their confidence more than they deserve +it, and of those who seek to possess rather than to deserve it. When +occasions present themselves in which the interests of the people are +at variance with their inclinations, it is the duty of persons whom +they have appointed to be the guardians of those interests to withstand +the temporary delusion, in order to give them time and opportunity for +more cool and sedate reflection. Instances might be cited in which a +conduct of this kind has saved the people from very fatal consequences +of their own mistakes, and has procured lasting monuments of their +gratitude to the men who had courage and magnanimity enough to serve +them at the peril of their displeasure.”] + +The greater number of the Constitutions of the States assign one year +for the duration of the House of Representatives, and two years for +that of the Senate; so that members of the legislative body are +constantly and narrowly tied down by the slightest desires of their +constituents. The legislators of the Union were of opinion that this +excessive dependence of the Legislature tended to alter the nature of +the main consequences of the representative system, since it vested the +source, not only of authority, but of government, in the people. They +increased the length of the time for which the representatives were +returned, in order to give them freer scope for the exercise of their +own judgment. + +The Federal Constitution, as well as the Constitutions of the different +States, divided the legislative body into two branches. But in the +States these two branches were composed of the same elements, and +elected in the same manner. The consequence was that the passions and +inclinations of the populace were as rapidly and as energetically +represented in one chamber as in the other, and that laws were made +with all the characteristics of violence and precipitation. By the +Federal Constitution the two houses originate in like manner in the +choice of the people; but the conditions of eligibility and the mode of +election were changed, to the end that, if, as is the case in certain +nations, one branch of the Legislature represents the same interests as +the other, it may at least represent a superior degree of intelligence +and discretion. A mature age was made one of the conditions of the +senatorial dignity, and the Upper House was chosen by an elected +assembly of a limited number of members. + +To concentrate the whole social force in the hands of the legislative +body is the natural tendency of democracies; for as this is the power +which emanates the most directly from the people, it is made to +participate most fully in the preponderating authority of the +multitude, and it is naturally led to monopolize every species of +influence. This concentration is at once prejudicial to a +well-conducted administration, and favorable to the despotism of the +majority. The legislators of the States frequently yielded to these +democratic propensities, which were invariably and courageously +resisted by the founders of the Union. + +In the States the executive power is vested in the hands of a +magistrate, who is apparently placed upon a level with the Legislature, +but who is in reality nothing more than the blind agent and the passive +instrument of its decisions. He can derive no influence from the +duration of his functions, which terminate with the revolving year, or +from the exercise of prerogatives which can scarcely be said to exist. +The Legislature can condemn him to inaction by intrusting the execution +of the laws to special committees of its own members, and can annul his +temporary dignity by depriving him of his salary. The Federal +Constitution vests all the privileges and all the responsibility of the +executive power in a single individual. The duration of the Presidency +is fixed at four years; the salary of the individual who fills that +office cannot be altered during the term of his functions; he is +protected by a body of official dependents, and armed with a suspensive +veto. In short, every effort was made to confer a strong and +independent position upon the executive authority within the limits +which had been prescribed to it. + +In the Constitutions of all the States the judicial power is that which +remains the most independent of the legislative authority; +nevertheless, in all the States the Legislature has reserved to itself +the right of regulating the emoluments of the judges, a practice which +necessarily subjects these magistrates to its immediate influence. In +some States the judges are only temporarily appointed, which deprives +them of a great portion of their power and their freedom. In others the +legislative and judicial powers are entirely confounded; thus the +Senate of New York, for instance, constitutes in certain cases the +Superior Court of the State. The Federal Constitution, on the other +hand, carefully separates the judicial authority from all external +influences; and it provides for the independence of the judges, by +declaring that their salary shall not be altered, and that their +functions shall be inalienable. + +The practical consequences of these different systems may easily be +perceived. An attentive observer will soon remark that the business of +the Union is incomparably better conducted than that of any individual +State. The conduct of the Federal Government is more fair and more +temperate than that of the States, its designs are more fraught with +wisdom, its projects are more durable and more skilfully combined, its +measures are put into execution with more vigor and consistency. + +I recapitulate the substance of this chapter in a few words: The +existence of democracies is threatened by two dangers, viz., the +complete subjection of the legislative body to the caprices of the +electoral body, and the concentration of all the powers of the +Government in the legislative authority. The growth of these evils has +been encouraged by the policy of the legislators of the States, but it +has been resisted by the legislators of the Union by every means which +lay within their control. + +Characteristics Which Distinguish The Federal Constitution Of The +United States Of America From All Other Federal Constitutions American +Union appears to resemble all other confederations—Nevertheless its +effects are different—Reason of this—Distinctions between the Union and +all other confederations—The American Government not a federal but an +imperfect national Government. + +The United States of America do not afford either the first or the only +instance of confederate States, several of which have existed in modern +Europe, without adverting to those of antiquity. Switzerland, the +Germanic Empire, and the Republic of the United Provinces either have +been or still are confederations. In studying the constitutions of +these different countries, the politician is surprised to observe that +the powers with which they invested the Federal Government are nearly +identical with the privileges awarded by the American Constitution to +the Government of the United States. They confer upon the central power +the same rights of making peace and war, of raising money and troops, +and of providing for the general exigencies and the common interests of +the nation. Nevertheless the Federal Government of these different +peoples has always been as remarkable for its weakness and inefficiency +as that of the Union is for its vigorous and enterprising spirit. +Again, the first American Confederation perished through the excessive +weakness of its Government; and this weak Government was, +notwithstanding, in possession of rights even more extensive than those +of the Federal Government of the present day. But the more recent +Constitution of the United States contains certain principles which +exercise a most important influence, although they do not at once +strike the observer. + +This Constitution, which may at first sight be confounded with the +federal constitutions which preceded it, rests upon a novel theory, +which may be considered as a great invention in modern political +science. In all the confederations which had been formed before the +American Constitution of 1789 the allied States agreed to obey the +injunctions of a Federal Government; but they reserved to themselves +the right of ordaining and enforcing the execution of the laws of the +Union. The American States which combined in 1789 agreed that the +Federal Government should not only dictate the laws, but that it should +execute it own enactments. In both cases the right is the same, but the +exercise of the right is different; and this alteration produced the +most momentous consequences. + +In all the confederations which had been formed before the American +Union the Federal Government demanded its supplies at the hands of the +separate Governments; and if the measure it prescribed was onerous to +any one of those bodies means were found to evade its claims: if the +State was powerful, it had recourse to arms; if it was weak, it +connived at the resistance which the law of the Union, its sovereign, +met with, and resorted to inaction under the plea of inability. Under +these circumstances one of the two alternatives has invariably +occurred; either the most preponderant of the allied peoples has +assumed the privileges of the Federal authority and ruled all the +States in its name, *p or the Federal Government has been abandoned by +its natural supporters, anarchy has arisen between the confederates, +and the Union has lost all powers of action. *q + +p +[ This was the case in Greece, when Philip undertook to execute the +decree of the Amphictyons; in the Low Countries, where the province of +Holland always gave the law; and, in our own time, in the Germanic +Confederation, in which Austria and Prussia assume a great degree of +influence over the whole country, in the name of the Diet.] + + +q +[ Such has always been the situation of the Swiss Confederation, which +would have perished ages ago but for the mutual jealousies of its +neighbors.] + + +In America the subjects of the Union are not States, but private +citizens: the national Government levies a tax, not upon the State of +Massachusetts, but upon each inhabitant of Massachusetts. All former +confederate governments presided over communities, but that of the +Union rules individuals; its force is not borrowed, but self-derived; +and it is served by its own civil and military officers, by its own +army, and its own courts of justice. It cannot be doubted that the +spirit of the nation, the passions of the multitude, and the provincial +prejudices of each State tend singularly to diminish the authority of a +Federal authority thus constituted, and to facilitate the means of +resistance to its mandates; but the comparative weakness of a +restricted sovereignty is an evil inherent in the Federal system. In +America, each State has fewer opportunities of resistance and fewer +temptations to non-compliance; nor can such a design be put in +execution (if indeed it be entertained) without an open violation of +the laws of the Union, a direct interruption of the ordinary course of +justice, and a bold declaration of revolt; in a word, without taking a +decisive step which men hesitate to adopt. + +In all former confederations the privileges of the Union furnished more +elements of discord than of power, since they multiplied the claims of +the nation without augmenting the means of enforcing them: and in +accordance with this fact it may be remarked that the real weakness of +federal governments has almost always been in the exact ratio of their +nominal power. Such is not the case in the American Union, in which, as +in ordinary governments, the Federal Government has the means of +enforcing all it is empowered to demand. + +The human understanding more easily invents new things than new words, +and we are thence constrained to employ a multitude of improper and +inadequate expressions. When several nations form a permanent league +and establish a supreme authority, which, although it has not the same +influence over the members of the community as a national government, +acts upon each of the Confederate States in a body, this Government, +which is so essentially different from all others, is denominated a +Federal one. Another form of society is afterwards discovered, in which +several peoples are fused into one and the same nation with regard to +certain common interests, although they remain distinct, or at least +only confederate, with regard to all their other concerns. In this case +the central power acts directly upon those whom it governs, whom it +rules, and whom it judges, in the same manner, as, but in a more +limited circle than, a national government. Here the term Federal +Government is clearly no longer applicable to a state of things which +must be styled an incomplete national Government: a form of government +has been found out which is neither exactly national nor federal; but +no further progress has been made, and the new word which will one day +designate this novel invention does not yet exist. + +The absence of this new species of confederation has been the cause +which has brought all Unions to Civil War, to subjection, or to a +stagnant apathy, and the peoples which formed these leagues have been +either too dull to discern, or too pusillanimous to apply this great +remedy. The American Confederation perished by the same defects. + +But the Confederate States of America had been long accustomed to form +a portion of one empire before they had won their independence; they +had not contracted the habit of governing themselves, and their +national prejudices had not taken deep root in their minds. Superior to +the rest of the world in political knowledge, and sharing that +knowledge equally amongst themselves, they were little agitated by the +passions which generally oppose the extension of federal authority in a +nation, and those passions were checked by the wisdom of the chief +citizens. The Americans applied the remedy with prudent firmness as +soon as they were conscious of the evil; they amended their laws, and +they saved their country. + + + + + Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution—Part V + + +Advantages Of The Federal System In General, And Its Special Utility In +America. + +Happiness and freedom of small nations—Power of great nations—Great +empires favorable to the growth of civilization—Strength often the +first element of national prosperity—Aim of the Federal system to unite +the twofold advantages resulting from a small and from a large +territory—Advantages derived by the United States from this system—The +law adapts itself to the exigencies of the population; population does +not conform to the exigencies of the law—Activity, amelioration, love +and enjoyment of freedom in the American communities—Public spirit of +the Union the abstract of provincial patriotism—Principles and things +circulate freely over the territory of the United States—The Union is +happy and free as a little nation, and respected as a great empire. + +In small nations the scrutiny of society penetrates into every part, +and the spirit of improvement enters into the most trifling details; as +the ambition of the people is necessarily checked by its weakness, all +the efforts and resources of the citizens are turned to the internal +benefit of the community, and are not likely to evaporate in the +fleeting breath of glory. The desires of every individual are limited, +because extraordinary faculties are rarely to be met with. The gifts of +an equal fortune render the various conditions of life uniform, and the +manners of the inhabitants are orderly and simple. Thus, if one +estimate the gradations of popular morality and enlightenment, we shall +generally find that in small nations there are more persons in easy +circumstances, a more numerous population, and a more tranquil state of +society, than in great empires. + +When tyranny is established in the bosom of a small nation, it is more +galling than elsewhere, because, as it acts within a narrow circle, +every point of that circle is subject to its direct influence. It +supplies the place of those great designs which it cannot entertain by +a violent or an exasperating interference in a multitude of minute +details; and it leaves the political world, to which it properly +belongs, to meddle with the arrangements of domestic life. Tastes as +well as actions are to be regulated at its pleasure; and the families +of the citizens as well as the affairs of the State are to be governed +by its decisions. This invasion of rights occurs, however, but seldom, +and freedom is in truth the natural state of small communities. The +temptations which the Government offers to ambition are too weak, and +the resources of private individuals are too slender, for the sovereign +power easily to fall within the grasp of a single citizen; and should +such an event have occurred, the subjects of the State can without +difficulty overthrow the tyrant and his oppression by a simultaneous +effort. + +Small nations have therefore ever been the cradle of political liberty; +and the fact that many of them have lost their immunities by extending +their dominion shows that the freedom they enjoyed was more a +consequence of the inferior size than of the character of the people. + +The history of the world affords no instance of a great nation +retaining the form of republican government for a long series of years, +*r and this has led to the conclusion that such a state of things is +impracticable. For my own part, I cannot but censure the imprudence of +attempting to limit the possible and to judge the future on the part of +a being who is hourly deceived by the most palpable realities of life, +and who is constantly taken by surprise in the circumstances with which +he is most familiar. But it may be advanced with confidence that the +existence of a great republic will always be exposed to far greater +perils than that of a small one. + +r +[ I do not speak of a confederation of small republics, but of a great +consolidated Republic.] + + +All the passions which are most fatal to republican institutions spread +with an increasing territory, whilst the virtues which maintain their +dignity do not augment in the same proportion. The ambition of the +citizens increases with the power of the State; the strength of parties +with the importance of the ends they have in view; but that devotion to +the common weal which is the surest check on destructive passions is +not stronger in a large than in a small republic. It might, indeed, be +proved without difficulty that it is less powerful and less sincere. +The arrogance of wealth and the dejection of wretchedness, capital +cities of unwonted extent, a lax morality, a vulgar egotism, and a +great confusion of interests, are the dangers which almost invariably +arise from the magnitude of States. But several of these evils are +scarcely prejudicial to a monarchy, and some of them contribute to +maintain its existence. In monarchical States the strength of the +government is its own; it may use, but it does not depend on, the +community, and the authority of the prince is proportioned to the +prosperity of the nation; but the only security which a republican +government possesses against these evils lies in the support of the +majority. This support is not, however, proportionably greater in a +large republic than it is in a small one; and thus, whilst the means of +attack perpetually increase both in number and in influence, the power +of resistance remains the same, or it may rather be said to diminish, +since the propensities and interests of the people are diversified by +the increase of the population, and the difficulty of forming a compact +majority is constantly augmented. It has been observed, moreover, that +the intensity of human passions is heightened, not only by the +importance of the end which they propose to attain, but by the +multitude of individuals who are animated by them at the same time. +Every one has had occasion to remark that his emotions in the midst of +a sympathizing crowd are far greater than those which he would have +felt in solitude. In great republics the impetus of political passion +is irresistible, not only because it aims at gigantic purposes, but +because it is felt and shared by millions of men at the same time. + +It may therefore be asserted as a general proposition that nothing is +more opposed to the well-being and the freedom of man than vast +empires. Nevertheless it is important to acknowledge the peculiar +advantages of great States. For the very reason which renders the +desire of power more intense in these communities than amongst ordinary +men, the love of glory is also more prominent in the hearts of a class +of citizens, who regard the applause of a great people as a reward +worthy of their exertions, and an elevating encouragement to man. If we +would learn why it is that great nations contribute more powerfully to +the spread of human improvement than small States, we shall discover an +adequate cause in the rapid and energetic circulation of ideas, and in +those great cities which are the intellectual centres where all the +rays of human genius are reflected and combined. To this it may be +added that most important discoveries demand a display of national +power which the Government of a small State is unable to make; in great +nations the Government entertains a greater number of general notions, +and is more completely disengaged from the routine of precedent and the +egotism of local prejudice; its designs are conceived with more talent, +and executed with more boldness. + +In time of peace the well-being of small nations is undoubtedly more +general and more complete, but they are apt to suffer more acutely from +the calamities of war than those great empires whose distant frontiers +may for ages avert the presence of the danger from the mass of the +people, which is therefore more frequently afflicted than ruined by the +evil. + +But in this matter, as in many others, the argument derived from the +necessity of the case predominates over all others. If none but small +nations existed, I do not doubt that mankind would be more happy and +more free; but the existence of great nations is unavoidable. + +This consideration introduces the element of physical strength as a +condition of national prosperity. It profits a people but little to be +affluent and free if it is perpetually exposed to be pillaged or +subjugated; the number of its manufactures and the extent of its +commerce are of small advantage if another nation has the empire of the +seas and gives the law in all the markets of the globe. Small nations +are often impoverished, not because they are small, but because they +are weak; the great empires prosper less because they are great than +because they are strong. Physical strength is therefore one of the +first conditions of the happiness and even of the existence of nations. +Hence it occurs that, unless very peculiar circumstances intervene, +small nations are always united to large empires in the end, either by +force or by their own consent: yet I am unacquainted with a more +deplorable spectacle than that of a people unable either to defend or +to maintain its independence. + +The Federal system was created with the intention of combining the +different advantages which result from the greater and the lesser +extent of nations; and a single glance over the United States of +America suffices to discover the advantages which they have derived +from its adoption. + +In great centralized nations the legislator is obliged to impart a +character of uniformity to the laws which does not always suit the +diversity of customs and of districts; as he takes no cognizance of +special cases, he can only proceed upon general principles; and the +population is obliged to conform to the exigencies of the legislation, +since the legislation cannot adapt itself to the exigencies and the +customs of the population, which is the cause of endless trouble and +misery. This disadvantage does not exist in confederations. Congress +regulates the principal measures of the national Government, and all +the details of the administration are reserved to the provincial +legislatures. It is impossible to imagine how much this division of +sovereignty contributes to the well-being of each of the States which +compose the Union. In these small communities, which are never agitated +by the desire of aggrandizement or the cares of self-defence, all +public authority and private energy is employed in internal +amelioration. The central government of each State, which is in +immediate juxtaposition to the citizens, is daily apprised of the wants +which arise in society; and new projects are proposed every year, which +are discussed either at town meetings or by the legislature of the +State, and which are transmitted by the press to stimulate the zeal and +to excite the interest of the citizens. This spirit of amelioration is +constantly alive in the American republics, without compromising their +tranquillity; the ambition of power yields to the less refined and less +dangerous love of comfort. It is generally believed in America that the +existence and the permanence of the republican form of government in +the New World depend upon the existence and the permanence of the +Federal system; and it is not unusual to attribute a large share of the +misfortunes which have befallen the new States of South America to the +injudicious erection of great republics, instead of a divided and +confederate sovereignty. + +It is incontestably true that the love and the habits of republican +government in the United States were engendered in the townships and in +the provincial assemblies. In a small State, like that of Connecticut +for instance, where cutting a canal or laying down a road is a +momentous political question, where the State has no army to pay and no +wars to carry on, and where much wealth and much honor cannot be +bestowed upon the chief citizens, no form of government can be more +natural or more appropriate than that of a republic. But it is this +same republican spirit, it is these manners and customs of a free +people, which are engendered and nurtured in the different States, to +be afterwards applied to the country at large. The public spirit of the +Union is, so to speak, nothing more than an abstract of the patriotic +zeal of the provinces. Every citizen of the United States transfuses +his attachment to his little republic in the common store of American +patriotism. In defending the Union he defends the increasing prosperity +of his own district, the right of conducting its affairs, and the hope +of causing measures of improvement to be adopted which may be favorable +to his own interest; and these are motives which are wont to stir men +more readily than the general interests of the country and the glory of +the nation. + +On the other hand, if the temper and the manners of the inhabitants +especially fitted them to promote the welfare of a great republic, the +Federal system smoothed the obstacles which they might have +encountered. The confederation of all the American States presents none +of the ordinary disadvantages resulting from great agglomerations of +men. The Union is a great republic in extent, but the paucity of +objects for which its Government provides assimilates it to a small +State. Its acts are important, but they are rare. As the sovereignty of +the Union is limited and incomplete, its exercise is not incompatible +with liberty; for it does not excite those insatiable desires of fame +and power which have proved so fatal to great republics. As there is no +common centre to the country, vast capital cities, colossal wealth, +abject poverty, and sudden revolutions are alike unknown; and political +passion, instead of spreading over the land like a torrent of +desolation, spends its strength against the interests and the +individual passions of every State. + +Nevertheless, all commodities and ideas circulate throughout the Union +as freely as in a country inhabited by one people. Nothing checks the +spirit of enterprise. Government avails itself of the assistance of all +who have talents or knowledge to serve it. Within the frontiers of the +Union the profoundest peace prevails, as within the heart of some great +empire; abroad, it ranks with the most powerful nations of the earth; +two thousand miles of coast are open to the commerce of the world; and +as it possesses the keys of the globe, its flags is respected in the +most remote seas. The Union is as happy and as free as a small people, +and as glorious and as strong as a great nation. + +Why The Federal System Is Not Adapted To All Peoples, And How The +Anglo-Americans Were Enabled To Adopt It. + +Every Federal system contains defects which baffle the efforts of the +legislator—The Federal system is complex—It demands a daily exercise of +discretion on the part of the citizens—Practical knowledge of +government common amongst the Americans—Relative weakness of the +Government of the Union, another defect inherent in the Federal +system—The Americans have diminished without remedying it—The +sovereignty of the separate States apparently weaker, but really +stronger, than that of the Union—Why?—Natural causes of union must +exist between confederate peoples besides the laws—What these causes +are amongst the Anglo-Americans—Maine and Georgia, separated by a +distance of a thousand miles, more naturally united than Normandy and +Brittany—War, the main peril of confederations—This proved even by the +example of the United States—The Union has no great wars to +fear—Why?—Dangers to which Europeans would be exposed if they adopted +the Federal system of the Americans. + +When a legislator succeeds, after persevering efforts, in exercising an +indirect influence upon the destiny of nations, his genius is lauded by +mankind, whilst, in point of fact, the geographical position of the +country which he is unable to change, a social condition which arose +without his co-operation, manners and opinions which he cannot trace to +their source, and an origin with which he is unacquainted, exercise so +irresistible an influence over the courses of society that he is +himself borne away by the current, after an ineffectual resistance. +Like the navigator, he may direct the vessel which bears him along, but +he can neither change its structure, nor raise the winds, nor lull the +waters which swell beneath him. + +I have shown the advantages which the Americans derive from their +federal system; it remains for me to point out the circumstances which +rendered that system practicable, as its benefits are not to be enjoyed +by all nations. The incidental defects of the Federal system which +originate in the laws may be corrected by the skill of the legislator, +but there are further evils inherent in the system which cannot be +counteracted by the peoples which adopt it. These nations must +therefore find the strength necessary to support the natural +imperfections of their Government. + +The most prominent evil of all Federal systems is the very complex +nature of the means they employ. Two sovereignties are necessarily in +presence of each other. The legislator may simplify and equalize the +action of these two sovereignties, by limiting each of them to a sphere +of authority accurately defined; but he cannot combine them into one, +or prevent them from coming into collision at certain points. The +Federal system therefore rests upon a theory which is necessarily +complicated, and which demands the daily exercise of a considerable +share of discretion on the part of those it governs. + +A proposition must be plain to be adopted by the understanding of a +people. A false notion which is clear and precise will always meet with +a greater number of adherents in the world than a true principle which +is obscure or involved. Hence it arises that parties, which are like +small communities in the heart of the nation, invariably adopt some +principle or some name as a symbol, which very inadequately represents +the end they have in view and the means which are at their disposal, +but without which they could neither act nor subsist. The governments +which are founded upon a single principle or a single feeling which is +easily defined are perhaps not the best, but they are unquestionably +the strongest and the most durable in the world. + +In examining the Constitution of the United States, which is the most +perfect federal constitution that ever existed, one is startled, on the +other hand, at the variety of information and the excellence of +discretion which it presupposes in the people whom it is meant to +govern. The government of the Union depends entirely upon legal +fictions; the Union is an ideal nation which only exists in the mind, +and whose limits and extent can only be discerned by the understanding. + +When once the general theory is comprehended, numberless difficulties +remain to be solved in its application; for the sovereignty of the +Union is so involved in that of the States that it is impossible to +distinguish its boundaries at the first glance. The whole structure of +the Government is artificial and conventional; and it would be ill +adapted to a people which has not been long accustomed to conduct its +own affairs, or to one in which the science of politics has not +descended to the humblest classes of society. I have never been more +struck by the good sense and the practical judgment of the Americans +than in the ingenious devices by which they elude the numberless +difficulties resulting from their Federal Constitution. I scarcely ever +met with a plain American citizen who could not distinguish, with +surprising facility, the obligations created by the laws of Congress +from those created by the laws of his own State; and who, after having +discriminated between the matters which come under the cognizance of +the Union and those which the local legislature is competent to +regulate, could not point out the exact limit of the several +jurisdictions of the Federal courts and the tribunals of the State. + +The Constitution of the United States is like those exquisite +productions of human industry which ensure wealth and renown to their +inventors, but which are profitless in any other hands. This truth is +exemplified by the condition of Mexico at the present time. The +Mexicans were desirous of establishing a federal system, and they took +the Federal Constitution of their neighbors, the Anglo-Americans, as +their model, and copied it with considerable accuracy. *s But although +they had borrowed the letter of the law, they were unable to create or +to introduce the spirit and the sense which give it life. They were +involved in ceaseless embarrassments between the mechanism of their +double government; the sovereignty of the States and that of the Union +perpetually exceeded their respective privileges, and entered into +collision; and to the present day Mexico is alternately the victim of +anarchy and the slave of military despotism. + +s +[ See the Mexican Constitution of 1824.] + + +The second and the most fatal of all the defects I have alluded to, and +that which I believe to be inherent in the federal system, is the +relative weakness of the government of the Union. The principle upon +which all confederations rest is that of a divided sovereignty. The +legislator may render this partition less perceptible, he may even +conceal it for a time from the public eye, but he cannot prevent it +from existing, and a divided sovereignty must always be less powerful +than an entire supremacy. The reader has seen in the remarks I have +made on the Constitution of the United States that the Americans have +displayed singular ingenuity in combining the restriction of the power +of the Union within the narrow limits of a federal government with the +semblance and, to a certain extent, with the force of a national +government. By this means the legislators of the Union have succeeded +in diminishing, though not in counteracting the natural danger of +confederations. + +It has been remarked that the American Government does not apply itself +to the States, but that it immediately transmits its injunctions to the +citizens, and compels them as isolated individuals to comply with its +demands. But if the Federal law were to clash with the interests and +the prejudices of a State, it might be feared that all the citizens of +that State would conceive themselves to be interested in the cause of a +single individual who should refuse to obey. If all the citizens of the +State were aggrieved at the same time and in the same manner by the +authority of the Union, the Federal Government would vainly attempt to +subdue them individually; they would instinctively unite in a common +defence, and they would derive a ready-prepared organization from the +share of sovereignty which the institution of their State allows them +to enjoy. Fiction would give way to reality, and an organized portion +of the territory might then contest the central authority. *t The same +observation holds good with regard to the Federal jurisdiction. If the +courts of the Union violated an important law of a State in a private +case, the real, if not the apparent, contest would arise between the +aggrieved State represented by a citizen and the Union represented by +its courts of justice. *u + +t +[ [This is precisely what occurred in 1862, and the following paragraph +describes correctly the feelings and notions of the South. General Lee +held that his primary allegiance was due, not to the Union, but to +Virginia.]] + + +u +[ For instance, the Union possesses by the Constitution the right of +selling unoccupied lands for its own profit. Supposing that the State +of Ohio should claim the same right in behalf of certain territories +lying within its boundaries, upon the plea that the Constitution refers +to those lands alone which do not belong to the jurisdiction of any +particular State, and consequently should choose to dispose of them +itself, the litigation would be carried on in the names of the +purchasers from the State of Ohio and the purchasers from the Union, +and not in the names of Ohio and the Union. But what would become of +this legal fiction if the Federal purchaser was confirmed in his right +by the courts of the Union, whilst the other competitor was ordered to +retain possession by the tribunals of the State of Ohio?] + + +He would have but a partial knowledge of the world who should imagine +that it is possible, by the aid of legal fictions, to prevent men from +finding out and employing those means of gratifying their passions +which have been left open to them; and it may be doubted whether the +American legislators, when they rendered a collision between the two +sovereigns less probable, destroyed the cause of such a misfortune. But +it may even be affirmed that they were unable to ensure the +preponderance of the Federal element in a case of this kind. The Union +is possessed of money and of troops, but the affections and the +prejudices of the people are in the bosom of the States. The +sovereignty of the Union is an abstract being, which is connected with +but few external objects; the sovereignty of the States is hourly +perceptible, easily understood, constantly active; and if the former is +of recent creation, the latter is coeval with the people itself. The +sovereignty of the Union is factitious, that of the States is natural, +and derives its existence from its own simple influence, like the +authority of a parent. The supreme power of the nation only affects a +few of the chief interests of society; it represents an immense but +remote country, and claims a feeling of patriotism which is vague and +ill defined; but the authority of the States controls every individual +citizen at every hour and in all circumstances; it protects his +property, his freedom, and his life; and when we recollect the +traditions, the customs, the prejudices of local and familiar +attachment with which it is connected, we cannot doubt of the +superiority of a power which is interwoven with every circumstance that +renders the love of one’s native country instinctive in the human +heart. + +Since legislators are unable to obviate such dangerous collisions as +occur between the two sovereignties which coexist in the federal +system, their first object must be, not only to dissuade the +confederate States from warfare, but to encourage such institutions as +may promote the maintenance of peace. Hence it results that the Federal +compact cannot be lasting unless there exists in the communities which +are leagued together a certain number of inducements to union which +render their common dependence agreeable, and the task of the +Government light, and that system cannot succeed without the presence +of favorable circumstances added to the influence of good laws. All the +peoples which have ever formed a confederation have been held together +by a certain number of common interests, which served as the +intellectual ties of association. + +But the sentiments and the principles of man must be taken into +consideration as well as his immediate interests. A certain uniformity +of civilization is not less necessary to the durability of a +confederation than a uniformity of interests in the States which +compose it. In Switzerland the difference which exists between the +Canton of Uri and the Canton of Vaud is equal to that between the +fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries; and, properly speaking, +Switzerland has never possessed a federal government. The union between +these two cantons only subsists upon the map, and their discrepancies +would soon be perceived if an attempt were made by a central authority +to prescribe the same laws to the whole territory. + +One of the circumstances which most powerfully contribute to support +the Federal Government in America is that the States have not only +similar interests, a common origin, and a common tongue, but that they +are also arrived at the same stage of civilization; which almost always +renders a union feasible. I do not know of any European nation, how +small soever it may be, which does not present less uniformity in its +different provinces than the American people, which occupies a +territory as extensive as one-half of Europe. The distance from the +State of Maine to that of Georgia is reckoned at about one thousand +miles; but the difference between the civilization of Maine and that of +Georgia is slighter than the difference between the habits of Normandy +and those of Brittany. Maine and Georgia, which are placed at the +opposite extremities of a great empire, are consequently in the natural +possession of more real inducements to form a confederation than +Normandy and Brittany, which are only separated by a bridge. + +The geographical position of the country contributed to increase the +facilities which the American legislators derived from the manners and +customs of the inhabitants; and it is to this circumstance that the +adoption and the maintenance of the Federal system are mainly +attributable. + +The most important occurrence which can mark the annals of a people is +the breaking out of a war. In war a people struggles with the energy of +a single man against foreign nations in the defence of its very +existence. The skill of a government, the good sense of the community, +and the natural fondness which men entertain for their country, may +suffice to maintain peace in the interior of a district, and to favor +its internal prosperity; but a nation can only carry on a great war at +the cost of more numerous and more painful sacrifices; and to suppose +that a great number of men will of their own accord comply with these +exigencies of the State is to betray an ignorance of mankind. All the +peoples which have been obliged to sustain a long and serious warfare +have consequently been led to augment the power of their government. +Those which have not succeeded in this attempt have been subjugated. A +long war almost always places nations in the wretched alternative of +being abandoned to ruin by defeat or to despotism by success. War +therefore renders the symptoms of the weakness of a government most +palpable and most alarming; and I have shown that the inherent defeat +of federal governments is that of being weak. + +The Federal system is not only deficient in every kind of centralized +administration, but the central government itself is imperfectly +organized, which is invariably an influential cause of inferiority when +the nation is opposed to other countries which are themselves governed +by a single authority. In the Federal Constitution of the United +States, by which the central government possesses more real force, this +evil is still extremely sensible. An example will illustrate the case +to the reader. + +The Constitution confers upon Congress the right of calling forth +militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and +repel invasions; and another article declares that the President of the +United States is the commander-in-chief of the militia. In the war of +1812 the President ordered the militia of the Northern States to march +to the frontiers; but Connecticut and Massachusetts, whose interests +were impaired by the war, refused to obey the command. They argued that +the Constitution authorizes the Federal Government to call forth the +militia in case of insurrection or invasion, but that in the present +instance there was neither invasion nor insurrection. They added, that +the same Constitution which conferred upon the Union the right of +calling forth the militia reserved to the States that of naming the +officers; and that consequently (as they understood the clause) no +officer of the Union had any right to command the militia, even during +war, except the President in person; and in this case they were ordered +to join an army commanded by another individual. These absurd and +pernicious doctrines received the sanction not only of the governors +and the legislative bodies, but also of the courts of justice in both +States; and the Federal Government was constrained to raise elsewhere +the troops which it required. *v + +v +[ Kent’s “Commentaries,” vol. i. p. 244. I have selected an example +which relates to a time posterior to the promulgation of the present +Constitution. If I had gone back to the days of the Confederation, I +might have given still more striking instances. The whole nation was at +that time in a state of enthusiastic excitement; the Revolution was +represented by a man who was the idol of the people; but at that very +period Congress had, to say the truth, no resources at all at its +disposal. Troops and supplies were perpetually wanting. The +best-devised projects failed in the execution, and the Union, which was +constantly on the verge of destruction, was saved by the weakness of +its enemies far more than by its own strength. [All doubt as to the +powers of the Federal Executive was, however, removed by its efforts in +the Civil War, and those powers were largely extended.]] + + +The only safeguard which the American Union, with all the relative +perfection of its laws, possesses against the dissolution which would +be produced by a great war, lies in its probable exemption from that +calamity. Placed in the centre of an immense continent, which offers a +boundless field for human industry, the Union is almost as much +insulated from the world as if its frontiers were girt by the ocean. +Canada contains only a million of inhabitants, and its population is +divided into two inimical nations. The rigor of the climate limits the +extension of its territory, and shuts up its ports during the six +months of winter. From Canada to the Gulf of Mexico a few savage tribes +are to be met with, which retire, perishing in their retreat, before +six thousand soldiers. To the South, the Union has a point of contact +with the empire of Mexico; and it is thence that serious hostilities +may one day be expected to arise. But for a long while to come the +uncivilized state of the Mexican community, the depravity of its +morals, and its extreme poverty, will prevent that country from ranking +high amongst nations. *w As for the Powers of Europe, they are too +distant to be formidable. + +w +[ [War broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846, and +ended in the conquest of an immense territory, including California.]] + + +The great advantage of the United States does not, then, consist in a +Federal Constitution which allows them to carry on great wars, but in a +geographical position which renders such enterprises extremely +improbable. + +No one can be more inclined than I am myself to appreciate the +advantages of the federal system, which I hold to be one of the +combinations most favorable to the prosperity and freedom of man. I +envy the lot of those nations which have been enabled to adopt it; but +I cannot believe that any confederate peoples could maintain a long or +an equal contest with a nation of similar strength in which the +government should be centralized. A people which should divide its +sovereignty into fractional powers, in the presence of the great +military monarchies of Europe, would, in my opinion, by that very act, +abdicate its power, and perhaps its existence and its name. But such is +the admirable position of the New World that man has no other enemy +than himself; and that, in order to be happy and to be free, it +suffices to seek the gifts of prosperity and the knowledge of freedom. + + + + + Chapter IX: Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The + United + + +States + +I have hitherto examined the institutions of the United States; I have +passed their legislation in review, and I have depicted the present +characteristics of political society in that country. But a sovereign +power exists above these institutions and beyond these characteristic +features which may destroy or modify them at its pleasure—I mean that +of the people. It remains to be shown in what manner this power, which +regulates the laws, acts: its propensities and its passions remain to +be pointed out, as well as the secret springs which retard, accelerate, +or direct its irresistible course; and the effects of its unbounded +authority, with the destiny which is probably reserved for it. + +In America the people appoints the legislative and the executive power, +and furnishes the jurors who punish all offences against the laws. The +American institutions are democratic, not only in their principle but +in all their consequences; and the people elects its representatives +directly, and for the most part annually, in order to ensure their +dependence. The people is therefore the real directing power; and +although the form of government is representative, it is evident that +the opinions, the prejudices, the interests, and even the passions of +the community are hindered by no durable obstacles from exercising a +perpetual influence on society. In the United States the majority +governs in the name of the people, as is the case in all the countries +in which the people is supreme. The majority is principally composed of +peaceful citizens who, either by inclination or by interest, are +sincerely desirous of the welfare of their country. But they are +surrounded by the incessant agitation of parties, which attempt to gain +their co-operation and to avail themselves of their support. + + + + + Chapter X: Parties In The United States + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Great distinction to be made between parties—Parties which are to each +other as rival nations—Parties properly so called—Difference between +great and small parties—Epochs which produce them—Their +characteristics—America has had great parties—They are +extinct—Federalists—Republicans—Defeat of the Federalists—Difficulty of +creating parties in the United States—What is done with this +intention—Aristocratic or democratic character to be met with in all +parties—Struggle of General Jackson against the Bank. + + + + + Parties In The United States + + +A great distinction must be made between parties. Some countries are so +large that the different populations which inhabit them have +contradictory interests, although they are the subjects of the same +Government, and they may thence be in a perpetual state of opposition. +In this case the different fractions of the people may more properly be +considered as distinct nations than as mere parties; and if a civil war +breaks out, the struggle is carried on by rival peoples rather than by +factions in the State. + +But when the citizens entertain different opinions upon subjects which +affect the whole country alike, such, for instance, as the principles +upon which the government is to be conducted, then distinctions arise +which may correctly be styled parties. Parties are a necessary evil in +free governments; but they have not at all times the same character and +the same propensities. + +At certain periods a nation may be oppressed by such insupportable +evils as to conceive the design of effecting a total change in its +political constitution; at other times the mischief lies still deeper, +and the existence of society itself is endangered. Such are the times +of great revolutions and of great parties. But between these epochs of +misery and of confusion there are periods during which human society +seems to rest, and mankind to make a pause. This pause is, indeed, only +apparent, for time does not stop its course for nations any more than +for men; they are all advancing towards a goal with which they are +unacquainted; and we only imagine them to be stationary when their +progress escapes our observation, as men who are going at a foot-pace +seem to be standing still to those who run. + +But however this may be, there are certain epochs at which the changes +that take place in the social and political constitution of nations are +so slow and so insensible that men imagine their present condition to +be a final state; and the human mind, believing itself to be firmly +based upon certain foundations, does not extend its researches beyond +the horizon which it descries. These are the times of small parties and +of intrigue. + +The political parties which I style great are those which cling to +principles more than to their consequences; to general, and not to +especial cases; to ideas, and not to men. These parties are usually +distinguished by a nobler character, by more generous passions, more +genuine convictions, and a more bold and open conduct than the others. +In them private interest, which always plays the chief part in +political passions, is more studiously veiled under the pretext of the +public good; and it may even be sometimes concealed from the eyes of +the very persons whom it excites and impels. + +Minor parties are, on the other hand, generally deficient in political +faith. As they are not sustained or dignified by a lofty purpose, they +ostensibly display the egotism of their character in their actions. +They glow with a factitious zeal; their language is vehement, but their +conduct is timid and irresolute. The means they employ are as wretched +as the end at which they aim. Hence it arises that when a calm state of +things succeeds a violent revolution, the leaders of society seem +suddenly to disappear, and the powers of the human mind to lie +concealed. Society is convulsed by great parties, by minor ones it is +agitated; it is torn by the former, by the latter it is degraded; and +if these sometimes save it by a salutary perturbation, those invariably +disturb it to no good end. + +America has already lost the great parties which once divided the +nation; and if her happiness is considerably increased, her morality +has suffered by their extinction. When the War of Independence was +terminated, and the foundations of the new Government were to be laid +down, the nation was divided between two opinions—two opinions which +are as old as the world, and which are perpetually to be met with under +all the forms and all the names which have ever obtained in free +communities—the one tending to limit, the other to extend indefinitely, +the power of the people. The conflict of these two opinions never +assumed that degree of violence in America which it has frequently +displayed elsewhere. Both parties of the Americans were, in fact, +agreed upon the most essential points; and neither of them had to +destroy a traditionary constitution, or to overthrow the structure of +society, in order to ensure its own triumph. In neither of them, +consequently, were a great number of private interests affected by +success or by defeat; but moral principles of a high order, such as the +love of equality and of independence, were concerned in the struggle, +and they sufficed to kindle violent passions. + +The party which desired to limit the power of the people endeavored to +apply its doctrines more especially to the Constitution of the Union, +whence it derived its name of Federal. The other party, which affected +to be more exclusively attached to the cause of liberty, took that of +Republican. America is a land of democracy, and the Federalists were +always in a minority; but they reckoned on their side almost all the +great men who had been called forth by the War of Independence, and +their moral influence was very considerable. Their cause was, moreover, +favored by circumstances. The ruin of the Confederation had impressed +the people with a dread of anarchy, and the Federalists did not fail to +profit by this transient disposition of the multitude. For ten or +twelve years they were at the head of affairs, and they were able to +apply some, though not all, of their principles; for the hostile +current was becoming from day to day too violent to be checked or +stemmed. In 1801 the Republicans got possession of the Government; +Thomas Jefferson was named President; and he increased the influence of +their party by the weight of his celebrity, the greatness of his +talents, and the immense extent of his popularity. + +The means by which the Federalists had maintained their position were +artificial, and their resources were temporary; it was by the virtues +or the talents of their leaders that they had risen to power. When the +Republicans attained to that lofty station, their opponents were +overwhelmed by utter defeat. An immense majority declared itself +against the retiring party, and the Federalists found themselves in so +small a minority that they at once despaired of their future success. +From that moment the Republican or Democratic party *a has proceeded +from conquest to conquest, until it has acquired absolute supremacy in +the country. The Federalists, perceiving that they were vanquished +without resource, and isolated in the midst of the nation, fell into +two divisions, of which one joined the victorious Republicans, and the +other abandoned its rallying-point and its name. Many years have +already elapsed since they ceased to exist as a party. + +a +[ [It is scarcely necessary to remark that in more recent times the +signification of these terms has changed. The Republicans are the +representatives of the old Federalists, and the Democrats of the old +Republicans.—Trans. Note (1861).]] The accession of the Federalists to +power was, in my opinion, one of the most fortunate incidents which +accompanied the formation of the great American Union; they resisted +the inevitable propensities of their age and of the country. But +whether their theories were good or bad, they had the effect of being +inapplicable, as a system, to the society which they professed to +govern, and that which occurred under the auspices of Jefferson must +therefore have taken place sooner or later. But their Government gave +the new republic time to acquire a certain stability, and afterwards to +support the rapid growth of the very doctrines which they had combated. +A considerable number of their principles were in point of fact +embodied in the political creed of their opponents; and the Federal +Constitution which subsists at the present day is a lasting monument of +their patriotism and their wisdom. + + +Great political parties are not, then, to be met with in the United +States at the present time. Parties, indeed, may be found which +threaten the future tranquillity of the Union; but there are none which +seem to contest the present form of Government or the present course of +society. The parties by which the Union is menaced do not rest upon +abstract principles, but upon temporal interests. These interests, +disseminated in the provinces of so vast an empire, may be said to +constitute rival nations rather than parties. Thus, upon a recent +occasion, the North contended for the system of commercial prohibition, +and the South took up arms in favor of free trade, simply because the +North is a manufacturing and the South an agricultural district; and +that the restrictive system which was profitable to the one was +prejudicial to the other. *b + +b +[ [The divisions of North and South have since acquired a far greater +degree of intensity, and the South, though conquered, still presents a +formidable spirit of opposition to Northern government.—Translator’s +Note, 1875.]] + + +In the absence of great parties, the United States abound with lesser +controversies; and public opinion is divided into a thousand minute +shades of difference upon questions of very little moment. The pains +which are taken to create parties are inconceivable, and at the present +day it is no easy task. In the United States there is no religious +animosity, because all religion is respected, and no sect is +predominant; there is no jealousy of rank, because the people is +everything, and none can contest its authority; lastly, there is no +public indigence to supply the means of agitation, because the physical +position of the country opens so wide a field to industry that man is +able to accomplish the most surprising undertakings with his own native +resources. Nevertheless, ambitious men are interested in the creation +of parties, since it is difficult to eject a person from authority upon +the mere ground that his place is coveted by others. The skill of the +actors in the political world lies therefore in the art of creating +parties. A political aspirant in the United States begins by +discriminating his own interest, and by calculating upon those +interests which may be collected around and amalgamated with it; he +then contrives to discover some doctrine or some principle which may +suit the purposes of this new association, and which he adopts in order +to bring forward his party and to secure his popularity; just as the +imprimatur of a King was in former days incorporated with the volume +which it authorized, but to which it nowise belonged. When these +preliminaries are terminated, the new party is ushered into the +political world. + +All the domestic controversies of the Americans at first appear to a +stranger to be so incomprehensible and so puerile that he is at a loss +whether to pity a people which takes such arrant trifles in good +earnest, or to envy the happiness which enables it to discuss them. But +when he comes to study the secret propensities which govern the +factions of America, he easily perceives that the greater part of them +are more or less connected with one or the other of those two divisions +which have always existed in free communities. The deeper we penetrate +into the working of these parties, the more do we perceive that the +object of the one is to limit, and that of the other to extend, the +popular authority. I do not assert that the ostensible end, or even +that the secret aim, of American parties is to promote the rule of +aristocracy or democracy in the country; but I affirm that aristocratic +or democratic passions may easily be detected at the bottom of all +parties, and that, although they escape a superficial observation, they +are the main point and the very soul of every faction in the United +States. + +To quote a recent example. When the President attacked the Bank, the +country was excited and parties were formed; the well-informed classes +rallied round the Bank, the common people round the President. But it +must not be imagined that the people had formed a rational opinion upon +a question which offers so many difficulties to the most experienced +statesmen. The Bank is a great establishment which enjoys an +independent existence, and the people, accustomed to make and unmake +whatsoever it pleases, is startled to meet with this obstacle to its +authority. In the midst of the perpetual fluctuation of society the +community is irritated by so permanent an institution, and is led to +attack it in order to see whether it can be shaken and controlled, like +all the other institutions of the country. + +Remains Of The Aristocratic Party In The United States + +Secret opposition of wealthy individuals to democracy—Their +retirement—Their taste for exclusive pleasures and for luxury at +home—Their simplicity abroad—Their affected condescension towards the +people. + +It sometimes happens in a people amongst which various opinions prevail +that the balance of the several parties is lost, and one of them +obtains an irresistible preponderance, overpowers all obstacles, +harasses its opponents, and appropriates all the resources of society +to its own purposes. The vanquished citizens despair of success and +they conceal their dissatisfaction in silence and in general apathy. +The nation seems to be governed by a single principle, and the +prevailing party assumes the credit of having restored peace and +unanimity to the country. But this apparent unanimity is merely a cloak +to alarming dissensions and perpetual opposition. + +This is precisely what occurred in America; when the democratic party +got the upper hand, it took exclusive possession of the conduct of +affairs, and from that time the laws and the customs of society have +been adapted to its caprices. At the present day the more affluent +classes of society are so entirely removed from the direction of +political affairs in the United States that wealth, far from conferring +a right to the exercise of power, is rather an obstacle than a means of +attaining to it. The wealthy members of the community abandon the +lists, through unwillingness to contend, and frequently to contend in +vain, against the poorest classes of their fellow citizens. They +concentrate all their enjoyments in the privacy of their homes, where +they occupy a rank which cannot be assumed in public; and they +constitute a private society in the State, which has its own tastes and +its own pleasures. They submit to this state of things as an +irremediable evil, but they are careful not to show that they are +galled by its continuance; it is even not uncommon to hear them laud +the delights of a republican government, and the advantages of +democratic institutions when they are in public. Next to hating their +enemies, men are most inclined to flatter them. + +Mark, for instance, that opulent citizen, who is as anxious as a Jew of +the Middle Ages to conceal his wealth. His dress is plain, his demeanor +unassuming; but the interior of his dwelling glitters with luxury, and +none but a few chosen guests whom he haughtily styles his equals are +allowed to penetrate into this sanctuary. No European noble is more +exclusive in his pleasures, or more jealous of the smallest advantages +which his privileged station confers upon him. But the very same +individual crosses the city to reach a dark counting-house in the +centre of traffic, where every one may accost him who pleases. If he +meets his cobbler upon the way, they stop and converse; the two +citizens discuss the affairs of the State in which they have an equal +interest, and they shake hands before they part. + +But beneath this artificial enthusiasm, and these obsequious attentions +to the preponderating power, it is easy to perceive that the wealthy +members of the community entertain a hearty distaste to the democratic +institutions of their country. The populace is at once the object of +their scorn and of their fears. If the maladministration of the +democracy ever brings about a revolutionary crisis, and if monarchical +institutions ever become practicable in the United States, the truth of +what I advance will become obvious. + +The two chief weapons which parties use in order to ensure success are +the public press and the formation of associations. + + + + + Chapter XI: Liberty Of The Press In The United States + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Difficulty of restraining the liberty of the press—Particular reasons +which some nations have to cherish this liberty—The liberty of the +press a necessary consequence of the sovereignty of the people as it is +understood in America—Violent language of the periodical press in the +United States—Propensities of the periodical press—Illustrated by the +United States—Opinion of the Americans upon the repression of the abuse +of the liberty of the press by judicial prosecutions—Reasons for which +the press is less powerful in America than in France. + +Liberty Of The Press In The United States + +The influence of the liberty of the press does not affect political +opinions alone, but it extends to all the opinions of men, and it +modifies customs as well as laws. In another part of this work I shall +attempt to determinate the degree of influence which the liberty of the +press has exercised upon civil society in the United States, and to +point out the direction which it has given to the ideas, as well as the +tone which it has imparted to the character and the feelings, of the +Anglo-Americans, but at present I purpose simply to examine the effects +produced by the liberty of the press in the political world. + +I confess that I do not entertain that firm and complete attachment to +the liberty of the press which things that are supremely good in their +very nature are wont to excite in the mind; and I approve of it more +from a recollection of the evils it prevents than from a consideration +of the advantages it ensures. + +If any one could point out an intermediate and yet a tenable position +between the complete independence and the entire subjection of the +public expression of opinion, I should perhaps be inclined to adopt it; +but the difficulty is to discover this position. If it is your +intention to correct the abuses of unlicensed printing and to restore +the use of orderly language, you may in the first instance try the +offender by a jury; but if the jury acquits him, the opinion which was +that of a single individual becomes the opinion of the country at +large. Too much and too little has therefore hitherto been done. If you +proceed, you must bring the delinquent before a court of permanent +judges. But even here the cause must be heard before it can be decided; +and the very principles which no book would have ventured to avow are +blazoned forth in the pleadings, and what was obscurely hinted at in a +single composition is then repeated in a multitude of other +publications. The language in which a thought is embodied is the mere +carcass of the thought, and not the idea itself; tribunals may condemn +the form, but the sense and spirit of the work is too subtle for their +authority. Too much has still been done to recede, too little to attain +your end; you must therefore proceed. If you establish a censorship of +the press, the tongue of the public speaker will still make itself +heard, and you have only increased the mischief. The powers of thought +do not rely, like the powers of physical strength, upon the number of +their mechanical agents, nor can a host of authors be reckoned like the +troops which compose an army; on the contrary, the authority of a +principle is often increased by the smallness of the number of men by +whom it is expressed. The words of a strong-minded man, which penetrate +amidst the passions of a listening assembly, have more power than the +vociferations of a thousand orators; and if it be allowed to speak +freely in any public place, the consequence is the same as if free +speaking was allowed in every village. The liberty of discourse must +therefore be destroyed as well as the liberty of the press; this is the +necessary term of your efforts; but if your object was to repress the +abuses of liberty, they have brought you to the feet of a despot. You +have been led from the extreme of independence to the extreme of +subjection without meeting with a single tenable position for shelter +or repose. + +There are certain nations which have peculiar reasons for cherishing +the liberty of the press, independently of the general motives which I +have just pointed out. For in certain countries which profess to enjoy +the privileges of freedom every individual agent of the Government may +violate the laws with impunity, since those whom he oppresses cannot +prosecute him before the courts of justice. In this case the liberty of +the press is not merely a guarantee, but it is the only guarantee, of +their liberty and their security which the citizens possess. If the +rulers of these nations propose to abolish the independence of the +press, the people would be justified in saying: Give us the right of +prosecuting your offences before the ordinary tribunals, and perhaps we +may then waive our right of appeal to the tribunal of public opinion. + +But in the countries in which the doctrine of the sovereignty of the +people ostensibly prevails, the censorship of the press is not only +dangerous, but it is absurd. When the right of every citizen to +co-operate in the government of society is acknowledged, every citizen +must be presumed to possess the power of discriminating between the +different opinions of his contemporaries, and of appreciating the +different facts from which inferences may be drawn. The sovereignty of +the people and the liberty of the press may therefore be looked upon as +correlative institutions; just as the censorship of the press and +universal suffrage are two things which are irreconcilably opposed, and +which cannot long be retained among the institutions of the same +people. Not a single individual of the twelve millions who inhabit the +territory of the United States has as yet dared to propose any +restrictions to the liberty of the press. The first newspaper over +which I cast my eyes, upon my arrival in America, contained the +following article: + +In all this affair the language of Jackson has been that of a heartless +despot, solely occupied with the preservation of his own authority. +Ambition is his crime, and it will be his punishment too: intrigue is +his native element, and intrigue will confound his tricks, and will +deprive him of his power: he governs by means of corruption, and his +immoral practices will redound to his shame and confusion. His conduct +in the political arena has been that of a shameless and lawless +gamester. He succeeded at the time, but the hour of retribution +approaches, and he will be obliged to disgorge his winnings, to throw +aside his false dice, and to end his days in some retirement, where he +may curse his madness at his leisure; for repentance is a virtue with +which his heart is likely to remain forever unacquainted. + +It is not uncommonly imagined in France that the virulence of the press +originates in the uncertain social condition, in the political +excitement, and the general sense of consequent evil which prevail in +that country; and it is therefore supposed that as soon as society has +resumed a certain degree of composure the press will abandon its +present vehemence. I am inclined to think that the above causes explain +the reason of the extraordinary ascendency it has acquired over the +nation, but that they do not exercise much influence upon the tone of +its language. The periodical press appears to me to be actuated by +passions and propensities independent of the circumstances in which it +is placed, and the present position of America corroborates this +opinion. + +America is perhaps, at this moment, the country of the whole world +which contains the fewest germs of revolution; but the press is not +less destructive in its principles than in France, and it displays the +same violence without the same reasons for indignation. In America, as +in France, it constitutes a singular power, so strangely composed of +mingled good and evil that it is at the same time indispensable to the +existence of freedom, and nearly incompatible with the maintenance of +public order. Its power is certainly much greater in France than in the +United States; though nothing is more rare in the latter country than +to hear of a prosecution having been instituted against it. The reason +of this is perfectly simple: the Americans, having once admitted the +doctrine of the sovereignty of the people, apply it with perfect +consistency. It was never their intention to found a permanent state of +things with elements which undergo daily modifications; and there is +consequently nothing criminal in an attack upon the existing laws, +provided it be not attended with a violent infraction of them. They are +moreover of opinion that courts of justice are unable to check the +abuses of the press; and that as the subtilty of human language +perpetually eludes the severity of judicial analysis, offences of this +nature are apt to escape the hand which attempts to apprehend them. +They hold that to act with efficacy upon the press it would be +necessary to find a tribunal, not only devoted to the existing order of +things, but capable of surmounting the influence of public opinion; a +tribunal which should conduct its proceedings without publicity, which +should pronounce its decrees without assigning its motives, and punish +the intentions even more than the language of an author. Whosoever +should have the power of creating and maintaining a tribunal of this +kind would waste his time in prosecuting the liberty of the press; for +he would be the supreme master of the whole community, and he would be +as free to rid himself of the authors as of their writings. In this +question, therefore, there is no medium between servitude and extreme +license; in order to enjoy the inestimable benefits which the liberty +of the press ensures, it is necessary to submit to the inevitable evils +which it engenders. To expect to acquire the former and to escape the +latter is to cherish one of those illusions which commonly mislead +nations in their times of sickness, when, tired with faction and +exhausted by effort, they attempt to combine hostile opinions and +contrary principles upon the same soil. + +The small influence of the American journals is attributable to several +reasons, amongst which are the following: + +The liberty of writing, like all other liberty, is most formidable when +it is a novelty; for a people which has never been accustomed to +co-operate in the conduct of State affairs places implicit confidence +in the first tribune who arouses its attention. The Anglo-Americans +have enjoyed this liberty ever since the foundation of the settlements; +moreover, the press cannot create human passions by its own power, +however skillfully it may kindle them where they exist. In America +politics are discussed with animation and a varied activity, but they +rarely touch those deep passions which are excited whenever the +positive interest of a part of the community is impaired: but in the +United States the interests of the community are in a most prosperous +condition. A single glance upon a French and an American newspaper is +sufficient to show the difference which exists between the two nations +on this head. In France the space allotted to commercial advertisements +is very limited, and the intelligence is not considerable, but the most +essential part of the journal is that which contains the discussion of +the politics of the day. In America three-quarters of the enormous +sheet which is set before the reader are filled with advertisements, +and the remainder is frequently occupied by political intelligence or +trivial anecdotes: it is only from time to time that one finds a corner +devoted to passionate discussions like those with which the journalists +of France are wont to indulge their readers. + +It has been demonstrated by observation, and discovered by the innate +sagacity of the pettiest as well as the greatest of despots, that the +influence of a power is increased in proportion as its direction is +rendered more central. In France the press combines a twofold +centralization; almost all its power is centred in the same spot, and +vested in the same hands, for its organs are far from numerous. The +influence of a public press thus constituted, upon a sceptical nation, +must be unbounded. It is an enemy with which a Government may sign an +occasional truce, but which it is difficult to resist for any length of +time. + +Neither of these kinds of centralization exists in America. The United +States have no metropolis; the intelligence as well as the power of the +country are dispersed abroad, and instead of radiating from a point, +they cross each other in every direction; the Americans have +established no central control over the expression of opinion, any more +than over the conduct of business. These are circumstances which do not +depend on human foresight; but it is owing to the laws of the Union +that there are no licenses to be granted to printers, no securities +demanded from editors as in France, and no stamp duty as in France and +formerly in England. The consequence of this is that nothing is easier +than to set up a newspaper, and a small number of readers suffices to +defray the expenses of the editor. + +The number of periodical and occasional publications which appears in +the United States actually surpasses belief. The most enlightened +Americans attribute the subordinate influence of the press to this +excessive dissemination; and it is adopted as an axiom of political +science in that country that the only way to neutralize the effect of +public journals is to multiply them indefinitely. I cannot conceive +that a truth which is so self-evident should not already have been more +generally admitted in Europe; it is comprehensible that the persons who +hope to bring about revolutions by means of the press should be +desirous of confining its action to a few powerful organs, but it is +perfectly incredible that the partisans of the existing state of +things, and the natural supporters of the law, should attempt to +diminish the influence of the press by concentrating its authority. The +Governments of Europe seem to treat the press with the courtesy of the +knights of old; they are anxious to furnish it with the same central +power which they have found to be so trusty a weapon, in order to +enhance the glory of their resistance to its attacks. + +In America there is scarcely a hamlet which has not its own newspaper. +It may readily be imagined that neither discipline nor unity of design +can be communicated to so multifarious a host, and each one is +consequently led to fight under his own standard. All the political +journals of the United States are indeed arrayed on the side of the +administration or against it; but they attack and defend in a thousand +different ways. They cannot succeed in forming those great currents of +opinion which overwhelm the most solid obstacles. This division of the +influence of the press produces a variety of other consequences which +are scarcely less remarkable. The facility with which journals can be +established induces a multitude of individuals to take a part in them; +but as the extent of competition precludes the possibility of +considerable profit, the most distinguished classes of society are +rarely led to engage in these undertakings. But such is the number of +the public prints that, even if they were a source of wealth, writers +of ability could not be found to direct them all. The journalists of +the United States are usually placed in a very humble position, with a +scanty education and a vulgar turn of mind. The will of the majority is +the most general of laws, and it establishes certain habits which form +the characteristics of each peculiar class of society; thus it dictates +the etiquette practised at courts and the etiquette of the bar. The +characteristics of the French journalist consist in a violent, but +frequently an eloquent and lofty, manner of discussing the politics of +the day; and the exceptions to this habitual practice are only +occasional. The characteristics of the American journalist consist in +an open and coarse appeal to the passions of the populace; and he +habitually abandons the principles of political science to assail the +characters of individuals, to track them into private life, and +disclose all their weaknesses and errors. + +Nothing can be more deplorable than this abuse of the powers of +thought; I shall have occasion to point out hereafter the influence of +the newspapers upon the taste and the morality of the American people, +but my present subject exclusively concerns the political world. It +cannot be denied that the effects of this extreme license of the press +tend indirectly to the maintenance of public order. The individuals who +are already in the possession of a high station in the esteem of their +fellow-citizens are afraid to write in the newspapers, and they are +thus deprived of the most powerful instrument which they can use to +excite the passions of the multitude to their own advantage. *a + +a +[ They only write in the papers when they choose to address the people +in their own name; as, for instance, when they are called upon to repel +calumnious imputations, and to correct a misstatement of facts.] + + +The personal opinions of the editors have no kind of weight in the eyes +of the public: the only use of a journal is, that it imparts the +knowledge of certain facts, and it is only by altering or distorting +those facts that a journalist can contribute to the support of his own +views. + +But although the press is limited to these resources, its influence in +America is immense. It is the power which impels the circulation of +political life through all the districts of that vast territory. Its +eye is constantly open to detect the secret springs of political +designs, and to summon the leaders of all parties to the bar of public +opinion. It rallies the interests of the community round certain +principles, and it draws up the creed which factions adopt; for it +affords a means of intercourse between parties which hear, and which +address each other without ever having been in immediate contact. When +a great number of the organs of the press adopt the same line of +conduct, their influence becomes irresistible; and public opinion, when +it is perpetually assailed from the same side, eventually yields to the +attack. In the United States each separate journal exercises but little +authority, but the power of the periodical press is only second to that +of the people. *b + +b +[ See Appendix, P.] + + +The opinions established in the United States under the empire of the +liberty of the press are frequently more firmly rooted than those which +are formed elsewhere under the sanction of a censor. + +In the United States the democracy perpetually raises fresh individuals +to the conduct of public affairs; and the measures of the +administration are consequently seldom regulated by the strict rules of +consistency or of order. But the general principles of the Government +are more stable, and the opinions most prevalent in society are +generally more durable than in many other countries. When once the +Americans have taken up an idea, whether it be well or ill founded, +nothing is more difficult than to eradicate it from their minds. The +same tenacity of opinion has been observed in England, where, for the +last century, greater freedom of conscience and more invincible +prejudices have existed than in all the other countries of Europe. I +attribute this consequence to a cause which may at first sight appear +to have a very opposite tendency, namely, to the liberty of the press. +The nations amongst which this liberty exists are as apt to cling to +their opinions from pride as from conviction. They cherish them because +they hold them to be just, and because they exercised their own +free-will in choosing them; and they maintain them not only because +they are true, but because they are their own. Several other reasons +conduce to the same end. + +It was remarked by a man of genius that “ignorance lies at the two ends +of knowledge.” Perhaps it would have been more correct to have said, +that absolute convictions are to be met with at the two extremities, +and that doubt lies in the middle; for the human intellect may be +considered in three distinct states, which frequently succeed one +another. A man believes implicitly, because he adopts a proposition +without inquiry. He doubts as soon as he is assailed by the objections +which his inquiries may have aroused. But he frequently succeeds in +satisfying these doubts, and then he begins to believe afresh: he no +longer lays hold on a truth in its most shadowy and uncertain form, but +he sees it clearly before him, and he advances onwards by the light it +gives him. *c + +c +[ It may, however, be doubted whether this rational and self-guiding +conviction arouses as much fervor or enthusiastic devotedness in men as +their first dogmatical belief.] + + +When the liberty of the press acts upon men who are in the first of +these three states, it does not immediately disturb their habit of +believing implicitly without investigation, but it constantly modifies +the objects of their intuitive convictions. The human mind continues to +discern but one point upon the whole intellectual horizon, and that +point is in continual motion. Such are the symptoms of sudden +revolutions, and of the misfortunes which are sure to befall those +generations which abruptly adopt the unconditional freedom of the +press. + +The circle of novel ideas is, however, soon terminated; the touch of +experience is upon them, and the doubt and mistrust which their +uncertainty produces become universal. We may rest assured that the +majority of mankind will either believe they know not wherefore, or +will not know what to believe. Few are the beings who can ever hope to +attain to that state of rational and independent conviction which true +knowledge can beget in defiance of the attacks of doubt. + +It has been remarked that in times of great religious fervor men +sometimes change their religious opinions; whereas in times of general +scepticism everyone clings to his own persuasion. The same thing takes +place in politics under the liberty of the press. In countries where +all the theories of social science have been contested in their turn, +the citizens who have adopted one of them stick to it, not so much +because they are assured of its excellence, as because they are not +convinced of the superiority of any other. In the present age men are +not very ready to die in defence of their opinions, but they are rarely +inclined to change them; and there are fewer martyrs as well as fewer +apostates. + +Another still more valid reason may yet be adduced: when no abstract +opinions are looked upon as certain, men cling to the mere propensities +and external interests of their position, which are naturally more +tangible and more permanent than any opinions in the world. + +It is not a question of easy solution whether aristocracy or democracy +is most fit to govern a country. But it is certain that democracy +annoys one part of the community, and that aristocracy oppresses +another part. When the question is reduced to the simple expression of +the struggle between poverty and wealth, the tendency of each side of +the dispute becomes perfectly evident without further controversy. + + + + + Chapter XII: Political Associations In The United States + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Daily use which the Anglo-Americans make of the right of +association—Three kinds of political associations—In what manner the +Americans apply the representative system to associations—Dangers +resulting to the State—Great Convention of 1831 relative to the +Tariff—Legislative character of this Convention—Why the unlimited +exercise of the right of association is less dangerous in the United +States than elsewhere—Why it may be looked upon as necessary—Utility of +associations in a democratic people. + +Political Associations In The United States + +In no country in the world has the principle of association been more +successfully used, or more unsparingly applied to a multitude of +different objects, than in America. Besides the permanent associations +which are established by law under the names of townships, cities, and +counties, a vast number of others are formed and maintained by the +agency of private individuals. + +The citizen of the United States is taught from his earliest infancy to +rely upon his own exertions in order to resist the evils and the +difficulties of life; he looks upon social authority with an eye of +mistrust and anxiety, and he only claims its assistance when he is +quite unable to shift without it. This habit may even be traced in the +schools of the rising generation, where the children in their games are +wont to submit to rules which they have themselves established, and to +punish misdemeanors which they have themselves defined. The same spirit +pervades every act of social life. If a stoppage occurs in a +thoroughfare, and the circulation of the public is hindered, the +neighbors immediately constitute a deliberative body; and this +extemporaneous assembly gives rise to an executive power which remedies +the inconvenience before anybody has thought of recurring to an +authority superior to that of the persons immediately concerned. If the +public pleasures are concerned, an association is formed to provide for +the splendor and the regularity of the entertainment. Societies are +formed to resist enemies which are exclusively of a moral nature, and +to diminish the vice of intemperance: in the United States associations +are established to promote public order, commerce, industry, morality, +and religion; for there is no end which the human will, seconded by the +collective exertions of individuals, despairs of attaining. + +I shall hereafter have occasion to show the effects of association upon +the course of society, and I must confine myself for the present to the +political world. When once the right of association is recognized, the +citizens may employ it in several different ways. + +An association consists simply in the public assent which a number of +individuals give to certain doctrines, and in the engagement which they +contract to promote the spread of those doctrines by their exertions. +The right of association with these views is very analogous to the +liberty of unlicensed writing; but societies thus formed possess more +authority than the press. When an opinion is represented by a society, +it necessarily assumes a more exact and explicit form. It numbers its +partisans, and compromises their welfare in its cause: they, on the +other hand, become acquainted with each other, and their zeal is +increased by their number. An association unites the efforts of minds +which have a tendency to diverge in one single channel, and urges them +vigorously towards one single end which it points out. + +The second degree in the right of association is the power of meeting. +When an association is allowed to establish centres of action at +certain important points in the country, its activity is increased and +its influence extended. Men have the opportunity of seeing each other; +means of execution are more readily combined, and opinions are +maintained with a degree of warmth and energy which written language +cannot approach. + +Lastly, in the exercise of the right of political association, there is +a third degree: the partisans of an opinion may unite in electoral +bodies, and choose delegates to represent them in a central assembly. +This is, properly speaking, the application of the representative +system to a party. + +Thus, in the first instance, a society is formed between individuals +professing the same opinion, and the tie which keeps it together is of +a purely intellectual nature; in the second case, small assemblies are +formed which only represent a fraction of the party. Lastly, in the +third case, they constitute a separate nation in the midst of the +nation, a government within the Government. Their delegates, like the +real delegates of the majority, represent the entire collective force +of their party; and they enjoy a certain degree of that national +dignity and great influence which belong to the chosen representatives +of the people. It is true that they have not the right of making the +laws, but they have the power of attacking those which are in being, +and of drawing up beforehand those which they may afterwards cause to +be adopted. + +If, in a people which is imperfectly accustomed to the exercise of +freedom, or which is exposed to violent political passions, a +deliberating minority, which confines itself to the contemplation of +future laws, be placed in juxtaposition to the legislative majority, I +cannot but believe that public tranquillity incurs very great risks in +that nation. There is doubtless a very wide difference between proving +that one law is in itself better than another and proving that the +former ought to be substituted for the latter. But the imagination of +the populace is very apt to overlook this difference, which is so +apparent to the minds of thinking men. It sometimes happens that a +nation is divided into two nearly equal parties, each of which affects +to represent the majority. If, in immediate contiguity to the directing +power, another power be established, which exercises almost as much +moral authority as the former, it is not to be believed that it will +long be content to speak without acting; or that it will always be +restrained by the abstract consideration of the nature of associations +which are meant to direct but not to enforce opinions, to suggest but +not to make the laws. + +The more we consider the independence of the press in its principal +consequences, the more are we convinced that it is the chief and, so to +speak, the constitutive element of freedom in the modern world. A +nation which is determined to remain free is therefore right in +demanding the unrestrained exercise of this independence. But the +unrestrained liberty of political association cannot be entirely +assimilated to the liberty of the press. The one is at the same time +less necessary and more dangerous than the other. A nation may confine +it within certain limits without forfeiting any part of its +self-control; and it may sometimes be obliged to do so in order to +maintain its own authority. + +In America the liberty of association for political purposes is +unbounded. An example will show in the clearest light to what an extent +this privilege is tolerated. + +The question of the tariff, or of free trade, produced a great +manifestation of party feeling in America; the tariff was not only a +subject of debate as a matter of opinion, but it exercised a favorable +or a prejudicial influence upon several very powerful interests of the +States. The North attributed a great portion of its prosperity, and the +South all its sufferings, to this system; insomuch that for a long time +the tariff was the sole source of the political animosities which +agitated the Union. + +In 1831, when the dispute was raging with the utmost virulence, a +private citizen of Massachusetts proposed to all the enemies of the +tariff, by means of the public prints, to send delegates to +Philadelphia in order to consult together upon the means which were +most fitted to promote freedom of trade. This proposal circulated in a +few days from Maine to New Orleans by the power of the printing-press: +the opponents of the tariff adopted it with enthusiasm; meetings were +formed on all sides, and delegates were named. The majority of these +individuals were well known, and some of them had earned a considerable +degree of celebrity. South Carolina alone, which afterwards took up +arms in the same cause, sent sixty-three delegates. On October 1, 1831, +this assembly, which according to the American custom had taken the +name of a Convention, met at Philadelphia; it consisted of more than +two hundred members. Its debates were public, and they at once assumed +a legislative character; the extent of the powers of Congress, the +theories of free trade, and the different clauses of the tariff, were +discussed in turn. At the end of ten days’ deliberation the Convention +broke up, after having published an address to the American people, in +which it declared: + +I. That Congress had not the right of making a tariff, and that the +existing tariff was unconstitutional; + +II. That the prohibition of free trade was prejudicial to the interests +of all nations, and to that of the American people in particular. + +It must be acknowledged that the unrestrained liberty of political +association has not hitherto produced, in the United States, those +fatal consequences which might perhaps be expected from it elsewhere. +The right of association was imported from England, and it has always +existed in America; so that the exercise of this privilege is now +amalgamated with the manners and customs of the people. At the present +time the liberty of association is become a necessary guarantee against +the tyranny of the majority. In the United States, as soon as a party +is become preponderant, all public authority passes under its control; +its private supporters occupy all the places, and have all the force of +the administration at their disposal. As the most distinguished +partisans of the other side of the question are unable to surmount the +obstacles which exclude them from power, they require some means of +establishing themselves upon their own basis, and of opposing the moral +authority of the minority to the physical power which domineers over +it. Thus a dangerous expedient is used to obviate a still more +formidable danger. + +The omnipotence of the majority appears to me to present such extreme +perils to the American Republics that the dangerous measure which is +used to repress it seems to be more advantageous than prejudicial. And +here I am about to advance a proposition which may remind the reader of +what I said before in speaking of municipal freedom: There are no +countries in which associations are more needed, to prevent the +despotism of faction or the arbitrary power of a prince, than those +which are democratically constituted. In aristocratic nations the body +of the nobles and the more opulent part of the community are in +themselves natural associations, which act as checks upon the abuses of +power. In countries in which these associations do not exist, if +private individuals are unable to create an artificial and a temporary +substitute for them, I can imagine no permanent protection against the +most galling tyranny; and a great people may be oppressed by a small +faction, or by a single individual, with impunity. + +The meeting of a great political Convention (for there are Conventions +of all kinds), which may frequently become a necessary measure, is +always a serious occurrence, even in America, and one which is never +looked forward to, by the judicious friends of the country, without +alarm. This was very perceptible in the Convention of 1831, at which +the exertions of all the most distinguished members of the Assembly +tended to moderate its language, and to restrain the subjects which it +treated within certain limits. It is probable, in fact, that the +Convention of 1831 exercised a very great influence upon the minds of +the malcontents, and prepared them for the open revolt against the +commercial laws of the Union which took place in 1832. + +It cannot be denied that the unrestrained liberty of association for +political purposes is the privilege which a people is longest in +learning how to exercise. If it does not throw the nation into anarchy, +it perpetually augments the chances of that calamity. On one point, +however, this perilous liberty offers a security against dangers of +another kind; in countries where associations are free, secret +societies are unknown. In America there are numerous factions, but no +conspiracies. + +Different ways in which the right of association is understood in +Europe and in the United States—Different use which is made of it. + +The most natural privilege of man, next to the right of acting for +himself, is that of combining his exertions with those of his +fellow-creatures, and of acting in common with them. I am therefore led +to conclude that the right of association is almost as inalienable as +the right of personal liberty. No legislator can attack it without +impairing the very foundations of society. Nevertheless, if the liberty +of association is a fruitful source of advantages and prosperity to +some nations, it may be perverted or carried to excess by others, and +the element of life may be changed into an element of destruction. A +comparison of the different methods which associations pursue in those +countries in which they are managed with discretion, as well as in +those where liberty degenerates into license, may perhaps be thought +useful both to governments and to parties. + +The greater part of Europeans look upon an association as a weapon +which is to be hastily fashioned, and immediately tried in the +conflict. A society is formed for discussion, but the idea of impending +action prevails in the minds of those who constitute it: it is, in +fact, an army; and the time given to parley serves to reckon up the +strength and to animate the courage of the host, after which they +direct their march against the enemy. Resources which lie within the +bounds of the law may suggest themselves to the persons who compose it +as means, but never as the only means, of success. + +Such, however, is not the manner in which the right of association is +understood in the United States. In America the citizens who form the +minority associate, in order, in the first place, to show their +numerical strength, and so to diminish the moral authority of the +majority; and, in the second place, to stimulate competition, and to +discover those arguments which are most fitted to act upon the +majority; for they always entertain hopes of drawing over their +opponents to their own side, and of afterwards disposing of the supreme +power in their name. Political associations in the United States are +therefore peaceable in their intentions, and strictly legal in the +means which they employ; and they assert with perfect truth that they +only aim at success by lawful expedients. + +The difference which exists between the Americans and ourselves depends +on several causes. In Europe there are numerous parties so +diametrically opposed to the majority that they can never hope to +acquire its support, and at the same time they think that they are +sufficiently strong in themselves to struggle and to defend their +cause. When a party of this kind forms an association, its object is, +not to conquer, but to fight. In America the individuals who hold +opinions very much opposed to those of the majority are no sort of +impediment to its power, and all other parties hope to win it over to +their own principles in the end. The exercise of the right of +association becomes dangerous in proportion to the impossibility which +excludes great parties from acquiring the majority. In a country like +the United States, in which the differences of opinion are mere +differences of hue, the right of association may remain unrestrained +without evil consequences. The inexperience of many of the European +nations in the enjoyment of liberty leads them only to look upon the +liberty of association as a right of attacking the Government. The +first notion which presents itself to a party, as well as to an +individual, when it has acquired a consciousness of its own strength, +is that of violence: the notion of persuasion arises at a later period +and is only derived from experience. The English, who are divided into +parties which differ most essentially from each other, rarely abuse the +right of association, because they have long been accustomed to +exercise it. In France the passion for war is so intense that there is +no undertaking so mad, or so injurious to the welfare of the State, +that a man does not consider himself honored in defending it, at the +risk of his life. + +But perhaps the most powerful of the causes which tend to mitigate the +excesses of political association in the United States is Universal +Suffrage. In countries in which universal suffrage exists the majority +is never doubtful, because neither party can pretend to represent that +portion of the community which has not voted. The associations which +are formed are aware, as well as the nation at large, that they do not +represent the majority: this is, indeed, a condition inseparable from +their existence; for if they did represent the preponderating power, +they would change the law instead of soliciting its reform. The +consequence of this is that the moral influence of the Government which +they attack is very much increased, and their own power is very much +enfeebled. + +In Europe there are few associations which do not affect to represent +the majority, or which do not believe that they represent it. This +conviction or this pretension tends to augment their force amazingly, +and contributes no less to legalize their measures. Violence may seem +to be excusable in defence of the cause of oppressed right. Thus it is, +in the vast labyrinth of human laws, that extreme liberty sometimes +corrects the abuses of license, and that extreme democracy obviates the +dangers of democratic government. In Europe, associations consider +themselves, in some degree, as the legislative and executive councils +of the people, which is unable to speak for itself. In America, where +they only represent a minority of the nation, they argue and they +petition. + +The means which the associations of Europe employ are in accordance +with the end which they propose to obtain. As the principal aim of +these bodies is to act, and not to debate, to fight rather than to +persuade, they are naturally led to adopt a form of organization which +differs from the ordinary customs of civil bodies, and which assumes +the habits and the maxims of military life. They centralize the +direction of their resources as much as possible, and they intrust the +power of the whole party to a very small number of leaders. + +The members of these associations respond to a watchword, like soldiers +on duty; they profess the doctrine of passive obedience; say rather, +that in uniting together they at once abjure the exercise of their own +judgment and free will; and the tyrannical control which these +societies exercise is often far more insupportable than the authority +possessed over society by the Government which they attack. Their moral +force is much diminished by these excesses, and they lose the powerful +interest which is always excited by a struggle between oppressors and +the oppressed. The man who in given cases consents to obey his fellows +with servility, and who submits his activity and even his opinions to +their control, can have no claim to rank as a free citizen. + +The Americans have also established certain forms of government which +are applied to their associations, but these are invariably borrowed +from the forms of the civil administration. The independence of each +individual is formally recognized; the tendency of the members of the +association points, as it does in the body of the community, towards +the same end, but they are not obliged to follow the same track. No one +abjures the exercise of his reason and his free will; but every one +exerts that reason and that will for the benefit of a common +undertaking. + + + + + Chapter XIII: Government Of The Democracy In America—Part I + + +I am well aware of the difficulties which attend this part of my +subject, but although every expression which I am about to make use of +may clash, upon some one point, with the feelings of the different +parties which divide my country, I shall speak my opinion with the most +perfect openness. + +In Europe we are at a loss how to judge the true character and the more +permanent propensities of democracy, because in Europe two conflicting +principles exist, and we do not know what to attribute to the +principles themselves, and what to refer to the passions which they +bring into collision. Such, however, is not the case in America; there +the people reigns without any obstacle, and it has no perils to dread +and no injuries to avenge. In America, democracy is swayed by its own +free propensities; its course is natural and its activity is +unrestrained; the United States consequently afford the most favorable +opportunity of studying its real character. And to no people can this +inquiry be more vitally interesting than to the French nation, which is +blindly driven onwards by a daily and irresistible impulse towards a +state of things which may prove either despotic or republican, but +which will assuredly be democratic. + +Universal Suffrage + +I have already observed that universal suffrage has been adopted in all +the States of the Union; it consequently occurs amongst different +populations which occupy very different positions in the scale of +society. I have had opportunities of observing its effects in different +localities, and amongst races of men who are nearly strangers to each +other by their language, their religion, and their manner of life; in +Louisiana as well as in New England, in Georgia and in Canada. I have +remarked that Universal Suffrage is far from producing in America +either all the good or all the evil consequences which are assigned to +it in Europe, and that its effects differ very widely from those which +are usually attributed to it. + +Choice Of The People, And Instinctive Preferences Of The American +Democracy + +In the United States the most able men are rarely placed at the head of +affairs—Reason of this peculiarity—The envy which prevails in the lower +orders of France against the higher classes is not a French, but a +purely democratic sentiment—For what reason the most distinguished men +in America frequently seclude themselves from public affairs. + +Many people in Europe are apt to believe without saying it, or to say +without believing it, that one of the great advantages of universal +suffrage is, that it entrusts the direction of public affairs to men +who are worthy of the public confidence. They admit that the people is +unable to govern for itself, but they aver that it is always sincerely +disposed to promote the welfare of the State, and that it instinctively +designates those persons who are animated by the same good wishes, and +who are the most fit to wield the supreme authority. I confess that the +observations I made in America by no means coincide with these +opinions. On my arrival in the United States I was surprised to find so +much distinguished talent among the subjects, and so little among the +heads of the Government. It is a well-authenticated fact, that at the +present day the most able men in the United States are very rarely +placed at the head of affairs; and it must be acknowledged that such +has been the result in proportion as democracy has outstepped all its +former limits. The race of American statesmen has evidently dwindled +most remarkably in the course of the last fifty years. + +Several causes may be assigned to this phenomenon. It is impossible, +notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions, to raise the intelligence +of the people above a certain level. Whatever may be the facilities of +acquiring information, whatever may be the profusion of easy methods +and of cheap science, the human mind can never be instructed and +educated without devoting a considerable space of time to those +objects. + +The greater or the lesser possibility of subsisting without labor is +therefore the necessary boundary of intellectual improvement. This +boundary is more remote in some countries and more restricted in +others; but it must exist somewhere as long as the people is +constrained to work in order to procure the means of physical +subsistence, that is to say, as long as it retains its popular +character. It is therefore quite as difficult to imagine a State in +which all the citizens should be very well informed as a State in which +they should all be wealthy; these two difficulties may be looked upon +as correlative. It may very readily be admitted that the mass of the +citizens are sincerely disposed to promote the welfare of their +country; nay more, it may even be allowed that the lower classes are +less apt to be swayed by considerations of personal interest than the +higher orders: but it is always more or less impossible for them to +discern the best means of attaining the end which they desire with +sincerity. Long and patient observation, joined to a multitude of +different notions, is required to form a just estimate of the character +of a single individual; and can it be supposed that the vulgar have the +power of succeeding in an inquiry which misleads the penetration of +genius itself? The people has neither the time nor the means which are +essential to the prosecution of an investigation of this kind: its +conclusions are hastily formed from a superficial inspection of the +more prominent features of a question. Hence it often assents to the +clamor of a mountebank who knows the secret of stimulating its tastes, +while its truest friends frequently fail in their exertions. + +Moreover, the democracy is not only deficient in that soundness of +judgment which is necessary to select men really deserving of its +confidence, but it has neither the desire nor the inclination to find +them out. It cannot be denied that democratic institutions have a very +strong tendency to promote the feeling of envy in the human heart; not +so much because they afford to every one the means of rising to the +level of any of his fellow-citizens, as because those means perpetually +disappoint the persons who employ them. Democratic institutions awaken +and foster a passion for equality which they can never entirely +satisfy. This complete equality eludes the grasp of the people at the +very moment at which it thinks to hold it fast, and “flies,” as Pascal +says, “with eternal flight”; the people is excited in the pursuit of an +advantage, which is more precious because it is not sufficiently remote +to be unknown, or sufficiently near to be enjoyed. The lower orders are +agitated by the chance of success, they are irritated by its +uncertainty; and they pass from the enthusiasm of pursuit to the +exhaustion of ill-success, and lastly to the acrimony of +disappointment. Whatever transcends their own limits appears to be an +obstacle to their desires, and there is no kind of superiority, however +legitimate it may be, which is not irksome in their sight. + +It has been supposed that the secret instinct which leads the lower +orders to remove their superiors as much as possible from the direction +of public affairs is peculiar to France. This, however, is an error; +the propensity to which I allude is not inherent in any particular +nation, but in democratic institutions in general; and although it may +have been heightened by peculiar political circumstances, it owes its +origin to a higher cause. + +In the United States the people is not disposed to hate the superior +classes of society; but it is not very favorably inclined towards them, +and it carefully excludes them from the exercise of authority. It does +not entertain any dread of distinguished talents, but it is rarely +captivated by them; and it awards its approbation very sparingly to +such as have risen without the popular support. + +Whilst the natural propensities of democracy induce the people to +reject the most distinguished citizens as its rulers, these individuals +are no less apt to retire from a political career in which it is almost +impossible to retain their independence, or to advance without +degrading themselves. This opinion has been very candidly set forth by +Chancellor Kent, who says, in speaking with great eulogiums of that +part of the Constitution which empowers the Executive to nominate the +judges: “It is indeed probable that the men who are best fitted to +discharge the duties of this high office would have too much reserve in +their manners, and too much austerity in their principles, for them to +be returned by the majority at an election where universal suffrage is +adopted.” Such were the opinions which were printed without +contradiction in America in the year 1830! + +I hold it to be sufficiently demonstrated that universal suffrage is by +no means a guarantee of the wisdom of the popular choice, and that, +whatever its advantages may be, this is not one of them. + +Causes Which May Partly Correct These Tendencies Of The Democracy +Contrary effects produced on peoples as well as on individuals by great +dangers—Why so many distinguished men stood at the head of affairs in +America fifty years ago—Influence which the intelligence and the +manners of the people exercise upon its choice—Example of New +England—States of the Southwest—Influence of certain laws upon the +choice of the people—Election by an elected body—Its effects upon the +composition of the Senate. + +When a State is threatened by serious dangers, the people frequently +succeeds in selecting the citizens who are the most able to save it. It +has been observed that man rarely retains his customary level in +presence of very critical circumstances; he rises above or he sinks +below his usual condition, and the same thing occurs in nations at +large. Extreme perils sometimes quench the energy of a people instead +of stimulating it; they excite without directing its passions, and +instead of clearing they confuse its powers of perception. The Jews +deluged the smoking ruins of their temple with the carnage of the +remnant of their host. But it is more common, both in the case of +nations and in that of individuals, to find extraordinary virtues +arising from the very imminence of the danger. Great characters are +then thrown into relief, as edifices which are concealed by the gloom +of night are illuminated by the glare of a conflagration. At those +dangerous times genius no longer abstains from presenting itself in the +arena; and the people, alarmed by the perils of its situation, buries +its envious passions in a short oblivion. Great names may then be drawn +from the balloting-box. + +I have already observed that the American statesmen of the present day +are very inferior to those who stood at the head of affairs fifty years +ago. This is as much a consequence of the circumstances as of the laws +of the country. When America was struggling in the high cause of +independence to throw off the yoke of another country, and when it was +about to usher a new nation into the world, the spirits of its +inhabitants were roused to the height which their great efforts +required. In this general excitement the most distinguished men were +ready to forestall the wants of the community, and the people clung to +them for support, and placed them at its head. But events of this +magnitude are rare, and it is from an inspection of the ordinary course +of affairs that our judgment must be formed. + +If passing occurrences sometimes act as checks upon the passions of +democracy, the intelligence and the manners of the community exercise +an influence which is not less powerful and far more permanent. This is +extremely perceptible in the United States. + +In New England the education and the liberties of the communities were +engendered by the moral and religious principles of their founders. +Where society has acquired a sufficient degree of stability to enable +it to hold certain maxims and to retain fixed habits, the lower orders +are accustomed to respect intellectual superiority and to submit to it +without complaint, although they set at naught all those privileges +which wealth and birth have introduced among mankind. The democracy in +New England consequently makes a more judicious choice than it does +elsewhere. + +But as we descend towards the South, to those States in which the +constitution of society is more modern and less strong, where +instruction is less general, and where the principles of morality, of +religion, and of liberty are less happily combined, we perceive that +the talents and the virtues of those who are in authority become more +and more rare. + +Lastly, when we arrive at the new South-western States, in which the +constitution of society dates but from yesterday, and presents an +agglomeration of adventurers and speculators, we are amazed at the +persons who are invested with public authority, and we are led to ask +by what force, independent of the legislation and of the men who direct +it, the State can be protected, and society be made to flourish. + +There are certain laws of a democratic nature which contribute, +nevertheless, to correct, in some measure, the dangerous tendencies of +democracy. On entering the House of Representatives of Washington one +is struck by the vulgar demeanor of that great assembly. The eye +frequently does not discover a man of celebrity within its walls. Its +members are almost all obscure individuals whose names present no +associations to the mind: they are mostly village lawyers, men in +trade, or even persons belonging to the lower classes of society. In a +country in which education is very general, it is said that the +representatives of the people do not always know how to write +correctly. + +At a few yards’ distance from this spot is the door of the Senate, +which contains within a small space a large proportion of the +celebrated men of America. Scarcely an individual is to be perceived in +it who does not recall the idea of an active and illustrious career: +the Senate is composed of eloquent advocates, distinguished generals, +wise magistrates, and statesmen of note, whose language would at all +times do honor to the most remarkable parliamentary debates of Europe. + +What then is the cause of this strange contrast, and why are the most +able citizens to be found in one assembly rather than in the other? Why +is the former body remarkable for its vulgarity and its poverty of +talent, whilst the latter seems to enjoy a monopoly of intelligence and +of sound judgment? Both of these assemblies emanate from the people; +both of them are chosen by universal suffrage; and no voice has +hitherto been heard to assert in America that the Senate is hostile to +the interests of the people. From what cause, then, does so startling a +difference arise? The only reason which appears to me adequately to +account for it is, that the House of Representatives is elected by the +populace directly, and that the Senate is elected by elected bodies. +The whole body of the citizens names the legislature of each State, and +the Federal Constitution converts these legislatures into so many +electoral bodies, which return the members of the Senate. The senators +are elected by an indirect application of universal suffrage; for the +legislatures which name them are not aristocratic or privileged bodies +which exercise the electoral franchise in their own right; but they are +chosen by the totality of the citizens; they are generally elected +every year, and new members may constantly be chosen who will employ +their electoral rights in conformity with the wishes of the public. But +this transmission of the popular authority through an assembly of +chosen men operates an important change in it, by refining its +discretion and improving the forms which it adopts. Men who are chosen +in this manner accurately represent the majority of the nation which +governs them; but they represent the elevated thoughts which are +current in the community, the propensities which prompt its nobler +actions, rather than the petty passions which disturb or the vices +which disgrace it. + +The time may be already anticipated at which the American Republics +will be obliged to introduce the plan of election by an elected body +more frequently into their system of representation, or they will incur +no small risk of perishing miserably amongst the shoals of democracy. + +And here I have no scruple in confessing that I look upon this peculiar +system of election as the only means of bringing the exercise of +political power to the level of all classes of the people. Those +thinkers who regard this institution as the exclusive weapon of a +party, and those who fear, on the other hand, to make use of it, seem +to me to fall into as great an error in the one case as in the other. + +Influence Which The American Democracy Has Exercised On The Laws +Relating To Elections + +When elections are rare, they expose the State to a violent crisis—When +they are frequent, they keep up a degree of feverish excitement—The +Americans have preferred the second of these two evils—Mutability of +the laws—Opinions of Hamilton and Jefferson on this subject. + +When elections recur at long intervals the State is exposed to violent +agitation every time they take place. Parties exert themselves to the +utmost in order to gain a prize which is so rarely within their reach; +and as the evil is almost irremediable for the candidates who fail, the +consequences of their disappointed ambition may prove most disastrous; +if, on the other hand, the legal struggle can be repeated within a +short space of time, the defeated parties take patience. When elections +occur frequently, their recurrence keeps society in a perpetual state +of feverish excitement, and imparts a continual instability to public +affairs. + +Thus, on the one hand the State is exposed to the perils of a +revolution, on the other to perpetual mutability; the former system +threatens the very existence of the Government, the latter is an +obstacle to all steady and consistent policy. The Americans have +preferred the second of these evils to the first; but they were led to +this conclusion by their instinct much more than by their reason; for a +taste for variety is one of the characteristic passions of democracy. +An extraordinary mutability has, by this means, been introduced into +their legislation. Many of the Americans consider the instability of +their laws as a necessary consequence of a system whose general results +are beneficial. But no one in the United States affects to deny the +fact of this instability, or to contend that it is not a great evil. + +Hamilton, after having demonstrated the utility of a power which might +prevent, or which might at least impede, the promulgation of bad laws, +adds: “It might perhaps be said that the power of preventing bad laws +includes that of preventing good ones, and may be used to the one +purpose as well as to the other. But this objection will have little +weight with those who can properly estimate the mischiefs of that +inconstancy and mutability in the laws which form the greatest blemish +in the character and genius of our governments.” (Federalist, No. 73.) +And again in No. 62 of the same work he observes: “The facility and +excess of law-making seem to be the diseases to which our governments +are most liable. . . . The mischievous effects of the mutability in the +public councils arising from a rapid succession of new members would +fill a volume: every new election in the States is found to change +one-half of the representatives. From this change of men must proceed a +change of opinions and of measures, which forfeits the respect and +confidence of other nations, poisons the blessings of liberty itself, +and diminishes the attachment and reverence of the people toward a +political system which betrays so many marks of infirmity.” + +Jefferson himself, the greatest Democrat whom the democracy of America +has yet produced, pointed out the same evils. “The instability of our +laws,” said he in a letter to Madison, “is really a very serious +inconvenience. I think that we ought to have obviated it by deciding +that a whole year should always be allowed to elapse between the +bringing in of a bill and the final passing of it. It should afterward +be discussed and put to the vote without the possibility of making any +alteration in it; and if the circumstances of the case required a more +speedy decision, the question should not be decided by a simple +majority, but by a majority of at least two-thirds of both houses.” + +Public Officers Under The Control Of The Democracy In America Simple +exterior of the American public officers—No official costume—All public +officers are remunerated—Political consequences of this system—No +public career exists in America—Result of this. + +Public officers in the United States are commingled with the crowd of +citizens; they have neither palaces, nor guards, nor ceremonial +costumes. This simple exterior of the persons in authority is connected +not only with the peculiarities of the American character, but with the +fundamental principles of that society. In the estimation of the +democracy a government is not a benefit, but a necessary evil. A +certain degree of power must be granted to public officers, for they +would be of no use without it. But the ostensible semblance of +authority is by no means indispensable to the conduct of affairs, and +it is needlessly offensive to the susceptibility of the public. The +public officers themselves are well aware that they only enjoy the +superiority over their fellow-citizens which they derive from their +authority upon condition of putting themselves on a level with the +whole community by their manners. A public officer in the United States +is uniformly civil, accessible to all the world, attentive to all +requests, and obliging in his replies. I was pleased by these +characteristics of a democratic government; and I was struck by the +manly independence of the citizens, who respect the office more than +the officer, and who are less attached to the emblems of authority than +to the man who bears them. + +I am inclined to believe that the influence which costumes really +exercise, in an age like that in which we live, has been a good deal +exaggerated. I never perceived that a public officer in America was the +less respected whilst he was in the discharge of his duties because his +own merit was set off by no adventitious signs. On the other hand, it +is very doubtful whether a peculiar dress contributes to the respect +which public characters ought to have for their own position, at least +when they are not otherwise inclined to respect it. When a magistrate +(and in France such instances are not rare) indulges his trivial wit at +the expense of the prisoner, or derides the predicament in which a +culprit is placed, it would be well to deprive him of his robes of +office, to see whether he would recall some portion of the natural +dignity of mankind when he is reduced to the apparel of a private +citizen. + +A democracy may, however, allow a certain show of magisterial pomp, and +clothe its officers in silks and gold, without seriously compromising +its principles. Privileges of this kind are transitory; they belong to +the place, and are distinct from the individual: but if public officers +are not uniformly remunerated by the State, the public charges must be +entrusted to men of opulence and independence, who constitute the basis +of an aristocracy; and if the people still retains its right of +election, that election can only be made from a certain class of +citizens. When a democratic republic renders offices which had formerly +been remunerated gratuitous, it may safely be believed that the State +is advancing to monarchical institutions; and when a monarchy begins to +remunerate such officers as had hitherto been unpaid, it is a sure sign +that it is approaching toward a despotic or a republican form of +government. The substitution of paid for unpaid functionaries is of +itself, in my opinion, sufficient to constitute a serious revolution. + +I look upon the entire absence of gratuitous functionaries in America +as one of the most prominent signs of the absolute dominion which +democracy exercises in that country. All public services, of whatsoever +nature they may be, are paid; so that every one has not merely the +right, but also the means of performing them. Although, in democratic +States, all the citizens are qualified to occupy stations in the +Government, all are not tempted to try for them. The number and the +capacities of the candidates are more apt to restrict the choice of +electors than the connections of the candidateship. + +In nations in which the principle of election extends to every place in +the State no political career can, properly speaking, be said to exist. +Men are promoted as if by chance to the rank which they enjoy, and they +are by no means sure of retaining it. The consequence is that in +tranquil times public functions offer but few lures to ambition. In the +United States the persons who engage in the perplexities of political +life are individuals of very moderate pretensions. The pursuit of +wealth generally diverts men of great talents and of great passions +from the pursuit of power, and it very frequently happens that a man +does not undertake to direct the fortune of the State until he has +discovered his incompetence to conduct his own affairs. The vast number +of very ordinary men who occupy public stations is quite as +attributable to these causes as to the bad choice of the democracy. In +the United States, I am not sure that the people would return the men +of superior abilities who might solicit its support, but it is certain +that men of this description do not come forward. + +Arbitrary Power Of Magistrates Under The Rule Of The American Democracy + +For what reason the arbitrary power of Magistrates is greater in +absolute monarchies and in democratic republics than it is in limited +monarchies—Arbitrary power of the Magistrates in New England. + +In two different kinds of government the magistrates *a exercise a +considerable degree of arbitrary power; namely, under the absolute +government of a single individual, and under that of a democracy. This +identical result proceeds from causes which are nearly analogous. + +a +[ I here use the word magistrates in the widest sense in which it can +be taken; I apply it to all the officers to whom the execution of the +laws is intrusted.] + + +In despotic States the fortune of no citizen is secure; and public +officers are not more safe than private individuals. The sovereign, who +has under his control the lives, the property, and sometimes the honor +of the men whom he employs, does not scruple to allow them a great +latitude of action, because he is convinced that they will not use it +to his prejudice. In despotic States the sovereign is so attached to +the exercise of his power, that he dislikes the constraint even of his +own regulations; and he is well pleased that his agents should follow a +somewhat fortuitous line of conduct, provided he be certain that their +actions will never counteract his desires. + +In democracies, as the majority has every year the right of depriving +the officers whom it has appointed of their power, it has no reason to +fear any abuse of their authority. As the people is always able to +signify its wishes to those who conduct the Government, it prefers +leaving them to make their own exertions to prescribing an invariable +rule of conduct which would at once fetter their activity and the +popular authority. + +It may even be observed, on attentive consideration, that under the +rule of a democracy the arbitrary power of the magistrate must be still +greater than in despotic States. In the latter the sovereign has the +power of punishing all the faults with which he becomes acquainted, but +it would be vain for him to hope to become acquainted with all those +which are committed. In the former the sovereign power is not only +supreme, but it is universally present. The American functionaries are, +in point of fact, much more independent in the sphere of action which +the law traces out for them than any public officer in Europe. Very +frequently the object which they are to accomplish is simply pointed +out to them, and the choice of the means is left to their own +discretion. + +In New England, for instance, the selectmen of each township are bound +to draw up the list of persons who are to serve on the jury; the only +rule which is laid down to guide them in their choice is that they are +to select citizens possessing the elective franchise and enjoying a +fair reputation. *b In France the lives and liberties of the subjects +would be thought to be in danger if a public officer of any kind was +entrusted with so formidable a right. In New England the same +magistrates are empowered to post the names of habitual drunkards in +public-houses, and to prohibit the inhabitants of a town from supplying +them with liquor. *c A censorial power of this excessive kind would be +revolting to the population of the most absolute monarchies; here, +however, it is submitted to without difficulty. + +b +[ See the Act of February 27, 1813. “General Collection of the Laws of +Massachusetts,” vol. ii. p. 331. It should be added that the jurors are +afterwards drawn from these lists by lot.] + + +c +[ See Act of February 28, 1787. “General Collection of the Laws of +Massachusetts,” vol. i. p. 302.] + + +Nowhere has so much been left by the law to the arbitrary determination +of the magistrate as in democratic republics, because this arbitrary +power is unattended by any alarming consequences. It may even be +asserted that the freedom of the magistrate increases as the elective +franchise is extended, and as the duration of the time of office is +shortened. Hence arises the great difficulty which attends the +conversion of a democratic republic into a monarchy. The magistrate +ceases to be elective, but he retains the rights and the habits of an +elected officer, which lead directly to despotism. + +It is only in limited monarchies that the law, which prescribes the +sphere in which public officers are to act, superintends all their +measures. The cause of this may be easily detected. In limited +monarchies the power is divided between the King and the people, both +of whom are interested in the stability of the magistrate. The King +does not venture to place the public officers under the control of the +people, lest they should be tempted to betray his interests; on the +other hand, the people fears lest the magistrates should serve to +oppress the liberties of the country, if they were entirely dependent +upon the Crown; they cannot therefore be said to depend on either one +or the other. The same cause which induces the king and the people to +render public officers independent suggests the necessity of such +securities as may prevent their independence from encroaching upon the +authority of the former and the liberties of the latter. They +consequently agree as to the necessity of restricting the functionary +to a line of conduct laid down beforehand, and they are interested in +confining him by certain regulations which he cannot evade. + + + + + Chapter XIII: Government Of The Democracy In America—Part II + +Instability Of The Administration In The United States + +In America the public acts of a community frequently leave fewer traces +than the occurrences of a family—Newspapers the only historical +remains—Instability of the administration prejudicial to the art of +government. + +The authority which public men possess in America is so brief, and they +are so soon commingled with the ever-changing population of the +country, that the acts of a community frequently leave fewer traces +than the occurrences of a private family. The public administration is, +so to speak, oral and traditionary. But little is committed to writing, +and that little is wafted away forever, like the leaves of the Sibyl, +by the smallest breeze. + +The only historical remains in the United States are the newspapers; +but if a number be wanting, the chain of time is broken, and the +present is severed from the past. I am convinced that in fifty years it +will be more difficult to collect authentic documents concerning the +social condition of the Americans at the present day than it is to find +remains of the administration of France during the Middle Ages; and if +the United States were ever invaded by barbarians, it would be +necessary to have recourse to the history of other nations in order to +learn anything of the people which now inhabits them. + +The instability of the administration has penetrated into the habits of +the people: it even appears to suit the general taste, and no one cares +for what occurred before his time. No methodical system is pursued; no +archives are formed; and no documents are brought together when it +would be very easy to do so. Where they exist, little store is set upon +them; and I have amongst my papers several original public documents +which were given to me in answer to some of my inquiries. In America +society seems to live from hand to mouth, like an army in the field. +Nevertheless, the art of administration may undoubtedly be ranked as a +science, and no sciences can be improved if the discoveries and +observations of successive generations are not connected together in +the order in which they occur. One man, in the short space of his life +remarks a fact; another conceives an idea; the former invents a means +of execution, the latter reduces a truth to a fixed proposition; and +mankind gathers the fruits of individual experience upon its way and +gradually forms the sciences. But the persons who conduct the +administration in America can seldom afford any instruction to each +other; and when they assume the direction of society, they simply +possess those attainments which are most widely disseminated in the +community, and no experience peculiar to themselves. Democracy, carried +to its furthest limits, is therefore prejudicial to the art of +government; and for this reason it is better adapted to a people +already versed in the conduct of an administration than to a nation +which is uninitiated in public affairs. + +This remark, indeed, is not exclusively applicable to the science of +administration. Although a democratic government is founded upon a very +simple and natural principle, it always presupposes the existence of a +high degree of culture and enlightenment in society. *d At the first +glance it may be imagined to belong to the earliest ages of the world; +but maturer observation will convince us that it could only come last +in the succession of human history. + +d +[ It is needless to observe that I speak here of the democratic form of +government as applied to a people, not merely to a tribe.] + + +Charges Levied By The State Under The Rule Of The American Democracy + +In all communities citizens divisible into three classes—Habits of each +of these classes in the direction of public finances—Why public +expenditure must tend to increase when the people governs—What renders +the extravagance of a democracy less to be feared in America—Public +expenditure under a democracy. + +Before we can affirm whether a democratic form of government is +economical or not, we must establish a suitable standard of comparison. +The question would be one of easy solution if we were to attempt to +draw a parallel between a democratic republic and an absolute monarchy. +The public expenditure would be found to be more considerable under the +former than under the latter; such is the case with all free States +compared to those which are not so. It is certain that despotism ruins +individuals by preventing them from producing wealth, much more than by +depriving them of the wealth they have produced; it dries up the source +of riches, whilst it usually respects acquired property. Freedom, on +the contrary, engenders far more benefits than it destroys; and the +nations which are favored by free institutions invariably find that +their resources increase even more rapidly than their taxes. + +My present object is to compare free nations to each other, and to +point out the influence of democracy upon the finances of a State. + +Communities, as well as organic bodies, are subject to certain fixed +rules in their formation which they cannot evade. They are composed of +certain elements which are common to them at all times and under all +circumstances. The people may always be mentally divided into three +distinct classes. The first of these classes consists of the wealthy; +the second, of those who are in easy circumstances; and the third is +composed of those who have little or no property, and who subsist more +especially by the work which they perform for the two superior orders. +The proportion of the individuals who are included in these three +divisions may vary according to the condition of society, but the +divisions themselves can never be obliterated. + +It is evident that each of these classes will exercise an influence +peculiar to its own propensities upon the administration of the +finances of the State. If the first of the three exclusively possesses +the legislative power, it is probable that it will not be sparing of +the public funds, because the taxes which are levied on a large fortune +only tend to diminish the sum of superfluous enjoyment, and are, in +point of fact, but little felt. If the second class has the power of +making the laws, it will certainly not be lavish of taxes, because +nothing is so onerous as a large impost which is levied upon a small +income. The government of the middle classes appears to me to be the +most economical, though perhaps not the most enlightened, and certainly +not the most generous, of free governments. + +But let us now suppose that the legislative authority is vested in the +lowest orders: there are two striking reasons which show that the +tendency of the expenditure will be to increase, not to diminish. As +the great majority of those who create the laws are possessed of no +property upon which taxes can be imposed, all the money which is spent +for the community appears to be spent to their advantage, at no cost of +their own; and those who are possessed of some little property readily +find means of regulating the taxes so that they are burdensome to the +wealthy and profitable to the poor, although the rich are unable to +take the same advantage when they are in possession of the Government. + +In countries in which the poor *e should be exclusively invested with +the power of making the laws no great economy of public expenditure +ought to be expected: that expenditure will always be considerable; +either because the taxes do not weigh upon those who levy them, or +because they are levied in such a manner as not to weigh upon those +classes. In other words, the government of the democracy is the only +one under which the power which lays on taxes escapes the payment of +them. + +e +[ The word poor is used here, and throughout the remainder of this +chapter, in a relative, not in an absolute sense. Poor men in America +would often appear rich in comparison with the poor of Europe; but they +may with propriety by styled poor in comparison with their more +affluent countrymen.] + + +It may be objected (but the argument has no real weight) that the true +interest of the people is indissolubly connected with that of the +wealthier portion of the community, since it cannot but suffer by the +severe measures to which it resorts. But is it not the true interest of +kings to render their subjects happy, and the true interest of nobles +to admit recruits into their order on suitable grounds? If remote +advantages had power to prevail over the passions and the exigencies of +the moment, no such thing as a tyrannical sovereign or an exclusive +aristocracy could ever exist. + +Again, it may be objected that the poor are never invested with the +sole power of making the laws; but I reply, that wherever universal +suffrage has been established the majority of the community +unquestionably exercises the legislative authority; and if it be proved +that the poor always constitute the majority, it may be added, with +perfect truth, that in the countries in which they possess the elective +franchise they possess the sole power of making laws. But it is certain +that in all the nations of the world the greater number has always +consisted of those persons who hold no property, or of those whose +property is insufficient to exempt them from the necessity of working +in order to procure an easy subsistence. Universal suffrage does +therefore, in point of fact, invest the poor with the government of +society. + +The disastrous influence which popular authority may sometimes exercise +upon the finances of a State was very clearly seen in some of the +democratic republics of antiquity, in which the public treasure was +exhausted in order to relieve indigent citizens, or to supply the games +and theatrical amusements of the populace. It is true that the +representative system was then very imperfectly known, and that, at the +present time, the influence of popular passion is less felt in the +conduct of public affairs; but it may be believed that the delegate +will in the end conform to the principles of his constituents, and +favor their propensities as much as their interests. + +The extravagance of democracy is, however, less to be dreaded in +proportion as the people acquires a share of property, because on the +one hand the contributions of the rich are then less needed, and, on +the other, it is more difficult to lay on taxes which do not affect the +interests of the lower classes. On this account universal suffrage +would be less dangerous in France than in England, because in the +latter country the property on which taxes may be levied is vested in +fewer hands. America, where the great majority of the citizens possess +some fortune, is in a still more favorable position than France. + +There are still further causes which may increase the sum of public +expenditure in democratic countries. When the aristocracy governs, the +individuals who conduct the affairs of State are exempted by their own +station in society from every kind of privation; they are contented +with their position; power and renown are the objects for which they +strive; and, as they are placed far above the obscurer throng of +citizens, they do not always distinctly perceive how the well-being of +the mass of the people ought to redound to their own honor. They are +not indeed callous to the sufferings of the poor, but they cannot feel +those miseries as acutely as if they were themselves partakers of them. +Provided that the people appear to submit to its lot, the rulers are +satisfied, and they demand nothing further from the Government. An +aristocracy is more intent upon the means of maintaining its influence +than upon the means of improving its condition. + +When, on the contrary, the people is invested with the supreme +authority, the perpetual sense of their own miseries impels the rulers +of society to seek for perpetual ameliorations. A thousand different +objects are subjected to improvement; the most trivial details are +sought out as susceptible of amendment; and those changes which are +accompanied with considerable expense are more especially advocated, +since the object is to render the condition of the poor more tolerable, +who cannot pay for themselves. + +Moreover, all democratic communities are agitated by an ill-defined +excitement and by a kind of feverish impatience, that engender a +multitude of innovations, almost all of which are attended with +expense. + +In monarchies and aristocracies the natural taste which the rulers have +for power and for renown is stimulated by the promptings of ambition, +and they are frequently incited by these temptations to very costly +undertakings. In democracies, where the rulers labor under privations, +they can only be courted by such means as improve their well-being, and +these improvements cannot take place without a sacrifice of money. When +a people begins to reflect upon its situation, it discovers a multitude +of wants to which it had not before been subject, and to satisfy these +exigencies recourse must be had to the coffers of the State. Hence it +arises that the public charges increase in proportion as civilization +spreads, and that imposts are augmented as knowledge pervades the +community. + +The last cause which frequently renders a democratic government dearer +than any other is, that a democracy does not always succeed in +moderating its expenditure, because it does not understand the art of +being economical. As the designs which it entertains are frequently +changed, and the agents of those designs are still more frequently +removed, its undertakings are often ill conducted or left unfinished: +in the former case the State spends sums out of all proportion to the +end which it proposes to accomplish; in the second, the expense itself +is unprofitable. *f + +f +[ The gross receipts of the Treasury of the United States in 1832 were +about $28,000,000; in 1870 they had risen to $411,000,000. The gross +expenditure in 1832 was $30,000,000; in 1870, $309,000,000.] + + +Tendencies Of The American Democracy As Regards The Salaries Of Public +Officers + +In the democracies those who establish high salaries have no chance of +profiting by them—Tendency of the American democracy to increase the +salaries of subordinate officers and to lower those of the more +important functionaries—Reason of this—Comparative statement of the +salaries of public officers in the United States and in France. + +There is a powerful reason which usually induces democracies to +economize upon the salaries of public officers. As the number of +citizens who dispense the remuneration is extremely large in democratic +countries, so the number of persons who can hope to be benefited by the +receipt of it is comparatively small. In aristocratic countries, on the +contrary, the individuals who fix high salaries have almost always a +vague hope of profiting by them. These appointments may be looked upon +as a capital which they create for their own use, or at least as a +resource for their children. + +It must, however, be allowed that a democratic State is most +parsimonious towards its principal agents. In America the secondary +officers are much better paid, and the dignitaries of the +administration much worse, than they are elsewhere. + +These opposite effects result from the same cause; the people fixes the +salaries of the public officers in both cases; and the scale of +remuneration is determined by the consideration of its own wants. It is +held to be fair that the servants of the public should be placed in the +same easy circumstances as the public itself; *g but when the question +turns upon the salaries of the great officers of State, this rule +fails, and chance alone can guide the popular decision. The poor have +no adequate conception of the wants which the higher classes of society +may feel. The sum which is scanty to the rich appears enormous to the +poor man whose wants do not extend beyond the necessaries of life; and +in his estimation the Governor of a State, with his twelve or fifteen +hundred dollars a year, is a very fortunate and enviable being. *h If +you undertake to convince him that the representative of a great people +ought to be able to maintain some show of splendor in the eyes of +foreign nations, he will perhaps assent to your meaning; but when he +reflects on his own humble dwelling, and on the hard-earned produce of +his wearisome toil, he remembers all that he could do with a salary +which you say is insufficient, and he is startled or almost frightened +at the sight of such uncommon wealth. Besides, the secondary public +officer is almost on a level with the people, whilst the others are +raised above it. The former may therefore excite his interest, but the +latter begins to arouse his envy. + +g +[ The easy circumstances in which secondary functionaries are placed in +the United States result also from another cause, which is independent +of the general tendencies of democracy; every kind of private business +is very lucrative, and the State would not be served at all if it did +not pay its servants. The country is in the position of a commercial +undertaking, which is obliged to sustain an expensive competition, +notwithstanding its tastes for economy.] + + +h +[ The State of Ohio, which contains a million of inhabitants, gives its +Governor a salary of only $1,200 a year.] + + +This is very clearly seen in the United States, where the salaries seem +to decrease as the authority of those who receive them augments *i + +i +[ To render this assertion perfectly evident, it will suffice to +examine the scale of salaries of the agents of the Federal Government. +I have added the salaries attached to the corresponding officers in +France under the constitutional monarchy to complete the comparison. + + United States + Treasury Department + Messenger ............................ $700 + Clerk with lowest salary ............. 1,000 + Clerk with highest salary ............ 1,600 + Chief Clerk .......................... 2,000 + Secretary of State ................... 6,000 + The President ........................ 25,000 + + France + Ministere des Finances + Hussier ........................... 1,500 fr. + Clerk with lowest salary, 1,000 to 1,800 fr. + Clerk with highest salary 3,200 to 8,600 fr. + Secretaire-general ................20,000 fr. + The Minister ......................80,000 fr. + The King ......................12,000,000 fr. + +I have perhaps done wrong in selecting France as my standard of +comparison. In France the democratic tendencies of the nation exercise +an ever-increasing influence upon the Government, and the Chambers show +a disposition to raise the low salaries and to lower the principal +ones. Thus, the Minister of Finance, who received 160,000 fr. under the +Empire, receives 80,000 fr. in 1835: the Directeurs-generaux of +Finance, who then received 50,000 fr. now receive only 20,000 fr. [This +comparison is based on the state of things existing in France and the +United States in 1831. It has since materially altered in both +countries, but not so much as to impugn the truth of the author’s +observation.]] + +Under the rule of an aristocracy it frequently happens, on the +contrary, that whilst the high officers are receiving munificent +salaries, the inferior ones have not more than enough to procure the +necessaries of life. The reason of this fact is easily discoverable +from causes very analogous to those to which I have just alluded. If a +democracy is unable to conceive the pleasures of the rich or to witness +them without envy, an aristocracy is slow to understand, or, to speak +more correctly, is unacquainted with, the privations of the poor. The +poor man is not (if we use the term aright) the fellow of the rich one; +but he is a being of another species. An aristocracy is therefore apt +to care but little for the fate of its subordinate agents; and their +salaries are only raised when they refuse to perform their service for +too scanty a remuneration. + +It is the parsimonious conduct of democracy towards its principal +officers which has countenanced a supposition of far more economical +propensities than any which it really possesses. It is true that it +scarcely allows the means of honorable subsistence to the individuals +who conduct its affairs; but enormous sums are lavished to meet the +exigencies or to facilitate the enjoyments of the people. *j The money +raised by taxation may be better employed, but it is not saved. In +general, democracy gives largely to the community, and very sparingly +to those who govern it. The reverse is the case in aristocratic +countries, where the money of the State is expended to the profit of +the persons who are at the head of affairs. + +j +[ See the American budgets for the cost of indigent citizens and +gratuitous instruction. In 1831 $250,000 were spent in the State of New +York for the maintenance of the poor, and at least $1,000,000 were +devoted to gratuitous instruction. (William’s “New York Annual +Register,” 1832, pp. 205 and 243.) The State of New York contained only +1,900,000 inhabitants in the year 1830, which is not more than double +the amount of population in the Department du Nord in France.] + + +Difficulty of Distinguishing The Causes Which Contribute To The Economy +Of The American Government + +We are liable to frequent errors in the research of those facts which +exercise a serious influence upon the fate of mankind, since nothing is +more difficult than to appreciate their real value. One people is +naturally inconsistent and enthusiastic; another is sober and +calculating; and these characteristics originate in their physical +constitution or in remote causes with which we are unacquainted. + +These are nations which are fond of parade and the bustle of festivity, +and which do not regret the costly gaieties of an hour. Others, on the +contrary, are attached to more retiring pleasures, and seem almost +ashamed of appearing to be pleased. In some countries the highest value +is set upon the beauty of public edifices; in others the productions of +art are treated with indifference, and everything which is unproductive +is looked down upon with contempt. In some renown, in others money, is +the ruling passion. + +Independently of the laws, all these causes concur to exercise a very +powerful influence upon the conduct of the finances of the State. If +the Americans never spend the money of the people in galas, it is not +only because the imposition of taxes is under the control of the +people, but because the people takes no delight in public rejoicings. +If they repudiate all ornament from their architecture, and set no +store on any but the more practical and homely advantages, it is not +only because they live under democratic institutions, but because they +are a commercial nation. The habits of private life are continued in +public; and we ought carefully to distinguish that economy which +depends upon their institutions from that which is the natural result +of their manners and customs. + +Whether The Expenditure Of The United States Can Be Compared To That Of +France + +Two points to be established in order to estimate the extent of the +public charges, viz., the national wealth and the rate of taxation—The +wealth and the charges of France not accurately known—Why the wealth +and charges of the Union cannot be accurately known—Researches of the +author with a view to discover the amount of taxation of +Pennsylvania—General symptoms which may serve to indicate the amount of +the public charges in a given nation—Result of this investigation for +the Union. + +Many attempts have recently been made in France to compare the public +expenditure of that country with the expenditure of the United States; +all these attempts have, however, been unattended by success, and a few +words will suffice to show that they could not have had a satisfactory +result. + +In order to estimate the amount of the public charges of a people two +preliminaries are indispensable: it is necessary, in the first place, +to know the wealth of that people; and in the second, to learn what +portion of that wealth is devoted to the expenditure of the State. To +show the amount of taxation without showing the resources which are +destined to meet the demand, is to undertake a futile labor; for it is +not the expenditure, but the relation of the expenditure to the +revenue, which it is desirable to know. + +The same rate of taxation which may easily be supported by a wealthy +contributor will reduce a poor one to extreme misery. The wealth of +nations is composed of several distinct elements, of which population +is the first, real property the second, and personal property the +third. The first of these three elements may be discovered without +difficulty. Amongst civilized nations it is easy to obtain an accurate +census of the inhabitants; but the two others cannot be determined with +so much facility. It is difficult to take an exact account of all the +lands in a country which are under cultivation, with their natural or +their acquired value; and it is still more impossible to estimate the +entire personal property which is at the disposal of a nation, and +which eludes the strictest analysis by the diversity and the number of +shapes under which it may occur. And, indeed, we find that the most +ancient civilized nations of Europe, including even those in which the +administration is most central, have not succeeded, as yet, in +determining the exact condition of their wealth. + +In America the attempt has never been made; for how would such an +investigation be possible in a country where society has not yet +settled into habits of regularity and tranquillity; where the national +Government is not assisted by a multiple of agents whose exertions it +can command and direct to one sole end; and where statistics are not +studied, because no one is able to collect the necessary documents, or +to find time to peruse them? Thus the primary elements of the +calculations which have been made in France cannot be obtained in the +Union; the relative wealth of the two countries is unknown; the +property of the former is not accurately determined, and no means exist +of computing that of the latter. + +I consent, therefore, for the sake of the discussion, to abandon this +necessary term of the comparison, and I confine myself to a computation +of the actual amount of taxation, without investigating the relation +which subsists between the taxation and the revenue. But the reader +will perceive that my task has not been facilitated by the limits which +I here lay down for my researches. + +It cannot be doubted that the central administration of France, +assisted by all the public officers who are at its disposal, might +determine with exactitude the amount of the direct and indirect taxes +levied upon the citizens. But this investigation, which no private +individual can undertake, has not hitherto been completed by the French +Government, or, at least, its results have not been made public. We are +acquainted with the sum total of the charges of the State; we know the +amount of the departmental expenditure; but the expenses of the +communal divisions have not been computed, and the amount of the public +expenses of France is consequently unknown. + +If we now turn to America, we shall perceive that the difficulties are +multiplied and enhanced. The Union publishes an exact return of the +amount of its expenditure; the budgets of the four and twenty States +furnish similar returns of their revenues; but the expenses incident to +the affairs of the counties and the townships are unknown. *k + +k +[ The Americans, as we have seen, have four separate budgets, the +Union, the States, the Counties, and the Townships having each +severally their own. During my stay in America I made every endeavor to +discover the amount of the public expenditure in the townships and +counties of the principal States of the Union, and I readily obtained +the budget of the larger townships, but I found it quite impossible to +procure that of the smaller ones. I possess, however, some documents +relating to county expenses, which, although incomplete, are still +curious. I have to thank Mr. Richards, Mayor of Philadelphia, for the +budgets of thirteen of the counties of Pennsylvania, viz., Lebanon, +Centre, Franklin, Fayette, Montgomery, Luzerne, Dauphin, Butler, +Alleghany, Columbia, Northampton, Northumberland, and Philadelphia, for +the year 1830. Their population at that time consisted of 495,207 +inhabitants. On looking at the map of Pennsylvania, it will be seen +that these thirteen counties are scattered in every direction, and so +generally affected by the causes which usually influence the condition +of a country, that they may easily be supposed to furnish a correct +average of the financial state of the counties of Pennsylvania in +general; and thus, upon reckoning that the expenses of these counties +amounted in the year 1830 to about $361,650, or nearly 75 cents for +each inhabitant, and calculating that each of them contributed in the +same year about $2.55 towards the Union, and about 75 cents to the +State of Pennsylvania, it appears that they each contributed as their +share of all the public expenses (except those of the townships) the +sum of $4.05. This calculation is doubly incomplete, as it applies only +to a single year and to one part of the public charges; but it has at +least the merit of not being conjectural.] + + +The authority of the Federal government cannot oblige the provincial +governments to throw any light upon this point; and even if these +governments were inclined to afford their simultaneous co-operation, it +may be doubted whether they possess the means of procuring a +satisfactory answer. Independently of the natural difficulties of the +task, the political organization of the country would act as a +hindrance to the success of their efforts. The county and town +magistrates are not appointed by the authorities of the State, and they +are not subjected to their control. It is therefore very allowable to +suppose that, if the State was desirous of obtaining the returns which +we require, its design would be counteracted by the neglect of those +subordinate officers whom it would be obliged to employ. *l It is, in +point of fact, useless to inquire what the Americans might do to +forward this inquiry, since it is certain that they have hitherto done +nothing at all. There does not exist a single individual at the present +day, in America or in Europe, who can inform us what each citizen of +the Union annually contributes to the public charges of the nation. *m +[Footnote l: Those who have attempted to draw a comparison between the +expenses of France and America have at once perceived that no such +comparison could be drawn between the total expenditure of the two +countries; but they have endeavored to contrast detached portions of +this expenditure. It may readily be shown that this second system is +not at all less defective than the first. If I attempt to compare the +French budget with the budget of the Union, it must be remembered that +the latter embraces much fewer objects than then central Government of +the former country, and that the expenditure must consequently be much +smaller. If I contrast the budgets of the Departments with those of the +States which constitute the Union, it must be observed that, as the +power and control exercised by the States is much greater than that +which is exercised by the Departments, their expenditure is also more +considerable. As for the budgets of the counties, nothing of the kind +occurs in the French system of finances; and it is, again, doubtful +whether the corresponding expenses should be referred to the budget of +the State or to those of the municipal divisions. Municipal expenses +exist in both countries, but they are not always analogous. In America +the townships discharge a variety of offices which are reserved in +France to the Departments or to the State. It may, moreover, be asked +what is to be understood by the municipal expenses of America. The +organization of the municipal bodies or townships differs in the +several States. Are we to be guided by what occurs in New England or in +Georgia, in Pennsylvania or in the State of Illinois? A kind of analogy +may very readily be perceived between certain budgets in the two +countries; but as the elements of which they are composed always differ +more or less, no fair comparison can be instituted between them. [The +same difficulty exists, perhaps to a greater degree at the present +time, when the taxation of America has largely increased.—1874.]] + +m +[ Even if we knew the exact pecuniary contributions of every French and +American citizen to the coffers of the State, we should only come at a +portion of the truth. Governments do not only demand supplies of money, +but they call for personal services, which may be looked upon as +equivalent to a given sum. When a State raises an army, besides the pay +of the troops, which is furnished by the entire nation, each soldier +must give up his time, the value of which depends on the use he might +make of it if he were not in the service. The same remark applies to +the militia; the citizen who is in the militia devotes a certain +portion of valuable time to the maintenance of the public peace, and he +does in reality surrender to the State those earnings which he is +prevented from gaining. Many other instances might be cited in addition +to these. The governments of France and of America both levy taxes of +this kind, which weigh upon the citizens; but who can estimate with +accuracy their relative amount in the two countries? + + +This, however, is not the last of the difficulties which prevent us +from comparing the expenditure of the Union with that of France. The +French Government contracts certain obligations which do not exist in +America, and vice versa. The French Government pays the clergy; in +America the voluntary principle prevails. In America there is a legal +provision for the poor; in France they are abandoned to the charity of +the public. The French public officers are paid by a fixed salary; in +America they are allowed certain perquisites. In France contributions +in kind take place on very few roads; in America upon almost all the +thoroughfares: in the former country the roads are free to all +travellers; in the latter turnpikes abound. All these differences in +the manner in which contributions are levied in the two countries +enhance the difficulty of comparing their expenditure; for there are +certain expenses which the citizens would not be subject to, or which +would at any rate be much less considerable, if the State did not take +upon itself to act in the name of the public.] + +Hence we must conclude that it is no less difficult to compare the +social expenditure than it is to estimate the relative wealth of France +and America. I will even add that it would be dangerous to attempt this +comparison; for when statistics are not based upon computations which +are strictly accurate, they mislead instead of guiding aright. The mind +is easily imposed upon by the false affectation of exactness, which +prevails even in the misstatements of science, and it adopts with +confidence errors which are dressed in the forms of mathematical truth. + +We abandon, therefore, our numerical investigation, with the hope of +meeting with data of another kind. In the absence of positive +documents, we may form an opinion as to the proportion which the +taxation of a people bears to its real prosperity, by observing whether +its external appearance is flourishing; whether, after having +discharged the calls of the State, the poor man retains the means of +subsistence, and the rich the means of enjoyment; and whether both +classes are contented with their position, seeking, however, to +ameliorate it by perpetual exertions, so that industry is never in want +of capital, nor capital unemployed by industry. The observer who draws +his inferences from these signs will, undoubtedly, be led to the +conclusion that the American of the United States contributes a much +smaller portion of his income to the State than the citizen of France. +Nor, indeed, can the result be otherwise. + +A portion of the French debt is the consequence of two successive +invasions; and the Union has no similar calamity to fear. A nation +placed upon the continent of Europe is obliged to maintain a large +standing army; the isolated position of the Union enables it to have +only 6,000 soldiers. The French have a fleet of 300 sail; the Americans +have 52 vessels. *n How, then, can the inhabitants of the Union be +called upon to contribute as largely as the inhabitants of France? No +parallel can be drawn between the finances of two countries so +differently situated. + +n +[ See the details in the Budget of the French Minister of Marine; and +for America, the National Calendar of 1833, p. 228. [But the public +debt of the United States in 1870, caused by the Civil War, amounted to +$2,480,672,427; that of France was more than doubled by the +extravagance of the Second Empire and by the war of 1870.]] + + +It is by examining what actually takes place in the Union, and not by +comparing the Union with France, that we may discover whether the +American Government is really economical. On casting my eyes over the +different republics which form the confederation, I perceive that their +Governments lack perseverance in their undertakings, and that they +exercise no steady control over the men whom they employ. Whence I +naturally infer that they must often spend the money of the people to +no purpose, or consume more of it than is really necessary to their +undertakings. Great efforts are made, in accordance with the democratic +origin of society, to satisfy the exigencies of the lower orders, to +open the career of power to their endeavors, and to diffuse knowledge +and comfort amongst them. The poor are maintained, immense sums are +annually devoted to public instruction, all services whatsoever are +remunerated, and the most subordinate agents are liberally paid. If +this kind of government appears to me to be useful and rational, I am +nevertheless constrained to admit that it is expensive. + +Wherever the poor direct public affairs and dispose of the national +resources, it appears certain that, as they profit by the expenditure +of the State, they are apt to augment that expenditure. + +I conclude, therefore, without having recourse to inaccurate +computations, and without hazarding a comparison which might prove +incorrect, that the democratic government of the Americans is not a +cheap government, as is sometimes asserted; and I have no hesitation in +predicting that, if the people of the United States is ever involved in +serious difficulties, its taxation will speedily be increased to the +rate of that which prevails in the greater part of the aristocracies +and the monarchies of Europe. *o + +o +[ [That is precisely what has since occurred.]] + + + + + Chapter XIII: Government Of The Democracy In America—Part III + + +Corruption And Vices Of The Rulers In A Democracy, And Consequent +Effects Upon Public Morality + +In aristocracies rulers sometimes endeavor to corrupt the people—In +democracies rulers frequently show themselves to be corrupt—In the +former their vices are directly prejudicial to the morality of the +people—In the latter their indirect influence is still more pernicious. + +A distinction must be made, when the aristocratic and the democratic +principles mutually inveigh against each other, as tending to +facilitate corruption. In aristocratic governments the individuals who +are placed at the head of affairs are rich men, who are solely desirous +of power. In democracies statesmen are poor, and they have their +fortunes to make. The consequence is that in aristocratic States the +rulers are rarely accessible to corruption, and have very little +craving for money; whilst the reverse is the case in democratic +nations. + +But in aristocracies, as those who are desirous of arriving at the head +of affairs are possessed of considerable wealth, and as the number of +persons by whose assistance they may rise is comparatively small, the +government is, if I may use the expression, put up to a sort of +auction. In democracies, on the contrary, those who are covetous of +power are very seldom wealthy, and the number of citizens who confer +that power is extremely great. Perhaps in democracies the number of men +who might be bought is by no means smaller, but buyers are rarely to be +met with; and, besides, it would be necessary to buy so many persons at +once that the attempt is rendered nugatory. + +Many of the men who have been in the administration in France during +the last forty years have been accused of making their fortunes at the +expense of the State or of its allies; a reproach which was rarely +addressed to the public characters of the ancient monarchy. But in +France the practice of bribing electors is almost unknown, whilst it is +notoriously and publicly carried on in England. In the United States I +never heard a man accused of spending his wealth in corrupting the +populace; but I have often heard the probity of public officers +questioned; still more frequently have I heard their success attributed +to low intrigues and immoral practices. + +If, then, the men who conduct the government of an aristocracy +sometimes endeavor to corrupt the people, the heads of a democracy are +themselves corrupt. In the former case the morality of the people is +directly assailed; in the latter an indirect influence is exercised +upon the people which is still more to be dreaded. + +As the rulers of democratic nations are almost always exposed to the +suspicion of dishonorable conduct, they in some measure lend the +authority of the Government to the base practices of which they are +accused. They thus afford an example which must prove discouraging to +the struggles of virtuous independence, and must foster the secret +calculations of a vicious ambition. If it be asserted that evil +passions are displayed in all ranks of society, that they ascend the +throne by hereditary right, and that despicable characters are to be +met with at the head of aristocratic nations as well as in the sphere +of a democracy, this objection has but little weight in my estimation. +The corruption of men who have casually risen to power has a coarse and +vulgar infection in it which renders it contagious to the multitude. On +the contrary, there is a kind of aristocratic refinement and an air of +grandeur in the depravity of the great, which frequently prevent it +from spreading abroad. + +The people can never penetrate into the perplexing labyrinth of court +intrigue, and it will always have difficulty in detecting the turpitude +which lurks under elegant manners, refined tastes, and graceful +language. But to pillage the public purse, and to vend the favors of +the State, are arts which the meanest villain may comprehend, and hope +to practice in his turn. + +In reality it is far less prejudicial to witness the immorality of the +great than to witness that immorality which leads to greatness. In a +democracy private citizens see a man of their own rank in life, who +rises from that obscure position, and who becomes possessed of riches +and of power in a few years; the spectacle excites their surprise and +their envy, and they are led to inquire how the person who was +yesterday their equal is to-day their ruler. To attribute his rise to +his talents or his virtues is unpleasant; for it is tacitly to +acknowledge that they are themselves less virtuous and less talented +than he was. They are therefore led (and not unfrequently their +conjecture is a correct one) to impute his success mainly to some one +of his defects; and an odious mixture is thus formed of the ideas of +turpitude and power, unworthiness and success, utility and dishonor. + +Efforts Of Which A Democracy Is Capable + +The Union has only had one struggle hitherto for its +existence—Enthusiasm at the commencement of the war—Indifference +towards its close—Difficulty of establishing military conscription or +impressment of seamen in America—Why a democratic people is less +capable of sustained effort than another. + +I here warn the reader that I speak of a government which implicitly +follows the real desires of a people, and not of a government which +simply commands in its name. Nothing is so irresistible as a tyrannical +power commanding in the name of the people, because, whilst it +exercises that moral influence which belongs to the decision of the +majority, it acts at the same time with the promptitude and the +tenacity of a single man. + +It is difficult to say what degree of exertion a democratic government +may be capable of making a crisis in the history of the nation. But no +great democratic republic has hitherto existed in the world. To style +the oligarchy which ruled over France in 1793 by that name would be to +offer an insult to the republican form of government. The United States +afford the first example of the kind. + +The American Union has now subsisted for half a century, in the course +of which time its existence has only once been attacked, namely, during +the War of Independence. At the commencement of that long war, various +occurrences took place which betokened an extraordinary zeal for the +service of the country. *p But as the contest was prolonged, symptoms +of private egotism began to show themselves. No money was poured into +the public treasury; few recruits could be raised to join the army; the +people wished to acquire independence, but was very ill-disposed to +undergo the privations by which alone it could be obtained. “Tax laws,” +says Hamilton in the “Federalist” (No. 12), “have in vain been +multiplied; new methods to enforce the collection have in vain been +tried; the public expectation has been uniformly disappointed and the +treasuries of the States have remained empty. The popular system of +administration inherent in the nature of popular government, coinciding +with the real scarcity of money incident to a languid and mutilated +state of trade, has hitherto defeated every experiment for extensive +collections, and has at length taught the different legislatures the +folly of attempting them.” + +p +[ One of the most singular of these occurrences was the resolution +which the Americans took of temporarily abandoning the use of tea. +Those who know that men usually cling more to their habits than to +their life will doubtless admire this great though obscure sacrifice +which was made by a whole people.] + + +The United States have not had any serious war to carry on ever since +that period. In order, therefore, to appreciate the sacrifices which +democratic nations may impose upon themselves, we must wait until the +American people is obliged to put half its entire income at the +disposal of the Government, as was done by the English; or until it +sends forth a twentieth part of its population to the field of battle, +as was done by France. *q + +q +[ [The Civil War showed that when the necessity arose the American +people, both in the North and in the South, are capable of making the +most enormous sacrifices, both in money and in men.]] + + +In America the use of conscription is unknown, and men are induced to +enlist by bounties. The notions and habits of the people of the United +States are so opposed to compulsory enlistment that I do not imagine it +can ever be sanctioned by the laws. What is termed the conscription in +France is assuredly the heaviest tax upon the population of that +country; yet how could a great continental war be carried on without +it? The Americans have not adopted the British impressment of seamen, +and they have nothing which corresponds to the French system of +maritime conscription; the navy, as well as the merchant service, is +supplied by voluntary service. But it is not easy to conceive how a +people can sustain a great maritime war without having recourse to one +or the other of these two systems. Indeed, the Union, which has fought +with some honor upon the seas, has never possessed a very numerous +fleet, and the equipment of the small number of American vessels has +always been excessively expensive. + +I have heard American statesmen confess that the Union will have great +difficulty in maintaining its rank on the seas without adopting the +system of impressment or of maritime conscription; but the difficulty +is to induce the people, which exercises the supreme authority, to +submit to impressment or any compulsory system. + +It is incontestable that in times of danger a free people displays far +more energy than one which is not so. But I incline to believe that +this is more especially the case in those free nations in which the +democratic element preponderates. Democracy appears to me to be much +better adapted for the peaceful conduct of society, or for an +occasional effort of remarkable vigor, than for the hardy and prolonged +endurance of the storms which beset the political existence of nations. +The reason is very evident; it is enthusiasm which prompts men to +expose themselves to dangers and privations, but they will not support +them long without reflection. There is more calculation, even in the +impulses of bravery, than is generally attributed to them; and although +the first efforts are suggested by passion, perseverance is maintained +by a distinct regard of the purpose in view. A portion of what we value +is exposed, in order to save the remainder. + +But it is this distinct perception of the future, founded upon a sound +judgment and an enlightened experience, which is most frequently +wanting in democracies. The populace is more apt to feel than to +reason; and if its present sufferings are great, it is to be feared +that the still greater sufferings attendant upon defeat will be +forgotten. + +Another cause tends to render the efforts of a democratic government +less persevering than those of an aristocracy. Not only are the lower +classes less awakened than the higher orders to the good or evil +chances of the future, but they are liable to suffer far more acutely +from present privations. The noble exposes his life, indeed, but the +chance of glory is equal to the chance of harm. If he sacrifices a +large portion of his income to the State, he deprives himself for a +time of the pleasures of affluence; but to the poor man death is +embellished by no pomp or renown, and the imposts which are irksome to +the rich are fatal to him. + +This relative impotence of democratic republics is, perhaps, the +greatest obstacle to the foundation of a republic of this kind in +Europe. In order that such a State should subsist in one country of the +Old World, it would be necessary that similar institutions should be +introduced into all the other nations. + +I am of opinion that a democratic government tends in the end to +increase the real strength of society; but it can never combine, upon a +single point and at a given time, so much power as an aristocracy or a +monarchy. If a democratic country remained during a whole century +subject to a republican government, it would probably at the end of +that period be more populous and more prosperous than the neighboring +despotic States. But it would have incurred the risk of being conquered +much oftener than they would in that lapse of years. + +Self-Control Of The American Democracy + +The American people acquiesces slowly, or frequently does not +acquiesce, in what is beneficial to its interests—The faults of the +American democracy are for the most part reparable. + +The difficulty which a democracy has in conquering the passions and in +subduing the exigencies of the moment, with a view to the future, is +conspicuous in the most trivial occurrences of the United States. The +people, which is surrounded by flatterers, has great difficulty in +surmounting its inclinations, and whenever it is solicited to undergo a +privation or any kind of inconvenience, even to attain an end which is +sanctioned by its own rational conviction, it almost always refuses to +comply at first. The deference of the Americans to the laws has been +very justly applauded; but it must be added that in America the +legislation is made by the people and for the people. Consequently, in +the United States the law favors those classes which are most +interested in evading it elsewhere. It may therefore be supposed that +an offensive law, which should not be acknowledged to be one of +immediate utility, would either not be enacted or would not be obeyed. + +In America there is no law against fraudulent bankruptcies; not because +they are few, but because there are a great number of bankruptcies. The +dread of being prosecuted as a bankrupt acts with more intensity upon +the mind of the majority of the people than the fear of being involved +in losses or ruin by the failure of other parties, and a sort of guilty +tolerance is extended by the public conscience to an offence which +everyone condemns in his individual capacity. In the new States of the +Southwest the citizens generally take justice into their own hands, and +murders are of very frequent occurrence. This arises from the rude +manners and the ignorance of the inhabitants of those deserts, who do +not perceive the utility of investing the law with adequate force, and +who prefer duels to prosecutions. + +Someone observed to me one day, in Philadelphia, that almost all crimes +in America are caused by the abuse of intoxicating liquors, which the +lower classes can procure in great abundance, from their excessive +cheapness. “How comes it,” said I, “that you do not put a duty upon +brandy?” “Our legislators,” rejoined my informant, “have frequently +thought of this expedient; but the task of putting it in operation is a +difficult one; a revolt might be apprehended, and the members who +should vote for a law of this kind would be sure of losing their +seats.” “Whence I am to infer,” replied I, “that the drinking +population constitutes the majority in your country, and that +temperance is somewhat unpopular.” + +When these things are pointed out to the American statesmen, they +content themselves with assuring you that time will operate the +necessary change, and that the experience of evil will teach the people +its true interests. This is frequently true, although a democracy is +more liable to error than a monarch or a body of nobles; the chances of +its regaining the right path when once it has acknowledged its mistake, +are greater also; because it is rarely embarrassed by internal +interests, which conflict with those of the majority, and resist the +authority of reason. But a democracy can only obtain truth as the +result of experience, and many nations may forfeit their existence +whilst they are awaiting the consequences of their errors. + +The great privilege of the Americans does not simply consist in their +being more enlightened than other nations, but in their being able to +repair the faults they may commit. To which it must be added, that a +democracy cannot derive substantial benefit from past experience, +unless it be arrived at a certain pitch of knowledge and civilization. +There are tribes and peoples whose education has been so vicious, and +whose character presents so strange a mixture of passion, of ignorance, +and of erroneous notions upon all subjects, that they are unable to +discern the causes of their own wretchedness, and they fall a sacrifice +to ills with which they are unacquainted. + +I have crossed vast tracts of country that were formerly inhabited by +powerful Indian nations which are now extinct; I have myself passed +some time in the midst of mutilated tribes, which witness the daily +decline of their numerical strength and of the glory of their +independence; and I have heard these Indians themselves anticipate the +impending doom of their race. Every European can perceive means which +would rescue these unfortunate beings from inevitable destruction. They +alone are insensible to the expedient; they feel the woe which year +after year heaps upon their heads, but they will perish to a man +without accepting the remedy. It would be necessary to employ force to +induce them to submit to the protection and the constraint of +civilization. + +The incessant revolutions which have convulsed the South American +provinces for the last quarter of a century have frequently been +adverted to with astonishment, and expectations have been expressed +that those nations would speedily return to their natural state. But +can it be affirmed that the turmoil of revolution is not actually the +most natural state of the South American Spaniards at the present time? +In that country society is plunged into difficulties from which all its +efforts are insufficient to rescue it. The inhabitants of that fair +portion of the Western Hemisphere seem obstinately bent on pursuing the +work of inward havoc. If they fall into a momentary repose from the +effects of exhaustion, that repose prepares them for a fresh state of +frenzy. When I consider their condition, which alternates between +misery and crime, I should be inclined to believe that despotism itself +would be a benefit to them, if it were possible that the words +despotism and benefit could ever be united in my mind. + +Conduct Of Foreign Affairs By The American Democracy + +Direction given to the foreign policy of the United States by +Washington and Jefferson—Almost all the defects inherent in democratic +institutions are brought to light in the conduct of foreign +affairs—Their advantages are less perceptible. + +We have seen that the Federal Constitution entrusts the permanent +direction of the external interests of the nation to the President and +the Senate, *r which tends in some degree to detach the general foreign +policy of the Union from the control of the people. It cannot therefore +be asserted with truth that the external affairs of State are conducted +by the democracy. + +r +[ “The President,” says the Constitution, Art. II, sect. 2, Section 2, +“shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to +make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur.” The +reader is reminded that the senators are returned for a term of six +years, and that they are chosen by the legislature of each State.] + + +The policy of America owes its rise to Washington, and after him to +Jefferson, who established those principles which it observes at the +present day. Washington said in the admirable letter which he addressed +to his fellow-citizens, and which may be looked upon as his political +bequest to the country: “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to +foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with +them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have +already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good +faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to +us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence, she must be engaged in +frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to +our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate +ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her +politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her +friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and +enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under +an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy +material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an +attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon +to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the +impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard +the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our +interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages +of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign +ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of +Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European +ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy +to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign +world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me +not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing +engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to +private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it; +therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense; +but in my opinion it is unnecessary, and would be unwise, to extend +them. Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, +in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary +alliances for extraordinary emergencies.” In a previous part of the +same letter Washington makes the following admirable and just remark: +“The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred or an +habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its +animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it +astray from its duty and its interest.” + +The political conduct of Washington was always guided by these maxims. +He succeeded in maintaining his country in a state of peace whilst all +the other nations of the globe were at war; and he laid it down as a +fundamental doctrine, that the true interest of the Americans consisted +in a perfect neutrality with regard to the internal dissensions of the +European Powers. + +Jefferson went still further, and he introduced a maxim into the policy +of the Union, which affirms that “the Americans ought never to solicit +any privileges from foreign nations, in order not to be obliged to +grant similar privileges themselves.” + +These two principles, which were so plain and so just as to be adapted +to the capacity of the populace, have greatly simplified the foreign +policy of the United States. As the Union takes no part in the affairs +of Europe, it has, properly speaking, no foreign interests to discuss, +since it has at present no powerful neighbors on the American +continent. The country is as much removed from the passions of the Old +World by its position as by the line of policy which it has chosen, and +it is neither called upon to repudiate nor to espouse the conflicting +interests of Europe; whilst the dissensions of the New World are still +concealed within the bosom of the future. + +The Union is free from all pre-existing obligations, and it is +consequently enabled to profit by the experience of the old nations of +Europe, without being obliged, as they are, to make the best of the +past, and to adapt it to their present circumstances; or to accept that +immense inheritance which they derive from their forefathers—an +inheritance of glory mingled with calamities, and of alliances +conflicting with national antipathies. The foreign policy of the United +States is reduced by its very nature to await the chances of the future +history of the nation, and for the present it consists more in +abstaining from interference than in exerting its activity. + +It is therefore very difficult to ascertain, at present, what degree of +sagacity the American democracy will display in the conduct of the +foreign policy of the country; and upon this point its adversaries, as +well as its advocates, must suspend their judgment. As for myself I +have no hesitation in avowing my conviction, that it is most especially +in the conduct of foreign relations that democratic governments appear +to me to be decidedly inferior to governments carried on upon different +principles. Experience, instruction, and habit may almost always +succeed in creating a species of practical discretion in democracies, +and that science of the daily occurrences of life which is called good +sense. Good sense may suffice to direct the ordinary course of society; +and amongst a people whose education has been provided for, the +advantages of democratic liberty in the internal affairs of the country +may more than compensate for the evils inherent in a democratic +government. But such is not always the case in the mutual relations of +foreign nations. + +Foreign politics demand scarcely any of those qualities which a +democracy possesses; and they require, on the contrary, the perfect use +of almost all those faculties in which it is deficient. Democracy is +favorable to the increase of the internal resources of the State; it +tends to diffuse a moderate independence; it promotes the growth of +public spirit, and fortifies the respect which is entertained for law +in all classes of society; and these are advantages which only exercise +an indirect influence over the relations which one people bears to +another. But a democracy is unable to regulate the details of an +important undertaking, to persevere in a design, and to work out its +execution in the presence of serious obstacles. It cannot combine its +measures with secrecy, and it will not await their consequences with +patience. These are qualities which more especially belong to an +individual or to an aristocracy; and they are precisely the means by +which an individual people attains to a predominant position. + +If, on the contrary, we observe the natural defects of aristocracy, we +shall find that their influence is comparatively innoxious in the +direction of the external affairs of a State. The capital fault of +which aristocratic bodies may be accused is that they are more apt to +contrive their own advantage than that of the mass of the people. In +foreign politics it is rare for the interest of the aristocracy to be +in any way distinct from that of the people. + +The propensity which democracies have to obey the impulse of passion +rather than the suggestions of prudence, and to abandon a mature design +for the gratification of a momentary caprice, was very clearly seen in +America on the breaking out of the French Revolution. It was then as +evident to the simplest capacity as it is at the present time that the +interest of the Americans forbade them to take any part in the contest +which was about to deluge Europe with blood, but which could by no +means injure the welfare of their own country. Nevertheless the +sympathies of the people declared themselves with so much violence in +behalf of France that nothing but the inflexible character of +Washington, and the immense popularity which he enjoyed, could have +prevented the Americans from declaring war against England. And even +then, the exertions which the austere reason of that great man made to +repress the generous but imprudent passions of his fellow-citizens, +very nearly deprived him of the sole recompense which he had ever +claimed—that of his country’s love. The majority then reprobated the +line of policy which he adopted, and which has since been unanimously +approved by the nation. *s If the Constitution and the favor of the +public had not entrusted the direction of the foreign affairs of the +country to Washington, it is certain that the American nation would at +that time have taken the very measures which it now condemns. + +s +[ See the fifth volume of Marshall’s “Life of Washington.” In a +government constituted like that of the United States, he says, “it is +impossible for the chief magistrate, however firm he may be, to oppose +for any length of time the torrent of popular opinion; and the +prevalent opinion of that day seemed to incline to war. In fact, in the +session of Congress held at the time, it was frequently seen that +Washington had lost the majority in the House of Representatives.” The +violence of the language used against him in public was extreme, and in +a political meeting they did not scruple to compare him indirectly to +the treacherous Arnold. “By the opposition,” says Marshall, “the +friends of the administration were declared to be an aristocratic and +corrupt faction, who, from a desire to introduce monarchy, were hostile +to France and under the influence of Britain; that they were a paper +nobility, whose extreme sensibility at every measure which threatened +the funds, induced a tame submission to injuries and insults, which the +interests and honor of the nation required them to resist.”] + + +Almost all the nations which have ever exercised a powerful influence +upon the destinies of the world by conceiving, following up, and +executing vast designs—from the Romans to the English—have been +governed by aristocratic institutions. Nor will this be a subject of +wonder when we recollect that nothing in the world has so absolute a +fixity of purpose as an aristocracy. The mass of the people may be led +astray by ignorance or passion; the mind of a king may be biased, and +his perseverance in his designs may be shaken—besides which a king is +not immortal—but an aristocratic body is too numerous to be led astray +by the blandishments of intrigue, and yet not numerous enough to yield +readily to the intoxicating influence of unreflecting passion: it has +the energy of a firm and enlightened individual, added to the power +which it derives from perpetuity. + + + + + Chapter XIV: Advantages American Society Derive From Democracy—Part I + + +What The Real Advantages Are Which American Society Derives From The +Government Of The Democracy + +Before I enter upon the subject of the present chapter I am induced to +remind the reader of what I have more than once adverted to in the +course of this book. The political institutions of the United States +appear to me to be one of the forms of government which a democracy may +adopt; but I do not regard the American Constitution as the best, or as +the only one, which a democratic people may establish. In showing the +advantages which the Americans derive from the government of democracy, +I am therefore very far from meaning, or from believing, that similar +advantages can only be obtained from the same laws. + +General Tendency Of The Laws Under The Rule Of The American Democracy, +And Habits Of Those Who Apply Them + +Defects of a democratic government easy to be discovered—Its advantages +only to be discerned by long observation—Democracy in America often +inexpert, but the general tendency of the laws advantageous—In the +American democracy public officers have no permanent interests distinct +from those of the majority—Result of this state of things. + +The defects and the weaknesses of a democratic government may very +readily be discovered; they are demonstrated by the most flagrant +instances, whilst its beneficial influence is less perceptibly +exercised. A single glance suffices to detect its evil consequences, +but its good qualities can only be discerned by long observation. The +laws of the American democracy are frequently defective or incomplete; +they sometimes attack vested rights, or give a sanction to others which +are dangerous to the community; but even if they were good, the +frequent changes which they undergo would be an evil. How comes it, +then, that the American republics prosper and maintain their position? + +In the consideration of laws a distinction must be carefully observed +between the end at which they aim and the means by which they are +directed to that end, between their absolute and their relative +excellence. If it be the intention of the legislator to favor the +interests of the minority at the expense of the majority, and if the +measures he takes are so combined as to accomplish the object he has in +view with the least possible expense of time and exertion, the law may +be well drawn up, although its purpose be bad; and the more efficacious +it is, the greater is the mischief which it causes. + +Democratic laws generally tend to promote the welfare of the greatest +possible number; for they emanate from the majority of the citizens, +who are subject to error, but who cannot have an interest opposed to +their own advantage. The laws of an aristocracy tend, on the contrary, +to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the minority, because +an aristocracy, by its very nature, constitutes a minority. It may +therefore be asserted, as a general proposition, that the purpose of a +democracy in the conduct of its legislation is useful to a greater +number of citizens than that of an aristocracy. This is, however, the +sum total of its advantages. + +Aristocracies are infinitely more expert in the science of legislation +than democracies ever can be. They are possessed of a self-control +which protects them from the errors of temporary excitement, and they +form lasting designs which they mature with the assistance of favorable +opportunities. Aristocratic government proceeds with the dexterity of +art; it understands how to make the collective force of all its laws +converge at the same time to a given point. Such is not the case with +democracies, whose laws are almost always ineffective or inopportune. +The means of democracy are therefore more imperfect than those of +aristocracy, and the measures which it unwittingly adopts are +frequently opposed to its own cause; but the object it has in view is +more useful. + +Let us now imagine a community so organized by nature, or by its +constitution, that it can support the transitory action of bad laws, +and that it can await, without destruction, the general tendency of the +legislation: we shall then be able to conceive that a democratic +government, notwithstanding its defects, will be most fitted to conduce +to the prosperity of this community. This is precisely what has +occurred in the United States; and I repeat, what I have before +remarked, that the great advantage of the Americans consists in their +being able to commit faults which they may afterward repair. + +An analogous observation may be made respecting public officers. It is +easy to perceive that the American democracy frequently errs in the +choice of the individuals to whom it entrusts the power of the +administration; but it is more difficult to say why the State prospers +under their rule. In the first place it is to be remarked, that if in a +democratic State the governors have less honesty and less capacity than +elsewhere, the governed, on the other hand, are more enlightened and +more attentive to their interests. As the people in democracies is more +incessantly vigilant in its affairs and more jealous of its rights, it +prevents its representatives from abandoning that general line of +conduct which its own interest prescribes. In the second place, it must +be remembered that if the democratic magistrate is more apt to misuse +his power, he possesses it for a shorter period of time. But there is +yet another reason which is still more general and conclusive. It is no +doubt of importance to the welfare of nations that they should be +governed by men of talents and virtue; but it is perhaps still more +important that the interests of those men should not differ from the +interests of the community at large; for, if such were the case, +virtues of a high order might become useless, and talents might be +turned to a bad account. I say that it is important that the interests +of the persons in authority should not conflict with or oppose the +interests of the community at large; but I do not insist upon their +having the same interests as the whole population, because I am not +aware that such a state of things ever existed in any country. + +No political form has hitherto been discovered which is equally +favorable to the prosperity and the development of all the classes into +which society is divided. These classes continue to form, as it were, a +certain number of distinct nations in the same nation; and experience +has shown that it is no less dangerous to place the fate of these +classes exclusively in the hands of any one of them than it is to make +one people the arbiter of the destiny of another. When the rich alone +govern, the interest of the poor is always endangered; and when the +poor make the laws, that of the rich incurs very serious risks. The +advantage of democracy does not consist, therefore, as has sometimes +been asserted, in favoring the prosperity of all, but simply in +contributing to the well-being of the greatest possible number. + +The men who are entrusted with the direction of public affairs in the +United States are frequently inferior, both in point of capacity and of +morality, to those whom aristocratic institutions would raise to power. +But their interest is identified and confounded with that of the +majority of their fellow-citizens. They may frequently be faithless and +frequently mistaken, but they will never systematically adopt a line of +conduct opposed to the will of the majority; and it is impossible that +they should give a dangerous or an exclusive tendency to the +government. + +The mal-administration of a democratic magistrate is a mere isolated +fact, which only occurs during the short period for which he is +elected. Corruption and incapacity do not act as common interests, +which may connect men permanently with one another. A corrupt or an +incapable magistrate will not concert his measures with another +magistrate, simply because that individual is as corrupt and as +incapable as himself; and these two men will never unite their +endeavors to promote the corruption and inaptitude of their remote +posterity. The ambition and the manoeuvres of the one will serve, on +the contrary, to unmask the other. The vices of a magistrate, in +democratic states, are usually peculiar to his own person. + +But under aristocratic governments public men are swayed by the +interest of their order, which, if it is sometimes confounded with the +interests of the majority, is very frequently distinct from them. This +interest is the common and lasting bond which unites them together; it +induces them to coalesce, and to combine their efforts in order to +attain an end which does not always ensure the greatest happiness of +the greatest number; and it serves not only to connect the persons in +authority, but to unite them to a considerable portion of the +community, since a numerous body of citizens belongs to the +aristocracy, without being invested with official functions. The +aristocratic magistrate is therefore constantly supported by a portion +of the community, as well as by the Government of which he is a member. + +The common purpose which connects the interest of the magistrates in +aristocracies with that of a portion of their contemporaries identifies +it with that of future generations; their influence belongs to the +future as much as to the present. The aristocratic magistrate is urged +at the same time toward the same point by the passions of the +community, by his own, and I may almost add by those of his posterity. +Is it, then, wonderful that he does not resist such repeated impulses? +And indeed aristocracies are often carried away by the spirit of their +order without being corrupted by it; and they unconsciously fashion +society to their own ends, and prepare it for their own descendants. + +The English aristocracy is perhaps the most liberal which ever existed, +and no body of men has ever, uninterruptedly, furnished so many +honorable and enlightened individuals to the government of a country. +It cannot, however, escape observation that in the legislation of +England the good of the poor has been sacrificed to the advantage of +the rich, and the rights of the majority to the privileges of the few. +The consequence is, that England, at the present day, combines the +extremes of fortune in the bosom of her society, and her perils and +calamities are almost equal to her power and her renown. *a + +a +[ [The legislation of England for the forty years is certainly not +fairly open to this criticism, which was written before the Reform Bill +of 1832, and accordingly Great Britain has thus far escaped and +surmounted the perils and calamities to which she seemed to be +exposed.]] + + +In the United States, where the public officers have no interests to +promote connected with their caste, the general and constant influence +of the Government is beneficial, although the individuals who conduct +it are frequently unskilful and sometimes contemptible. There is indeed +a secret tendency in democratic institutions to render the exertions of +the citizens subservient to the prosperity of the community, +notwithstanding their private vices and mistakes; whilst in +aristocratic institutions there is a secret propensity which, +notwithstanding the talents and the virtues of those who conduct the +government, leads them to contribute to the evils which oppress their +fellow-creatures. In aristocratic governments public men may frequently +do injuries which they do not intend, and in democratic states they +produce advantages which they never thought of. + +Public Spirit In The United States + +Patriotism of instinct—Patriotism of reflection—Their different +characteristics—Nations ought to strive to acquire the second when the +first has disappeared—Efforts of the Americans to it—Interest of the +individual intimately connected with that of the country. + +There is one sort of patriotic attachment which principally arises from +that instinctive, disinterested, and undefinable feeling which connects +the affections of man with his birthplace. This natural fondness is +united to a taste for ancient customs, and to a reverence for ancestral +traditions of the past; those who cherish it love their country as they +love the mansions of their fathers. They enjoy the tranquillity which +it affords them; they cling to the peaceful habits which they have +contracted within its bosom; they are attached to the reminiscences +which it awakens, and they are even pleased by the state of obedience +in which they are placed. This patriotism is sometimes stimulated by +religious enthusiasm, and then it is capable of making the most +prodigious efforts. It is in itself a kind of religion; it does not +reason, but it acts from the impulse of faith and of sentiment. By some +nations the monarch has been regarded as a personification of the +country; and the fervor of patriotism being converted into the fervor +of loyalty, they took a sympathetic pride in his conquests, and gloried +in his power. At one time, under the ancient monarchy, the French felt +a sort of satisfaction in the sense of their dependence upon the +arbitrary pleasure of their king, and they were wont to say with pride, +“We are the subjects of the most powerful king in the world.” + +But, like all instinctive passions, this kind of patriotism is more apt +to prompt transient exertion than to supply the motives of continuous +endeavor. It may save the State in critical circumstances, but it will +not unfrequently allow the nation to decline in the midst of peace. +Whilst the manners of a people are simple and its faith unshaken, +whilst society is steadily based upon traditional institutions whose +legitimacy has never been contested, this instinctive patriotism is +wont to endure. + +But there is another species of attachment to a country which is more +rational than the one we have been describing. It is perhaps less +generous and less ardent, but it is more fruitful and more lasting; it +is coeval with the spread of knowledge, it is nurtured by the laws, it +grows by the exercise of civil rights, and, in the end, it is +confounded with the personal interest of the citizen. A man comprehends +the influence which the prosperity of his country has upon his own +welfare; he is aware that the laws authorize him to contribute his +assistance to that prosperity, and he labors to promote it as a portion +of his interest in the first place, and as a portion of his right in +the second. + +But epochs sometimes occur, in the course of the existence of a nation, +at which the ancient customs of a people are changed, public morality +destroyed, religious belief disturbed, and the spell of tradition +broken, whilst the diffusion of knowledge is yet imperfect, and the +civil rights of the community are ill secured, or confined within very +narrow limits. The country then assumes a dim and dubious shape in the +eyes of the citizens; they no longer behold it in the soil which they +inhabit, for that soil is to them a dull inanimate clod; nor in the +usages of their forefathers, which they have been taught to look upon +as a debasing yoke; nor in religion, for of that they doubt; nor in the +laws, which do not originate in their own authority; nor in the +legislator, whom they fear and despise. The country is lost to their +senses, they can neither discover it under its own nor under borrowed +features, and they entrench themselves within the dull precincts of a +narrow egotism. They are emancipated from prejudice without having +acknowledged the empire of reason; they are neither animated by the +instinctive patriotism of monarchical subjects nor by the thinking +patriotism of republican citizens; but they have stopped halfway +between the two, in the midst of confusion and of distress. + +In this predicament, to retreat is impossible; for a people cannot +restore the vivacity of its earlier times, any more than a man can +return to the innocence and the bloom of childhood; such things may be +regretted, but they cannot be renewed. The only thing, then, which +remains to be done is to proceed, and to accelerate the union of +private with public interests, since the period of disinterested +patriotism is gone by forever. + +I am certainly very far from averring that, in order to obtain this +result, the exercise of political rights should be immediately granted +to all the members of the community. But I maintain that the most +powerful, and perhaps the only, means of interesting men in the welfare +of their country which we still possess is to make them partakers in +the Government. At the present time civic zeal seems to me to be +inseparable from the exercise of political rights; and I hold that the +number of citizens will be found to augment or to decrease in Europe in +proportion as those rights are extended. + +In the United States the inhabitants were thrown but as yesterday upon +the soil which they now occupy, and they brought neither customs nor +traditions with them there; they meet each other for the first time +with no previous acquaintance; in short, the instinctive love of their +country can scarcely exist in their minds; but everyone takes as +zealous an interest in the affairs of his township, his county, and of +the whole State, as if they were his own, because everyone, in his +sphere, takes an active part in the government of society. + +The lower orders in the United States are alive to the perception of +the influence exercised by the general prosperity upon their own +welfare; and simple as this observation is, it is one which is but too +rarely made by the people. But in America the people regards this +prosperity as the result of its own exertions; the citizen looks upon +the fortune of the public as his private interest, and he co-operates +in its success, not so much from a sense of pride or of duty, as from +what I shall venture to term cupidity. + +It is unnecessary to study the institutions and the history of the +Americans in order to discover the truth of this remark, for their +manners render it sufficiently evident. As the American participates in +all that is done in his country, he thinks himself obliged to defend +whatever may be censured; for it is not only his country which is +attacked upon these occasions, but it is himself. The consequence is, +that his national pride resorts to a thousand artifices, and to all the +petty tricks of individual vanity. + +Nothing is more embarrassing in the ordinary intercourse of life than +this irritable patriotism of the Americans. A stranger may be very well +inclined to praise many of the institutions of their country, but he +begs permission to blame some of the peculiarities which he observes—a +permission which is, however, inexorably refused. America is therefore +a free country, in which, lest anybody should be hurt by your remarks, +you are not allowed to speak freely of private individuals, or of the +State, of the citizens or of the authorities, of public or of private +undertakings, or, in short, of anything at all, except it be of the +climate and the soil; and even then Americans will be found ready to +defend either the one or the other, as if they had been contrived by +the inhabitants of the country. + +In our times option must be made between the patriotism of all and the +government of a few; for the force and activity which the first confers +are irreconcilable with the guarantees of tranquillity which the second +furnishes. + +Notion Of Rights In The United States + +No great people without a notion of rights—How the notion of rights can +be given to people—Respect of rights in the United States—Whence it +arises. + +After the idea of virtue, I know no higher principle than that of +right; or, to speak more accurately, these two ideas are commingled in +one. The idea of right is simply that of virtue introduced into the +political world. It is the idea of right which enabled men to define +anarchy and tyranny; and which taught them to remain independent +without arrogance, as well as to obey without servility. The man who +submits to violence is debased by his compliance; but when he obeys the +mandate of one who possesses that right of authority which he +acknowledges in a fellow-creature, he rises in some measure above the +person who delivers the command. There are no great men without virtue, +and there are no great nations—it may almost be added that there would +be no society—without the notion of rights; for what is the condition +of a mass of rational and intelligent beings who are only united +together by the bond of force? + +I am persuaded that the only means which we possess at the present time +of inculcating the notion of rights, and of rendering it, as it were, +palpable to the senses, is to invest all the members of the community +with the peaceful exercise of certain rights: this is very clearly seen +in children, who are men without the strength and the experience of +manhood. When a child begins to move in the midst of the objects which +surround him, he is instinctively led to turn everything which he can +lay his hands upon to his own purposes; he has no notion of the +property of others; but as he gradually learns the value of things, and +begins to perceive that he may in his turn be deprived of his +possessions, he becomes more circumspect, and he observes those rights +in others which he wishes to have respected in himself. The principle +which the child derives from the possession of his toys is taught to +the man by the objects which he may call his own. In America those +complaints against property in general which are so frequent in Europe +are never heard, because in America there are no paupers; and as +everyone has property of his own to defend, everyone recognizes the +principle upon which he holds it. + +The same thing occurs in the political world. In America the lowest +classes have conceived a very high notion of political rights, because +they exercise those rights; and they refrain from attacking those of +other people, in order to ensure their own from attack. Whilst in +Europe the same classes sometimes recalcitrate even against the supreme +power, the American submits without a murmur to the authority of the +pettiest magistrate. + +This truth is exemplified by the most trivial details of national +peculiarities. In France very few pleasures are exclusively reserved +for the higher classes; the poor are admitted wherever the rich are +received, and they consequently behave with propriety, and respect +whatever contributes to the enjoyments in which they themselves +participate. In England, where wealth has a monopoly of amusement as +well as of power, complaints are made that whenever the poor happen to +steal into the enclosures which are reserved for the pleasures of the +rich, they commit acts of wanton mischief: can this be wondered at, +since care has been taken that they should have nothing to lose? *b + +b +[ [This, too, has been amended by much larger provisions for the +amusements of the people in public parks, gardens, museums, etc.; and +the conduct of the people in these places of amusement has improved in +the same proportion.]] + + +The government of democracy brings the notion of political rights to +the level of the humblest citizens, just as the dissemination of wealth +brings the notion of property within the reach of all the members of +the community; and I confess that, to my mind, this is one of its +greatest advantages. I do not assert that it is easy to teach men to +exercise political rights; but I maintain that, when it is possible, +the effects which result from it are highly important; and I add that, +if there ever was a time at which such an attempt ought to be made, +that time is our own. It is clear that the influence of religious +belief is shaken, and that the notion of divine rights is declining; it +is evident that public morality is vitiated, and the notion of moral +rights is also disappearing: these are general symptoms of the +substitution of argument for faith, and of calculation for the impulses +of sentiment. If, in the midst of this general disruption, you do not +succeed in connecting the notion of rights with that of personal +interest, which is the only immutable point in the human heart, what +means will you have of governing the world except by fear? When I am +told that, since the laws are weak and the populace is wild, since +passions are excited and the authority of virtue is paralyzed, no +measures must be taken to increase the rights of the democracy, I +reply, that it is for these very reasons that some measures of the kind +must be taken; and I am persuaded that governments are still more +interested in taking them than society at large, because governments +are liable to be destroyed and society cannot perish. + +I am not, however, inclined to exaggerate the example which America +furnishes. In those States the people are invested with political +rights at a time when they could scarcely be abused, for the citizens +were few in number and simple in their manners. As they have increased, +the Americans have not augmented the power of the democracy, but they +have, if I may use the expression, extended its dominions. It cannot be +doubted that the moment at which political rights are granted to a +people that had before been without them is a very critical, though it +be a necessary one. A child may kill before he is aware of the value of +life; and he may deprive another person of his property before he is +aware that his own may be taken away from him. The lower orders, when +first they are invested with political rights, stand, in relation to +those rights, in the same position as the child does to the whole of +nature, and the celebrated adage may then be applied to them, Homo puer +robustus. This truth may even be perceived in America. The States in +which the citizens have enjoyed their rights longest are those in which +they make the best use of them. + +It cannot be repeated too often that nothing is more fertile in +prodigies than the art of being free; but there is nothing more arduous +than the apprenticeship of liberty. Such is not the case with despotic +institutions: despotism often promises to make amends for a thousand +previous ills; it supports the right, it protects the oppressed, and it +maintains public order. The nation is lulled by the temporary +prosperity which accrues to it, until it is roused to a sense of its +own misery. Liberty, on the contrary, is generally established in the +midst of agitation, it is perfected by civil discord, and its benefits +cannot be appreciated until it is already old. + + + + + Chapter XIV: Advantages American Society Derive From Democracy—Part II + +Respect For The Law In The United States + +Respect of the Americans for the law—Parental affection which they +entertain for it—Personal interest of everyone to increase the +authority of the law. + +It is not always feasible to consult the whole people, either directly +or indirectly, in the formation of the law; but it cannot be denied +that, when such a measure is possible the authority of the law is very +much augmented. This popular origin, which impairs the excellence and +the wisdom of legislation, contributes prodigiously to increase its +power. There is an amazing strength in the expression of the +determination of a whole people, and when it declares itself the +imagination of those who are most inclined to contest it is overawed by +its authority. The truth of this fact is very well known by parties, +and they consequently strive to make out a majority whenever they can. +If they have not the greater number of voters on their side, they +assert that the true majority abstained from voting; and if they are +foiled even there, they have recourse to the body of those persons who +had no votes to give. + +In the United States, except slaves, servants, and paupers in the +receipt of relief from the townships, there is no class of persons who +do not exercise the elective franchise, and who do not indirectly +contribute to make the laws. Those who design to attack the laws must +consequently either modify the opinion of the nation or trample upon +its decision. + +A second reason, which is still more weighty, may be further adduced; +in the United States everyone is personally interested in enforcing the +obedience of the whole community to the law; for as the minority may +shortly rally the majority to its principles, it is interested in +professing that respect for the decrees of the legislator which it may +soon have occasion to claim for its own. However irksome an enactment +may be, the citizen of the United States complies with it, not only +because it is the work of the majority, but because it originates in +his own authority, and he regards it as a contract to which he is +himself a party. + +In the United States, then, that numerous and turbulent multitude does +not exist which always looks upon the law as its natural enemy, and +accordingly surveys it with fear and with fear and with distrust. It is +impossible, on the other hand, not to perceive that all classes display +the utmost reliance upon the legislation of their country, and that +they are attached to it by a kind of parental affection. + +I am wrong, however, in saying all classes; for as in America the +European scale of authority is inverted, the wealthy are there placed +in a position analogous to that of the poor in the Old World, and it is +the opulent classes which frequently look upon the law with suspicion. +I have already observed that the advantage of democracy is not, as has +been sometimes asserted, that it protects the interests of the whole +community, but simply that it protects those of the majority. In the +United States, where the poor rule, the rich have always some reason to +dread the abuses of their power. This natural anxiety of the rich may +produce a sullen dissatisfaction, but society is not disturbed by it; +for the same reason which induces the rich to withhold their confidence +in the legislative authority makes them obey its mandates; their +wealth, which prevents them from making the law, prevents them from +withstanding it. Amongst civilized nations revolts are rarely excited, +except by such persons as have nothing to lose by them; and if the laws +of a democracy are not always worthy of respect, at least they always +obtain it; for those who usually infringe the laws have no excuse for +not complying with the enactments they have themselves made, and by +which they are themselves benefited, whilst the citizens whose +interests might be promoted by the infraction of them are induced, by +their character and their stations, to submit to the decisions of the +legislature, whatever they may be. Besides which, the people in America +obeys the law not only because it emanates from the popular authority, +but because that authority may modify it in any points which may prove +vexatory; a law is observed because it is a self-imposed evil in the +first place, and an evil of transient duration in the second. + +Activity Which Pervades All The Branches Of The Body Politic In The +United States; Influence Which It Exercises Upon Society + +More difficult to conceive the political activity which pervades the +United States than the freedom and equality which reign there—The great +activity which perpetually agitates the legislative bodies is only an +episode to the general activity—Difficult for an American to confine +himself to his own business—Political agitation extends to all social +intercourse—Commercial activity of the Americans partly attributable to +this cause—Indirect advantages which society derives from a democratic +government. + +On passing from a country in which free institutions are established to +one where they do not exist, the traveller is struck by the change; in +the former all is bustle and activity, in the latter everything is calm +and motionless. In the one, amelioration and progress are the general +topics of inquiry; in the other, it seems as if the community only +aspired to repose in the enjoyment of the advantages which it has +acquired. Nevertheless, the country which exerts itself so strenuously +to promote its welfare is generally more wealthy and more prosperous +than that which appears to be so contented with its lot; and when we +compare them together, we can scarcely conceive how so many new wants +are daily felt in the former, whilst so few seem to occur in the +latter. + +If this remark is applicable to those free countries in which +monarchical and aristocratic institutions subsist, it is still more +striking with regard to democratic republics. In these States it is not +only a portion of the people which is busied with the amelioration of +its social condition, but the whole community is engaged in the task; +and it is not the exigencies and the convenience of a single class for +which a provision is to be made, but the exigencies and the convenience +of all ranks of life. + +It is not impossible to conceive the surpassing liberty which the +Americans enjoy; some idea may likewise be formed of the extreme +equality which subsists amongst them, but the political activity which +pervades the United States must be seen in order to be understood. No +sooner do you set foot upon the American soil than you are stunned by a +kind of tumult; a confused clamor is heard on every side; and a +thousand simultaneous voices demand the immediate satisfaction of their +social wants. Everything is in motion around you; here, the people of +one quarter of a town are met to decide upon the building of a church; +there, the election of a representative is going on; a little further +the delegates of a district are posting to the town in order to consult +upon some local improvements; or in another place the laborers of a +village quit their ploughs to deliberate upon the project of a road or +a public school. Meetings are called for the sole purpose of declaring +their disapprobation of the line of conduct pursued by the Government; +whilst in other assemblies the citizens salute the authorities of the +day as the fathers of their country. Societies are formed which regard +drunkenness as the principal cause of the evils under which the State +labors, and which solemnly bind themselves to give a constant example +of temperance. *c + +c +[ At the time of my stay in the United States the temperance societies +already consisted of more than 270,000 members, and their effect had +been to diminish the consumption of fermented liquors by 500,000 +gallons per annum in the State of Pennsylvania alone.] + + +The great political agitation of the American legislative bodies, which +is the only kind of excitement that attracts the attention of foreign +countries, is a mere episode or a sort of continuation of that +universal movement which originates in the lowest classes of the people +and extends successively to all the ranks of society. It is impossible +to spend more efforts in the pursuit of enjoyment. + +The cares of political life engross a most prominent place in the +occupation of a citizen in the United States, and almost the only +pleasure of which an American has any idea is to take a part in the +Government, and to discuss the part he has taken. This feeling pervades +the most trifling habits of life; even the women frequently attend +public meetings and listen to political harangues as a recreation after +their household labors. Debating clubs are to a certain extent a +substitute for theatrical entertainments: an American cannot converse, +but he can discuss; and when he attempts to talk he falls into a +dissertation. He speaks to you as if he was addressing a meeting; and +if he should chance to warm in the course of the discussion, he will +infallibly say, “Gentlemen,” to the person with whom he is conversing. + +In some countries the inhabitants display a certain repugnance to avail +themselves of the political privileges with which the law invests them; +it would seem that they set too high a value upon their time to spend +it on the interests of the community; and they prefer to withdraw +within the exact limits of a wholesome egotism, marked out by four sunk +fences and a quickset hedge. But if an American were condemned to +confine his activity to his own affairs, he would be robbed of one half +of his existence; he would feel an immense void in the life which he is +accustomed to lead, and his wretchedness would be unbearable. *d I am +persuaded that, if ever a despotic government is established in +America, it will find it more difficult to surmount the habits which +free institutions have engendered than to conquer the attachment of the +citizens to freedom. + +d +[ The same remark was made at Rome under the first Caesars. Montesquieu +somewhere alludes to the excessive despondency of certain Roman +citizens who, after the excitement of political life, were all at once +flung back into the stagnation of private life.] + + +This ceaseless agitation which democratic government has introduced +into the political world influences all social intercourse. I am not +sure that upon the whole this is not the greatest advantage of +democracy. And I am much less inclined to applaud it for what it does +than for what it causes to be done. It is incontestable that the people +frequently conducts public business very ill; but it is impossible that +the lower orders should take a part in public business without +extending the circle of their ideas, and without quitting the ordinary +routine of their mental acquirements. The humblest individual who is +called upon to co-operate in the government of society acquires a +certain degree of self-respect; and as he possesses authority, he can +command the services of minds much more enlightened than his own. He is +canvassed by a multitude of applicants, who seek to deceive him in a +thousand different ways, but who instruct him by their deceit. He takes +a part in political undertakings which did not originate in his own +conception, but which give him a taste for undertakings of the kind. +New ameliorations are daily pointed out in the property which he holds +in common with others, and this gives him the desire of improving that +property which is more peculiarly his own. He is perhaps neither +happier nor better than those who came before him, but he is better +informed and more active. I have no doubt that the democratic +institutions of the United States, joined to the physical constitution +of the country, are the cause (not the direct, as is so often asserted, +but the indirect cause) of the prodigious commercial activity of the +inhabitants. It is not engendered by the laws, but the people learns +how to promote it by the experience derived from legislation. + +When the opponents of democracy assert that a single individual +performs the duties which he undertakes much better than the government +of the community, it appears to me that they are perfectly right. The +government of an individual, supposing an equality of instruction on +either side, is more consistent, more persevering, and more accurate +than that of a multitude, and it is much better qualified judiciously +to discriminate the characters of the men it employs. If any deny what +I advance, they have certainly never seen a democratic government, or +have formed their opinion upon very partial evidence. It is true that +even when local circumstances and the disposition of the people allow +democratic institutions to subsist, they never display a regular and +methodical system of government. Democratic liberty is far from +accomplishing all the projects it undertakes, with the skill of an +adroit despotism. It frequently abandons them before they have borne +their fruits, or risks them when the consequences may prove dangerous; +but in the end it produces more than any absolute government, and if it +do fewer things well, it does a greater number of things. Under its +sway the transactions of the public administration are not nearly so +important as what is done by private exertion. Democracy does not +confer the most skilful kind of government upon the people, but it +produces that which the most skilful governments are frequently unable +to awaken, namely, an all-pervading and restless activity, a +superabundant force, and an energy which is inseparable from it, and +which may, under favorable circumstances, beget the most amazing +benefits. These are the true advantages of democracy. + +In the present age, when the destinies of Christendom seem to be in +suspense, some hasten to assail democracy as its foe whilst it is yet +in its early growth; and others are ready with their vows of adoration +for this new deity which is springing forth from chaos: but both +parties are very imperfectly acquainted with the object of their hatred +or of their desires; they strike in the dark, and distribute their +blows by mere chance. + +We must first understand what the purport of society and the aim of +government is held to be. If it be your intention to confer a certain +elevation upon the human mind, and to teach it to regard the things of +this world with generous feelings, to inspire men with a scorn of mere +temporal advantage, to give birth to living convictions, and to keep +alive the spirit of honorable devotedness; if you hold it to be a good +thing to refine the habits, to embellish the manners, to cultivate the +arts of a nation, and to promote the love of poetry, of beauty, and of +renown; if you would constitute a people not unfitted to act with power +upon all other nations, nor unprepared for those high enterprises +which, whatever be the result of its efforts, will leave a name forever +famous in time—if you believe such to be the principal object of +society, you must avoid the government of democracy, which would be a +very uncertain guide to the end you have in view. + +But if you hold it to be expedient to divert the moral and intellectual +activity of man to the production of comfort, and to the acquirement of +the necessaries of life; if a clear understanding be more profitable to +man than genius; if your object be not to stimulate the virtues of +heroism, but to create habits of peace; if you had rather witness vices +than crimes and are content to meet with fewer noble deeds, provided +offences be diminished in the same proportion; if, instead of living in +the midst of a brilliant state of society, you are contented to have +prosperity around you; if, in short, you are of opinion that the +principal object of a Government is not to confer the greatest possible +share of power and of glory upon the body of the nation, but to ensure +the greatest degree of enjoyment and the least degree of misery to each +of the individuals who compose it—if such be your desires, you can have +no surer means of satisfying them than by equalizing the conditions of +men, and establishing democratic institutions. + +But if the time be passed at which such a choice was possible, and if +some superhuman power impel us towards one or the other of these two +governments without consulting our wishes, let us at least endeavor to +make the best of that which is allotted to us; and let us so inquire +into its good and its evil propensities as to be able to foster the +former and repress the latter to the utmost. + + + + + Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences—Part I + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +Natural strength of the majority in democracies—Most of the American +Constitutions have increased this strength by artificial means—How this +has been done—Pledged delegates—Moral power of the majority—Opinion as +to its infallibility—Respect for its rights, how augmented in the +United States. + +Unlimited Power Of The Majority In The United States, And Its +Consequences + +The very essence of democratic government consists in the absolute +sovereignty of the majority; for there is nothing in democratic States +which is capable of resisting it. Most of the American Constitutions +have sought to increase this natural strength of the majority by +artificial means. *a + +a +[ We observed, in examining the Federal Constitution, that the efforts +of the legislators of the Union had been diametrically opposed to the +present tendency. The consequence has been that the Federal Government +is more independent in its sphere than that of the States. But the +Federal Government scarcely ever interferes in any but external +affairs; and the governments of the State are in the governments of the +States are in reality the authorities which direct society in America.] + + +The legislature is, of all political institutions, the one which is +most easily swayed by the wishes of the majority. The Americans +determined that the members of the legislature should be elected by the +people immediately, and for a very brief term, in order to subject +them, not only to the general convictions, but even to the daily +passion, of their constituents. The members of both houses are taken +from the same class in society, and are nominated in the same manner; +so that the modifications of the legislative bodies are almost as rapid +and quite as irresistible as those of a single assembly. It is to a +legislature thus constituted that almost all the authority of the +government has been entrusted. + +But whilst the law increased the strength of those authorities which of +themselves were strong, it enfeebled more and more those which were +naturally weak. It deprived the representatives of the executive of all +stability and independence, and by subjecting them completely to the +caprices of the legislature, it robbed them of the slender influence +which the nature of a democratic government might have allowed them to +retain. In several States the judicial power was also submitted to the +elective discretion of the majority, and in all of them its existence +was made to depend on the pleasure of the legislative authority, since +the representatives were empowered annually to regulate the stipend of +the judges. + +Custom, however, has done even more than law. A proceeding which will +in the end set all the guarantees of representative government at +naught is becoming more and more general in the United States; it +frequently happens that the electors, who choose a delegate, point out +a certain line of conduct to him, and impose upon him a certain number +of positive obligations which he is pledged to fulfil. With the +exception of the tumult, this comes to the same thing as if the +majority of the populace held its deliberations in the market-place. + +Several other circumstances concur in rendering the power of the +majority in America not only preponderant, but irresistible. The moral +authority of the majority is partly based upon the notion that there is +more intelligence and more wisdom in a great number of men collected +together than in a single individual, and that the quantity of +legislators is more important than their quality. The theory of +equality is in fact applied to the intellect of man: and human pride is +thus assailed in its last retreat by a doctrine which the minority +hesitate to admit, and in which they very slowly concur. Like all other +powers, and perhaps more than all other powers, the authority of the +many requires the sanction of time; at first it enforces obedience by +constraint, but its laws are not respected until they have long been +maintained. + +The right of governing society, which the majority supposes itself to +derive from its superior intelligence, was introduced into the United +States by the first settlers, and this idea, which would be sufficient +of itself to create a free nation, has now been amalgamated with the +manners of the people and the minor incidents of social intercourse. + +The French, under the old monarchy, held it for a maxim (which is still +a fundamental principle of the English Constitution) that the King +could do no wrong; and if he did do wrong, the blame was imputed to his +advisers. This notion was highly favorable to habits of obedience, and +it enabled the subject to complain of the law without ceasing to love +and honor the lawgiver. The Americans entertain the same opinion with +respect to the majority. + +The moral power of the majority is founded upon yet another principle, +which is, that the interests of the many are to be preferred to those +of the few. It will readily be perceived that the respect here +professed for the rights of the majority must naturally increase or +diminish according to the state of parties. When a nation is divided +into several irreconcilable factions, the privilege of the majority is +often overlooked, because it is intolerable to comply with its demands. + +If there existed in America a class of citizens whom the legislating +majority sought to deprive of exclusive privileges which they had +possessed for ages, and to bring down from an elevated station to the +level of the ranks of the multitude, it is probable that the minority +would be less ready to comply with its laws. But as the United States +were colonized by men holding equal rank amongst themselves, there is +as yet no natural or permanent source of dissension between the +interests of its different inhabitants. + +There are certain communities in which the persons who constitute the +minority can never hope to draw over the majority to their side, +because they must then give up the very point which is at issue between +them. Thus, an aristocracy can never become a majority whilst it +retains its exclusive privileges, and it cannot cede its privileges +without ceasing to be an aristocracy. + +In the United States political questions cannot be taken up in so +general and absolute a manner, and all parties are willing to recognize +the right of the majority, because they all hope to turn those rights +to their own advantage at some future time. The majority therefore in +that country exercises a prodigious actual authority, and a moral +influence which is scarcely less preponderant; no obstacles exist which +can impede or so much as retard its progress, or which can induce it to +heed the complaints of those whom it crushes upon its path. This state +of things is fatal in itself and dangerous for the future. + +How The Unlimited Power Of The Majority Increases In America The +Instability Of Legislation And Administration Inherent In Democracy The +Americans increase the mutability of the laws which is inherent in +democracy by changing the legislature every year, and by investing it +with unbounded authority—The same effect is produced upon the +administration—In America social amelioration is conducted more +energetically but less perseveringly than in Europe. + +I have already spoken of the natural defects of democratic +institutions, and they all of them increase at the exact ratio of the +power of the majority. To begin with the most evident of them all; the +mutability of the laws is an evil inherent in democratic government, +because it is natural to democracies to raise men to power in very +rapid succession. But this evil is more or less sensible in proportion +to the authority and the means of action which the legislature +possesses. + +In America the authority exercised by the legislative bodies is +supreme; nothing prevents them from accomplishing their wishes with +celerity, and with irresistible power, whilst they are supplied by new +representatives every year. That is to say, the circumstances which +contribute most powerfully to democratic instability, and which admit +of the free application of caprice to every object in the State, are +here in full operation. In conformity with this principle, America is, +at the present day, the country in the world where laws last the +shortest time. Almost all the American constitutions have been amended +within the course of thirty years: there is therefore not a single +American State which has not modified the principles of its legislation +in that lapse of time. As for the laws themselves, a single glance upon +the archives of the different States of the Union suffices to convince +one that in America the activity of the legislator never slackens. Not +that the American democracy is naturally less stable than any other, +but that it is allowed to follow its capricious propensities in the +formation of the laws. *b + +b +[ The legislative acts promulgated by the State of Massachusetts alone, +from the year 1780 to the present time, already fill three stout +volumes; and it must not be forgotten that the collection to which I +allude was published in 1823, when many old laws which had fallen into +disuse were omitted. The State of Massachusetts, which is not more +populous than a department of France, may be considered as the most +stable, the most consistent, and the most sagacious in its undertakings +of the whole Union.] + + +The omnipotence of the majority, and the rapid as well as absolute +manner in which its decisions are executed in the United States, has +not only the effect of rendering the law unstable, but it exercises the +same influence upon the execution of the law and the conduct of the +public administration. As the majority is the only power which it is +important to court, all its projects are taken up with the greatest +ardor, but no sooner is its attention distracted than all this ardor +ceases; whilst in the free States of Europe the administration is at +once independent and secure, so that the projects of the legislature +are put into execution, although its immediate attention may be +directed to other objects. + +In America certain ameliorations are undertaken with much more zeal and +activity than elsewhere; in Europe the same ends are promoted by much +less social effort, more continuously applied. + +Some years ago several pious individuals undertook to ameliorate the +condition of the prisons. The public was excited by the statements +which they put forward, and the regeneration of criminals became a very +popular undertaking. New prisons were built, and for the first time the +idea of reforming as well as of punishing the delinquent formed a part +of prison discipline. But this happy alteration, in which the public +had taken so hearty an interest, and which the exertions of the +citizens had irresistibly accelerated, could not be completed in a +moment. Whilst the new penitentiaries were being erected (and it was +the pleasure of the majority that they should be terminated with all +possible celerity), the old prisons existed, which still contained a +great number of offenders. These jails became more unwholesome and more +corrupt in proportion as the new establishments were beautified and +improved, forming a contrast which may readily be understood. The +majority was so eagerly employed in founding the new prisons that those +which already existed were forgotten; and as the general attention was +diverted to a novel object, the care which had hitherto been bestowed +upon the others ceased. The salutary regulations of discipline were +first relaxed, and afterwards broken; so that in the immediate +neighborhood of a prison which bore witness to the mild and enlightened +spirit of our time, dungeons might be met with which reminded the +visitor of the barbarity of the Middle Ages. + + + + + Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences—Part II + +Tyranny Of The Majority + +How the principle of the sovereignty of the people is to be +understood—Impossibility of conceiving a mixed government—The sovereign +power must centre somewhere—Precautions to be taken to control its +action—These precautions have not been taken in the United +States—Consequences. + +I hold it to be an impious and an execrable maxim that, politically +speaking, a people has a right to do whatsoever it pleases, and yet I +have asserted that all authority originates in the will of the +majority. Am I then, in contradiction with myself? + +A general law—which bears the name of Justice—has been made and +sanctioned, not only by a majority of this or that people, but by a +majority of mankind. The rights of every people are consequently +confined within the limits of what is just. A nation may be considered +in the light of a jury which is empowered to represent society at +large, and to apply the great and general law of justice. Ought such a +jury, which represents society, to have more power than the society in +which the laws it applies originate? + +When I refuse to obey an unjust law, I do not contest the right which +the majority has of commanding, but I simply appeal from the +sovereignty of the people to the sovereignty of mankind. It has been +asserted that a people can never entirely outstep the boundaries of +justice and of reason in those affairs which are more peculiarly its +own, and that consequently, full power may fearlessly be given to the +majority by which it is represented. But this language is that of a +slave. + +A majority taken collectively may be regarded as a being whose +opinions, and most frequently whose interests, are opposed to those of +another being, which is styled a minority. If it be admitted that a +man, possessing absolute power, may misuse that power by wronging his +adversaries, why should a majority not be liable to the same reproach? +Men are not apt to change their characters by agglomeration; nor does +their patience in the presence of obstacles increase with the +consciousness of their strength. *c And for these reasons I can never +willingly invest any number of my fellow-creatures with that unlimited +authority which I should refuse to any one of them. + +c +[ No one will assert that a people cannot forcibly wrong another +people; but parties may be looked upon as lesser nations within a +greater one, and they are aliens to each other: if, therefore, it be +admitted that a nation can act tyrannically towards another nation, it +cannot be denied that a party may do the same towards another party.] + + +I do not think that it is possible to combine several principles in the +same government, so as at the same time to maintain freedom, and really +to oppose them to one another. The form of government which is usually +termed mixed has always appeared to me to be a mere chimera. Accurately +speaking there is no such thing as a mixed government (with the meaning +usually given to that word), because in all communities some one +principle of action may be discovered which preponderates over the +others. England in the last century, which has been more especially +cited as an example of this form of Government, was in point of fact an +essentially aristocratic State, although it comprised very powerful +elements of democracy; for the laws and customs of the country were +such that the aristocracy could not but preponderate in the end, and +subject the direction of public affairs to its own will. The error +arose from too much attention being paid to the actual struggle which +was going on between the nobles and the people, without considering the +probable issue of the contest, which was in reality the important +point. When a community really has a mixed government, that is to say, +when it is equally divided between two adverse principles, it must +either pass through a revolution or fall into complete dissolution. + +I am therefore of opinion that some one social power must always be +made to predominate over the others; but I think that liberty is +endangered when this power is checked by no obstacles which may retard +its course, and force it to moderate its own vehemence. + +Unlimited power is in itself a bad and dangerous thing; human beings +are not competent to exercise it with discretion, and God alone can be +omnipotent, because His wisdom and His justice are always equal to His +power. But no power upon earth is so worthy of honor for itself, or of +reverential obedience to the rights which it represents, that I would +consent to admit its uncontrolled and all-predominant authority. When I +see that the right and the means of absolute command are conferred on a +people or upon a king, upon an aristocracy or a democracy, a monarchy +or a republic, I recognize the germ of tyranny, and I journey onward to +a land of more hopeful institutions. + +In my opinion the main evil of the present democratic institutions of +the United States does not arise, as is often asserted in Europe, from +their weakness, but from their overpowering strength; and I am not so +much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns in that country as +at the very inadequate securities which exist against tyranny. + +When an individual or a party is wronged in the United States, to whom +can he apply for redress? If to public opinion, public opinion +constitutes the majority; if to the legislature, it represents the +majority, and implicitly obeys its injunctions; if to the executive +power, it is appointed by the majority, and remains a passive tool in +its hands; the public troops consist of the majority under arms; the +jury is the majority invested with the right of hearing judicial cases; +and in certain States even the judges are elected by the majority. +However iniquitous or absurd the evil of which you complain may be, you +must submit to it as well as you can. *d + +d +[ A striking instance of the excesses which may be occasioned by the +despotism of the majority occurred at Baltimore in the year 1812. At +that time the war was very popular in Baltimore. A journal which had +taken the other side of the question excited the indignation of the +inhabitants by its opposition. The populace assembled, broke the +printing-presses, and attacked the houses of the newspaper editors. The +militia was called out, but no one obeyed the call; and the only means +of saving the poor wretches who were threatened by the frenzy of the +mob was to throw them into prison as common malefactors. But even this +precaution was ineffectual; the mob collected again during the night, +the magistrates again made a vain attempt to call out the militia, the +prison was forced, one of the newspaper editors was killed upon the +spot, and the others were left for dead; the guilty parties were +acquitted by the jury when they were brought to trial. + + +I said one day to an inhabitant of Pennsylvania, “Be so good as to +explain to me how it happens that in a State founded by Quakers, and +celebrated for its toleration, freed blacks are not allowed to exercise +civil rights. They pay the taxes; is it not fair that they should have +a vote?” + +“You insult us,” replied my informant, “if you imagine that our +legislators could have committed so gross an act of injustice and +intolerance.” + +“What! then the blacks possess the right of voting in this county?” + +“Without the smallest doubt.” + +“How comes it, then, that at the polling-booth this morning I did not +perceive a single negro in the whole meeting?” + +“This is not the fault of the law: the negroes have an undisputed right +of voting, but they voluntarily abstain from making their appearance.” + +“A very pretty piece of modesty on their parts!” rejoined I. + +“Why, the truth is, that they are not disinclined to vote, but they are +afraid of being maltreated; in this country the law is sometimes unable +to maintain its authority without the support of the majority. But in +this case the majority entertains very strong prejudices against the +blacks, and the magistrates are unable to protect them in the exercise +of their legal privileges.” + +“What! then the majority claims the right not only of making the laws, +but of breaking the laws it has made?”] + +If, on the other hand, a legislative power could be so constituted as +to represent the majority without necessarily being the slave of its +passions; an executive, so as to retain a certain degree of +uncontrolled authority; and a judiciary, so as to remain independent of +the two other powers; a government would be formed which would still be +democratic without incurring any risk of tyrannical abuse. + +I do not say that tyrannical abuses frequently occur in America at the +present day, but I maintain that no sure barrier is established against +them, and that the causes which mitigate the government are to be found +in the circumstances and the manners of the country more than in its +laws. + +Effects Of The Unlimited Power Of The Majority Upon The Arbitrary +Authority Of The American Public Officers + +Liberty left by the American laws to public officers within a certain +sphere—Their power. + +A distinction must be drawn between tyranny and arbitrary power. +Tyranny may be exercised by means of the law, and in that case it is +not arbitrary; arbitrary power may be exercised for the good of the +community at large, in which case it is not tyrannical. Tyranny usually +employs arbitrary means, but, if necessary, it can rule without them. + +In the United States the unbounded power of the majority, which is +favorable to the legal despotism of the legislature, is likewise +favorable to the arbitrary authority of the magistrate. The majority +has an entire control over the law when it is made and when it is +executed; and as it possesses an equal authority over those who are in +power and the community at large, it considers public officers as its +passive agents, and readily confides the task of serving its designs to +their vigilance. The details of their office and the privileges which +they are to enjoy are rarely defined beforehand; but the majority +treats them as a master does his servants when they are always at work +in his sight, and he has the power of directing or reprimanding them at +every instant. + +In general the American functionaries are far more independent than the +French civil officers within the sphere which is prescribed to them. +Sometimes, even, they are allowed by the popular authority to exceed +those bounds; and as they are protected by the opinion, and backed by +the co-operation, of the majority, they venture upon such +manifestations of their power as astonish a European. By this means +habits are formed in the heart of a free country which may some day +prove fatal to its liberties. + +Power Exercised By The Majority In America Upon Opinion + +In America, when the majority has once irrevocably decided a question, +all discussion ceases—Reason of this—Moral power exercised by the +majority upon opinion—Democratic republics have deprived despotism of +its physical instruments—Their despotism sways the minds of men. + +It is in the examination of the display of public opinion in the United +States that we clearly perceive how far the power of the majority +surpasses all the powers with which we are acquainted in Europe. +Intellectual principles exercise an influence which is so invisible, +and often so inappreciable, that they baffle the toils of oppression. +At the present time the most absolute monarchs in Europe are unable to +prevent certain notions, which are opposed to their authority, from +circulating in secret throughout their dominions, and even in their +courts. Such is not the case in America; as long as the majority is +still undecided, discussion is carried on; but as soon as its decision +is irrevocably pronounced, a submissive silence is observed, and the +friends, as well as the opponents, of the measure unite in assenting to +its propriety. The reason of this is perfectly clear: no monarch is so +absolute as to combine all the powers of society in his own hands, and +to conquer all opposition with the energy of a majority which is +invested with the right of making and of executing the laws. + +The authority of a king is purely physical, and it controls the actions +of the subject without subduing his private will; but the majority +possesses a power which is physical and moral at the same time; it acts +upon the will as well as upon the actions of men, and it represses not +only all contest, but all controversy. I know no country in which there +is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in +America. In any constitutional state in Europe every sort of religious +and political theory may be advocated and propagated abroad; for there +is no country in Europe so subdued by any single authority as not to +contain citizens who are ready to protect the man who raises his voice +in the cause of truth from the consequences of his hardihood. If he is +unfortunate enough to live under an absolute government, the people is +upon his side; if he inhabits a free country, he may find a shelter +behind the authority of the throne, if he require one. The aristocratic +part of society supports him in some countries, and the democracy in +others. But in a nation where democratic institutions exist, organized +like those of the United States, there is but one sole authority, one +single element of strength and of success, with nothing beyond it. + +In America the majority raises very formidable barriers to the liberty +of opinion: within these barriers an author may write whatever he +pleases, but he will repent it if he ever step beyond them. Not that he +is exposed to the terrors of an auto-da-fe, but he is tormented by the +slights and persecutions of daily obloquy. His political career is +closed forever, since he has offended the only authority which is able +to promote his success. Every sort of compensation, even that of +celebrity, is refused to him. Before he published his opinions he +imagined that he held them in common with many others; but no sooner +has he declared them openly than he is loudly censured by his +overbearing opponents, whilst those who think without having the +courage to speak, like him, abandon him in silence. He yields at +length, oppressed by the daily efforts he has been making, and he +subsides into silence, as if he was tormented by remorse for having +spoken the truth. + +Fetters and headsmen were the coarse instruments which tyranny formerly +employed; but the civilization of our age has refined the arts of +despotism which seemed, however, to have been sufficiently perfected +before. The excesses of monarchical power had devised a variety of +physical means of oppression: the democratic republics of the present +day have rendered it as entirely an affair of the mind as that will +which it is intended to coerce. Under the absolute sway of an +individual despot the body was attacked in order to subdue the soul, +and the soul escaped the blows which were directed against it and rose +superior to the attempt; but such is not the course adopted by tyranny +in democratic republics; there the body is left free, and the soul is +enslaved. The sovereign can no longer say, “You shall think as I do on +pain of death;” but he says, “You are free to think differently from +me, and to retain your life, your property, and all that you possess; +but if such be your determination, you are henceforth an alien among +your people. You may retain your civil rights, but they will be useless +to you, for you will never be chosen by your fellow-citizens if you +solicit their suffrages, and they will affect to scorn you if you +solicit their esteem. You will remain among men, but you will be +deprived of the rights of mankind. Your fellow-creatures will shun you +like an impure being, and those who are most persuaded of your +innocence will abandon you too, lest they should be shunned in their +turn. Go in peace! I have given you your life, but it is an existence +in comparably worse than death.” + +Monarchical institutions have thrown an odium upon despotism; let us +beware lest democratic republics should restore oppression, and should +render it less odious and less degrading in the eyes of the many, by +making it still more onerous to the few. + +Works have been published in the proudest nations of the Old World +expressly intended to censure the vices and deride the follies of the +times; Labruyere inhabited the palace of Louis XIV when he composed his +chapter upon the Great, and Moliere criticised the courtiers in the +very pieces which were acted before the Court. But the ruling power in +the United States is not to be made game of; the smallest reproach +irritates its sensibility, and the slightest joke which has any +foundation in truth renders it indignant; from the style of its +language to the more solid virtues of its character, everything must be +made the subject of encomium. No writer, whatever be his eminence, can +escape from this tribute of adulation to his fellow-citizens. The +majority lives in the perpetual practice of self-applause, and there +are certain truths which the Americans can only learn from strangers or +from experience. + +If great writers have not at present existed in America, the reason is +very simply given in these facts; there can be no literary genius +without freedom of opinion, and freedom of opinion does not exist in +America. The Inquisition has never been able to prevent a vast number +of anti-religious books from circulating in Spain. The empire of the +majority succeeds much better in the United States, since it actually +removes the wish of publishing them. Unbelievers are to be met with in +America, but, to say the truth, there is no public organ of infidelity. +Attempts have been made by some governments to protect the morality of +nations by prohibiting licentious books. In the United States no one is +punished for this sort of works, but no one is induced to write them; +not because all the citizens are immaculate in their manners, but +because the majority of the community is decent and orderly. + +In these cases the advantages derived from the exercise of this power +are unquestionable, and I am simply discussing the nature of the power +itself. This irresistible authority is a constant fact, and its +judicious exercise is an accidental occurrence. + +Effects Of The Tyranny Of The Majority Upon The National Character Of +The Americans + +Effects of the tyranny of the majority more sensibly felt hitherto in +the manners than in the conduct of society—They check the development +of leading characters—Democratic republics organized like the United +States bring the practice of courting favor within the reach of the +many—Proofs of this spirit in the United States—Why there is more +patriotism in the people than in those who govern in its name. + +The tendencies which I have just alluded to are as yet very slightly +perceptible in political society, but they already begin to exercise an +unfavorable influence upon the national character of the Americans. I +am inclined to attribute the singular paucity of distinguished +political characters to the ever-increasing activity of the despotism +of the majority in the United States. When the American Revolution +broke out they arose in great numbers, for public opinion then served, +not to tyrannize over, but to direct the exertions of individuals. +Those celebrated men took a full part in the general agitation of mind +common at that period, and they attained a high degree of personal +fame, which was reflected back upon the nation, but which was by no +means borrowed from it. + +In absolute governments the great nobles who are nearest to the throne +flatter the passions of the sovereign, and voluntarily truckle to his +caprices. But the mass of the nation does not degrade itself by +servitude: it often submits from weakness, from habit, or from +ignorance, and sometimes from loyalty. Some nations have been known to +sacrifice their own desires to those of the sovereign with pleasure and +with pride, thus exhibiting a sort of independence in the very act of +submission. These peoples are miserable, but they are not degraded. +There is a great difference between doing what one does not approve and +feigning to approve what one does; the one is the necessary case of a +weak person, the other befits the temper of a lackey. + +In free countries, where everyone is more or less called upon to give +his opinion in the affairs of state; in democratic republics, where +public life is incessantly commingled with domestic affairs, where the +sovereign authority is accessible on every side, and where its +attention can almost always be attracted by vociferation, more persons +are to be met with who speculate upon its foibles and live at the cost +of its passions than in absolute monarchies. Not because men are +naturally worse in these States than elsewhere, but the temptation is +stronger, and of easier access at the same time. The result is a far +more extensive debasement of the characters of citizens. + +Democratic republics extend the practice of currying favor with the +many, and they introduce it into a greater number of classes at once: +this is one of the most serious reproaches that can be addressed to +them. In democratic States organized on the principles of the American +republics, this is more especially the case, where the authority of the +majority is so absolute and so irresistible that a man must give up his +rights as a citizen, and almost abjure his quality as a human being, if +te intends to stray from the track which it lays down. + +In that immense crowd which throngs the avenues to power in the United +States I found very few men who displayed any of that manly candor and +that masculine independence of opinion which frequently distinguished +the Americans in former times, and which constitutes the leading +feature in distinguished characters, wheresoever they may be found. It +seems, at first sight, as if all the minds of the Americans were formed +upon one model, so accurately do they correspond in their manner of +judging. A stranger does, indeed, sometimes meet with Americans who +dissent from these rigorous formularies; with men who deplore the +defects of the laws, the mutability and the ignorance of democracy; who +even go so far as to observe the evil tendencies which impair the +national character, and to point out such remedies as it might be +possible to apply; but no one is there to hear these things besides +yourself, and you, to whom these secret reflections are confided, are a +stranger and a bird of passage. They are very ready to communicate +truths which are useless to you, but they continue to hold a different +language in public. + +If ever these lines are read in America, I am well assured of two +things: in the first place, that all who peruse them will raise their +voices to condemn me; and in the second place, that very many of them +will acquit me at the bottom of their conscience. + +I have heard of patriotism in the United States, and it is a virtue +which may be found among the people, but never among the leaders of the +people. This may be explained by analogy; despotism debases the +oppressed much more than the oppressor: in absolute monarchies the king +has often great virtues, but the courtiers are invariably servile. It +is true that the American courtiers do not say “Sire,” or “Your +Majesty”—a distinction without a difference. They are forever talking +of the natural intelligence of the populace they serve; they do not +debate the question as to which of the virtues of their master is +pre-eminently worthy of admiration, for they assure him that he +possesses all the virtues under heaven without having acquired them, or +without caring to acquire them; they do not give him their daughters +and their wives to be raised at his pleasure to the rank of his +concubines, but, by sacrificing their opinions, they prostitute +themselves. Moralists and philosophers in America are not obliged to +conceal their opinions under the veil of allegory; but, before they +venture upon a harsh truth, they say, “We are aware that the people +which we are addressing is too superior to all the weaknesses of human +nature to lose the command of its temper for an instant; and we should +not hold this language if we were not speaking to men whom their +virtues and their intelligence render more worthy of freedom than all +the rest of the world.” It would have been impossible for the +sycophants of Louis XIV to flatter more dexterously. For my part, I am +persuaded that in all governments, whatever their nature may be, +servility will cower to force, and adulation will cling to power. The +only means of preventing men from degrading themselves is to invest no +one with that unlimited authority which is the surest method of +debasing them. + +The Greatest Dangers Of The American Republics Proceed From The +Unlimited Power Of The Majority + +Democratic republics liable to perish from a misuse of their power, and +not by impotence—The Governments of the American republics are more +centralized and more energetic than those of the monarchies of +Europe—Dangers resulting from this—Opinions of Hamilton and Jefferson +upon this point. + +Governments usually fall a sacrifice to impotence or to tyranny. In the +former case their power escapes from them; it is wrested from their +grasp in the latter. Many observers, who have witnessed the anarchy of +democratic States, have imagined that the government of those States +was naturally weak and impotent. The truth is, that when once +hostilities are begun between parties, the government loses its control +over society. But I do not think that a democratic power is naturally +without force or without resources: say, rather, that it is almost +always by the abuse of its force and the misemployment of its resources +that a democratic government fails. Anarchy is almost always produced +by its tyranny or its mistakes, but not by its want of strength. + +It is important not to confound stability with force, or the greatness +of a thing with its duration. In democratic republics, the power which +directs *e society is not stable; for it often changes hands and +assumes a new direction. But whichever way it turns, its force is +almost irresistible. The Governments of the American republics appear +to me to be as much centralized as those of the absolute monarchies of +Europe, and more energetic than they are. I do not, therefore, imagine +that they will perish from weakness. *f + +e +[ This power may be centred in an assembly, in which case it will be +strong without being stable; or it may be centred in an individual, in +which case it will be less strong, but more stable.] + + +f +[ I presume that it is scarcely necessary to remind the reader here, as +well as throughout the remainder of this chapter, that I am speaking, +not of the Federal Government, but of the several governments of each +State, which the majority controls at its pleasure.] + + +If ever the free institutions of America are destroyed, that event may +be attributed to the unlimited authority of the majority, which may at +some future time urge the minorities to desperation, and oblige them to +have recourse to physical force. Anarchy will then be the result, but +it will have been brought about by despotism. + +Mr. Hamilton expresses the same opinion in the “Federalist,” No. 51. +“It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society +against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the +society against the injustice of the other part. Justice is the end of +government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever +will be, pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the +pursuit. In a society, under the forms of which the stronger faction +can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said +to reign as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not +secured against the violence of the stronger: and as in the latter +state even the stronger individuals are prompted by the uncertainty of +their condition to submit to a government which may protect the weak as +well as themselves, so in the former state will the more powerful +factions be gradually induced by a like motive to wish for a government +which will protect all parties, the weaker as well as the more +powerful. It can be little doubted that, if the State of Rhode Island +was separated from the Confederacy and left to itself, the insecurity +of right under the popular form of government within such narrow limits +would be displayed by such reiterated oppressions of the factious +majorities, that some power altogether independent of the people would +soon be called for by the voice of the very factions whose misrule had +proved the necessity of it.” + +Jefferson has also thus expressed himself in a letter to Madison: *g +“The executive power in our Government is not the only, perhaps not +even the principal, object of my solicitude. The tyranny of the +Legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue +to be so for many years to come. The tyranny of the executive power +will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.” I am glad to cite +the opinion of Jefferson upon this subject rather than that of another, +because I consider him to be the most powerful advocate democracy has +ever sent forth. + +g +[ March 15, 1789.] + + + + + Chapter XVI: Causes Mitigating Tyranny In The United States—Part I + + + + + Chapter Summary + + +The national majority does not pretend to conduct all business—Is +obliged to employ the town and county magistrates to execute its +supreme decisions. + +I have already pointed out the distinction which is to be made between +a centralized government and a centralized administration. The former +exists in America, but the latter is nearly unknown there. If the +directing power of the American communities had both these instruments +of government at its disposal, and united the habit of executing its +own commands to the right of commanding; if, after having established +the general principles of government, it descended to the details of +public business; and if, having regulated the great interests of the +country, it could penetrate into the privacy of individual interests, +freedom would soon be banished from the New World. + +But in the United States the majority, which so frequently displays the +tastes and the propensities of a despot, is still destitute of the more +perfect instruments of tyranny. In the American republics the activity +of the central Government has never as yet been extended beyond a +limited number of objects sufficiently prominent to call forth its +attention. The secondary affairs of society have never been regulated +by its authority, and nothing has hitherto betrayed its desire of +interfering in them. The majority is become more and more absolute, but +it has not increased the prerogatives of the central government; those +great prerogatives have been confined to a certain sphere; and although +the despotism of the majority may be galling upon one point, it cannot +be said to extend to all. However the predominant party in the nation +may be carried away by its passions, however ardent it may be in the +pursuit of its projects, it cannot oblige all the citizens to comply +with its desires in the same manner and at the same time throughout the +country. When the central Government which represents that majority has +issued a decree, it must entrust the execution of its will to agents, +over whom it frequently has no control, and whom it cannot perpetually +direct. The townships, municipal bodies, and counties may therefore be +looked upon as concealed break-waters, which check or part the tide of +popular excitement. If an oppressive law were passed, the liberties of +the people would still be protected by the means by which that law +would be put in execution: the majority cannot descend to the details +and (as I will venture to style them) the puerilities of administrative +tyranny. Nor does the people entertain that full consciousness of its +authority which would prompt it to interfere in these matters; it knows +the extent of its natural powers, but it is unacquainted with the +increased resources which the art of government might furnish. + +This point deserves attention, for if a democratic republic similar to +that of the United States were ever founded in a country where the +power of a single individual had previously subsisted, and the effects +of a centralized administration had sunk deep into the habits and the +laws of the people, I do not hesitate to assert, that in that country a +more insufferable despotism would prevail than any which now exists in +the monarchical States of Europe, or indeed than any which could be +found on this side of the confines of Asia. + +The Profession Of The Law In The United States Serves To Counterpoise +The Democracy + +Utility of discriminating the natural propensities of the members of +the legal profession—These men called upon to act a prominent part in +future society—In what manner the peculiar pursuits of lawyers give an +aristocratic turn to their ideas—Accidental causes which may check this +tendency—Ease with which the aristocracy coalesces with legal men—Use +of lawyers to a despot—The profession of the law constitutes the only +aristocratic element with which the natural elements of democracy will +combine—Peculiar causes which tend to give an aristocratic turn of mind +to the English and American lawyers—The aristocracy of America is on +the bench and at the bar—Influence of lawyers upon American +society—Their peculiar magisterial habits affect the legislature, the +administration, and even the people. + +In visiting the Americans and in studying their laws we perceive that +the authority they have entrusted to members of the legal profession, +and the influence which these individuals exercise in the Government, +is the most powerful existing security against the excesses of +democracy. This effect seems to me to result from a general cause which +it is useful to investigate, since it may produce analogous +consequences elsewhere. + +The members of the legal profession have taken an important part in all +the vicissitudes of political society in Europe during the last five +hundred years. At one time they have been the instruments of those who +were invested with political authority, and at another they have +succeeded in converting political authorities into their instrument. In +the Middle Ages they afforded a powerful support to the Crown, and +since that period they have exerted themselves to the utmost to limit +the royal prerogative. In England they have contracted a close alliance +with the aristocracy; in France they have proved to be the most +dangerous enemies of that class. It is my object to inquire whether, +under all these circumstances, the members of the legal profession have +been swayed by sudden and momentary impulses; or whether they have been +impelled by principles which are inherent in their pursuits, and which +will always recur in history. I am incited to this investigation by +reflecting that this particular class of men will most likely play a +prominent part in that order of things to which the events of our time +are giving birth. + +Men who have more especially devoted themselves to legal pursuits +derive from those occupations certain habits of order, a taste for +formalities, and a kind of instinctive regard for the regular +connection of ideas, which naturally render them very hostile to the +revolutionary spirit and the unreflecting passions of the multitude. + +The special information which lawyers derive from their studies ensures +them a separate station in society, and they constitute a sort of +privileged body in the scale of intelligence. This notion of their +superiority perpetually recurs to them in the practice of their +profession: they are the masters of a science which is necessary, but +which is not very generally known; they serve as arbiters between the +citizens; and the habit of directing the blind passions of parties in +litigation to their purpose inspires them with a certain contempt for +the judgment of the multitude. To this it may be added that they +naturally constitute a body, not by any previous understanding, or by +an agreement which directs them to a common end; but the analogy of +their studies and the uniformity of their proceedings connect their +minds together, as much as a common interest could combine their +endeavors. + +A portion of the tastes and of the habits of the aristocracy may +consequently be discovered in the characters of men in the profession +of the law. They participate in the same instinctive love of order and +of formalities; and they entertain the same repugnance to the actions +of the multitude, and the same secret contempt of the government of the +people. I do not mean to say that the natural propensities of lawyers +are sufficiently strong to sway them irresistibly; for they, like most +other men, are governed by their private interests and the advantages +of the moment. + +In a state of society in which the members of the legal profession are +prevented from holding that rank in the political world which they +enjoy in private life, we may rest assured that they will be the +foremost agents of revolution. But it must then be inquired whether the +cause which induces them to innovate and to destroy is accidental, or +whether it belongs to some lasting purpose which they entertain. It is +true that lawyers mainly contributed to the overthrow of the French +monarchy in 1789; but it remains to be seen whether they acted thus +because they had studied the laws, or because they were prohibited from +co-operating in the work of legislation. + +Five hundred years ago the English nobles headed the people, and spoke +in its name; at the present time the aristocracy supports the throne, +and defends the royal prerogative. But aristocracy has, notwithstanding +this, its peculiar instincts and propensities. We must be careful not +to confound isolated members of a body with the body itself. In all +free governments, of whatsoever form they may be, members of the legal +profession will be found at the head of all parties. The same remark is +also applicable to the aristocracy; for almost all the democratic +convulsions which have agitated the world have been directed by nobles. + +A privileged body can never satisfy the ambition of all its members; it +has always more talents and more passions to content and to employ than +it can find places; so that a considerable number of individuals are +usually to be met with who are inclined to attack those very privileges +which they find it impossible to turn to their own account. + +I do not, then, assert that all the members of the legal profession are +at all times the friends of order and the opponents of innovation, but +merely that most of them usually are so. In a community in which +lawyers are allowed to occupy, without opposition, that high station +which naturally belongs to them, their general spirit will be eminently +conservative and anti-democratic. When an aristocracy excludes the +leaders of that profession from its ranks, it excites enemies which are +the more formidable to its security as they are independent of the +nobility by their industrious pursuits; and they feel themselves to be +its equal in point of intelligence, although they enjoy less opulence +and less power. But whenever an aristocracy consents to impart some of +its privileges to these same individuals, the two classes coalesce very +readily, and assume, as it were, the consistency of a single order of +family interests. + +I am, in like manner, inclined to believe that a monarch will always be +able to convert legal practitioners into the most serviceable +instruments of his authority. There is a far greater affinity between +this class of individuals and the executive power than there is between +them and the people; just as there is a greater natural affinity +between the nobles and the monarch than between the nobles and the +people, although the higher orders of society have occasionally +resisted the prerogative of the Crown in concert with the lower +classes. + +Lawyers are attached to public order beyond every other consideration, +and the best security of public order is authority. It must not be +forgotten that, if they prize the free institutions of their country +much, they nevertheless value the legality of those institutions far +more: they are less afraid of tyranny than of arbitrary power; and +provided that the legislature take upon itself to deprive men of their +independence, they are not dissatisfied. + +I am therefore convinced that the prince who, in presence of an +encroaching democracy, should endeavor to impair the judicial authority +in his dominions, and to diminish the political influence of lawyers, +would commit a great mistake. He would let slip the substance of +authority to grasp at the shadow. He would act more wisely in +introducing men connected with the law into the government; and if he +entrusted them with the conduct of a despotic power, bearing some marks +of violence, that power would most likely assume the external features +of justice and of legality in their hands. + +The government of democracy is favorable to the political power of +lawyers; for when the wealthy, the noble, and the prince are excluded +from the government, they are sure to occupy the highest stations, in +their own right, as it were, since they are the only men of information +and sagacity, beyond the sphere of the people, who can be the object of +the popular choice. If, then, they are led by their tastes to combine +with the aristocracy and to support the Crown, they are naturally +brought into contact with the people by their interests. They like the +government of democracy, without participating in its propensities and +without imitating its weaknesses; whence they derive a twofold +authority, from it and over it. The people in democratic states does +not mistrust the members of the legal profession, because it is well +known that they are interested in serving the popular cause; and it +listens to them without irritation, because it does not attribute to +them any sinister designs. The object of lawyers is not, indeed, to +overthrow the institutions of democracy, but they constantly endeavor +to give it an impulse which diverts it from its real tendency, by means +which are foreign to its nature. Lawyers belong to the people by birth +and interest, to the aristocracy by habit and by taste, and they may be +looked upon as the natural bond and connecting link of the two great +classes of society. + +The profession of the law is the only aristocratic element which can be +amalgamated without violence with the natural elements of democracy, +and which can be advantageously and permanently combined with them. I +am not unacquainted with the defects which are inherent in the +character of that body of men; but without this admixture of +lawyer-like sobriety with the democratic principle, I question whether +democratic institutions could long be maintained, and I cannot believe +that a republic could subsist at the present time if the influence of +lawyers in public business did not increase in proportion to the power +of the people. + +This aristocratic character, which I hold to be common to the legal +profession, is much more distinctly marked in the United States and in +England than in any other country. This proceeds not only from the +legal studies of the English and American lawyers, but from the nature +of the legislation, and the position which those persons occupy in the +two countries. The English and the Americans have retained the law of +precedents; that is to say, they continue to found their legal opinions +and the decisions of their courts upon the opinions and the decisions +of their forefathers. In the mind of an English or American lawyer a +taste and a reverence for what is old is almost always united to a love +of regular and lawful proceedings. + +This predisposition has another effect upon the character of the legal +profession and upon the general course of society. The English and +American lawyers investigate what has been done; the French advocate +inquires what should have been done; the former produce precedents, the +latter reasons. A French observer is surprised to hear how often an +English or an American lawyer quotes the opinions of others, and how +little he alludes to his own; whilst the reverse occurs in France. +There the most trifling litigation is never conducted without the +introduction of an entire system of ideas peculiar to the counsel +employed; and the fundamental principles of law are discussed in order +to obtain a perch of land by the decision of the court. This abnegation +of his own opinion, and this implicit deference to the opinion of his +forefathers, which are common to the English and American lawyer, this +subjection of thought which he is obliged to profess, necessarily give +him more timid habits and more sluggish inclinations in England and +America than in France. + +The French codes are often difficult of comprehension, but they can be +read by every one; nothing, on the other hand, can be more impenetrable +to the uninitiated than a legislation founded upon precedents. The +indispensable want of legal assistance which is felt in England and in +the United States, and the high opinion which is generally entertained +of the ability of the legal profession, tend to separate it more and +more from the people, and to place it in a distinct class. The French +lawyer is simply a man extensively acquainted with the statutes of his +country; but the English or American lawyer resembles the hierophants +of Egypt, for, like them, he is the sole interpreter of an occult +science. + +The station which lawyers occupy in England and America exercises no +less an influence upon their habits and their opinions. The English +aristocracy, which has taken care to attract to its sphere whatever is +at all analogous to itself, has conferred a high degree of importance +and of authority upon the members of the legal profession. In English +society lawyers do not occupy the first rank, but they are contented +with the station assigned to them; they constitute, as it were, the +younger branch of the English aristocracy, and they are attached to +their elder brothers, although they do not enjoy all their privileges. +The English lawyers consequently mingle the taste and the ideas of the +aristocratic circles in which they move with the aristocratic interests +of their profession. + +And indeed the lawyer-like character which I am endeavoring to depict +is most distinctly to be met with in England: there laws are esteemed +not so much because they are good as because they are old; and if it be +necessary to modify them in any respect, or to adapt them the changes +which time operates in society, recourse is had to the most +inconceivable contrivances in order to uphold the traditionary fabric, +and to maintain that nothing has been done which does not square with +the intentions and complete the labors of former generations. The very +individuals who conduct these changes disclaim all intention of +innovation, and they had rather resort to absurd expedients than plead +guilty to so great a crime. This spirit appertains more especially to +the English lawyers; they seem indifferent to the real meaning of what +they treat, and they direct all their attention to the letter, seeming +inclined to infringe the rules of common sense and of humanity rather +than to swerve one title from the law. The English legislation may be +compared to the stock of an old tree, upon which lawyers have engrafted +the most various shoots, with the hope that, although their fruits may +differ, their foliage at least will be confounded with the venerable +trunk which supports them all. + +In America there are no nobles or men of letters, and the people is apt +to mistrust the wealthy; lawyers consequently form the highest +political class, and the most cultivated circle of society. They have +therefore nothing to gain by innovation, which adds a conservative +interest to their natural taste for public order. If I were asked where +I place the American aristocracy, I should reply without hesitation +that it is not composed of the rich, who are united together by no +common tie, but that it occupies the judicial bench and the bar. + +The more we reflect upon all that occurs in the United States the more +shall we be persuaded that the lawyers as a body form the most +powerful, if not the only, counterpoise to the democratic element. In +that country we perceive how eminently the legal profession is +qualified by its powers, and even by its defects, to neutralize the +vices which are inherent in popular government. When the American +people is intoxicated by passion, or carried away by the impetuosity of +its ideas, it is checked and stopped by the almost invisible influence +of its legal counsellors, who secretly oppose their aristocratic +propensities to its democratic instincts, their superstitious +attachment to what is antique to its love of novelty, their narrow +views to its immense designs, and their habitual procrastination to its +ardent impatience. + +The courts of justice are the most visible organs by which the legal +profession is enabled to control the democracy. The judge is a lawyer, +who, independently of the taste for regularity and order which he has +contracted in the study of legislation, derives an additional love of +stability from his own inalienable functions. His legal attainments +have already raised him to a distinguished rank amongst his +fellow-citizens; his political power completes the distinction of his +station, and gives him the inclinations natural to privileged classes. + +Armed with the power of declaring the laws to be unconstitutional, *a +the American magistrate perpetually interferes in political affairs. He +cannot force the people to make laws, but at least he can oblige it not +to disobey its own enactments; or to act inconsistently with its own +principles. I am aware that a secret tendency to diminish the judicial +power exists in the United States, and by most of the constitutions of +the several States the Government can, upon the demand of the two +houses of the legislature, remove the judges from their station. By +some other constitutions the members of the tribunals are elected, and +they are even subjected to frequent re-elections. I venture to predict +that these innovations will sooner or later be attended with fatal +consequences, and that it will be found out at some future period that +the attack which is made upon the judicial power has affected the +democratic republic itself. + +a +[ See chapter VI. on the “Judicial Power in the United States.”] + + +It must not, however, be supposed that the legal spirit of which I have +been speaking has been confined, in the United States, to the courts of +justice; it extends far beyond them. As the lawyers constitute the only +enlightened class which the people does not mistrust, they are +naturally called upon to occupy most of the public stations. They fill +the legislative assemblies, and they conduct the administration; they +consequently exercise a powerful influence upon the formation of the +law, and upon its execution. The lawyers are, however, obliged to yield +to the current of public opinion, which is too strong for them to +resist it, but it is easy to find indications of what their conduct +would be if they were free to act as they chose. The Americans, who +have made such copious innovations in their political legislation, have +introduced very sparing alterations in their civil laws, and that with +great difficulty, although those laws are frequently repugnant to their +social condition. The reason of this is, that in matters of civil law +the majority is obliged to defer to the authority of the legal +profession, and that the American lawyers are disinclined to innovate +when they are left to their own choice. + +It is curious for a Frenchman, accustomed to a very different state of +things, to hear the perpetual complaints which are made in the United +States against the stationary propensities of legal men, and their +prejudices in favor of existing institutions. + +The influence of the legal habits which are common in America extends +beyond the limits I have just pointed out. Scarcely any question arises +in the United States which does not become, sooner or later, a subject +of judicial debate; hence all parties are obliged to borrow the ideas, +and even the language, usual in judicial proceedings in their daily +controversies. As most public men are, or have been, legal +practitioners, they introduce the customs and technicalities of their +profession into the affairs of the country. The jury extends this +habitude to all classes. The language of the law thus becomes, in some +measure, a vulgar tongue; the spirit of the law, which is produced in +the schools and courts of justice, gradually penetrates beyond their +walls into the bosom of society, where it descends to the lowest +classes, so that the whole people contracts the habits and the tastes +of the magistrate. The lawyers of the United States form a party which +is but little feared and scarcely perceived, which has no badge +peculiar to itself, which adapts itself with great flexibility to the +exigencies of the time, and accommodates itself to all the movements of +the social body; but this party extends over the whole community, and +it penetrates into all classes of society; it acts upon the country +imperceptibly, but it finally fashions it to suit its purposes. + + + + + Chapter XVI: Causes Mitigating Tyranny In The United States—Part II + +Trial By Jury In The United States Considered As A Political +Institution + +Trial by jury, which is one of the instruments of the sovereignty of +the people, deserves to be compared with the other laws which establish +that sovereignty—Composition of the jury in the United States—Effect of +trial by jury upon the national character—It educates the people—It +tends to establish the authority of the magistrates and to extend a +knowledge of law among the people. + +Since I have been led by my subject to recur to the administration of +justice in the United States, I will not pass over this point without +adverting to the institution of the jury. Trial by jury may be +considered in two separate points of view, as a judicial and as a +political institution. If it entered into my present purpose to inquire +how far trial by jury (more especially in civil cases) contributes to +insure the best administration of justice, I admit that its utility +might be contested. As the jury was first introduced at a time when +society was in an uncivilized state, and when courts of justice were +merely called upon to decide on the evidence of facts, it is not an +easy task to adapt it to the wants of a highly civilized community when +the mutual relations of men are multiplied to a surprising extent, and +have assumed the enlightened and intellectual character of the age. *b + +b +[ The investigation of trial by jury as a judicial institution, and the +appreciation of its effects in the United States, together with the +advantages the Americans have derived from it, would suffice to form a +book, and a book upon a very useful and curious subject. The State of +Louisiana would in particular afford the curious phenomenon of a French +and English legislation, as well as a French and English population, +which are gradually combining with each other. See the “Digeste des +Lois de la Louisiane,” in two volumes; and the “Traite sur les Regles +des Actions civiles,” printed in French and English at New Orleans in +1830.] + + +My present object is to consider the jury as a political institution, +and any other course would divert me from my subject. Of trial by jury, +considered as a judicial institution, I shall here say but very few +words. When the English adopted trial by jury they were a +semi-barbarous people; they are become, in course of time, one of the +most enlightened nations of the earth; and their attachment to this +institution seems to have increased with their increasing cultivation. +They soon spread beyond their insular boundaries to every corner of the +habitable globe; some have formed colonies, others independent states; +the mother-country has maintained its monarchical constitution; many of +its offspring have founded powerful republics; but wherever the English +have been they have boasted of the privilege of trial by jury. *c They +have established it, or hastened to re-establish it, in all their +settlements. A judicial institution which obtains the suffrages of a +great people for so long a series of ages, which is zealously renewed +at every epoch of civilization, in all the climates of the earth and +under every form of human government, cannot be contrary to the spirit +of justice. *d + +c +[ All the English and American jurists are unanimous upon this head. +Mr. Story, judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, speaks, in +his “Treatise on the Federal Constitution,” of the advantages of trial +by jury in civil cases:—“The inestimable privilege of a trial by jury +in civil cases—a privilege scarcely inferior to that in criminal cases, +which is counted by all persons to be essential to political and civil +liberty. . . .” (Story, book iii., chap. xxxviii.)] + + +d +[ If it were our province to point out the utility of the jury as a +judicial institution in this place, much might be said, and the +following arguments might be brought forward amongst others:— + +By introducing the jury into the business of the courts you are enabled +to diminish the number of judges, which is a very great advantage. When +judges are very numerous, death is perpetually thinning the ranks of +the judicial functionaries, and laying places vacant for newcomers. The +ambition of the magistrates is therefore continually excited, and they +are naturally made dependent upon the will of the majority, or the +individual who fills up the vacant appointments; the officers of the +court then rise like the officers of an army. This state of things is +entirely contrary to the sound administration of justice, and to the +intentions of the legislator. The office of a judge is made inalienable +in order that he may remain independent: but of what advantage is it +that his independence should be protected if he be tempted to sacrifice +it of his own accord? When judges are very numerous many of them must +necessarily be incapable of performing their important duties, for a +great magistrate is a man of no common powers; and I am inclined to +believe that a half-enlightened tribunal is the worst of all +instruments for attaining those objects which it is the purpose of +courts of justice to accomplish. For my own part, I had rather submit +the decision of a case to ignorant jurors directed by a skilful judge +than to judges a majority of whom are imperfectly acquainted with +jurisprudence and with the laws.] + +I turn, however, from this part of the subject. To look upon the jury +as a mere judicial institution is to confine our attention to a very +narrow view of it; for however great its influence may be upon the +decisions of the law courts, that influence is very subordinate to the +powerful effects which it produces on the destinies of the community at +large. The jury is above all a political institution, and it must be +regarded in this light in order to be duly appreciated. + +By the jury I mean a certain number of citizens chosen +indiscriminately, and invested with a temporary right of judging. Trial +by jury, as applied to the repression of crime, appears to me to +introduce an eminently republican element into the government upon the +following grounds:— + +The institution of the jury may be aristocratic or democratic, +according to the class of society from which the jurors are selected; +but it always preserves its republican character, inasmuch as it places +the real direction of society in the hands of the governed, or of a +portion of the governed, instead of leaving it under the authority of +the Government. Force is never more than a transient element of +success; and after force comes the notion of right. A government which +should only be able to crush its enemies upon a field of battle would +very soon be destroyed. The true sanction of political laws is to be +found in penal legislation, and if that sanction be wanting the law +will sooner or later lose its cogency. He who punishes infractions of +the law is therefore the real master of society. Now the institution of +the jury raises the people itself, or at least a class of citizens, to +the bench of judicial authority. The institution of the jury +consequently invests the people, or that class of citizens, with the +direction of society. *e + +e +[ An important remark must, however, be made. Trial by jury does +unquestionably invest the people with a general control over the +actions of citizens, but it does not furnish means of exercising this +control in all cases, or with an absolute authority. When an absolute +monarch has the right of trying offences by his representatives, the +fate of the prisoner is, as it were, decided beforehand. But even if +the people were predisposed to convict, the composition and the +non-responsibility of the jury would still afford some chances +favorable to the protection of innocence.] + + +In England the jury is returned from the aristocratic portion of the +nation; *f the aristocracy makes the laws, applies the laws, and +punishes all infractions of the laws; everything is established upon a +consistent footing, and England may with truth be said to constitute an +aristocratic republic. In the United States the same system is applied +to the whole people. Every American citizen is qualified to be an +elector, a juror, and is eligible to office. *g The system of the jury, +as it is understood in America, appears to me to be as direct and as +extreme a consequence of the sovereignty of the people as universal +suffrage. These institutions are two instruments of equal power, which +contribute to the supremacy of the majority. All the sovereigns who +have chosen to govern by their own authority, and to direct society +instead of obeying its directions, have destroyed or enfeebled the +institution of the jury. The monarchs of the House of Tudor sent to +prison jurors who refused to convict, and Napoleon caused them to be +returned by his agents. + +f +[ [This may be true to some extent of special juries, but not of common +juries. The author seems not to have been aware that the qualifications +of jurors in England vary exceedingly.]] + + +g +[ See Appendix, Q.] + + +However clear most of these truths may seem to be, they do not command +universal assent, and in France, at least, the institution of trial by +jury is still very imperfectly understood. If the question arises as to +the proper qualification of jurors, it is confined to a discussion of +the intelligence and knowledge of the citizens who may be returned, as +if the jury was merely a judicial institution. This appears to me to be +the least part of the subject. The jury is pre-eminently a political +institution; it must be regarded as one form of the sovereignty of the +people; when that sovereignty is repudiated, it must be rejected, or it +must be adapted to the laws by which that sovereignty is established. +The jury is that portion of the nation to which the execution of the +laws is entrusted, as the Houses of Parliament constitute that part of +the nation which makes the laws; and in order that society may be +governed with consistency and uniformity, the list of citizens +qualified to serve on juries must increase and diminish with the list +of electors. This I hold to be the point of view most worthy of the +attention of the legislator, and all that remains is merely accessory. + +I am so entirely convinced that the jury is pre-eminently a political +institution that I still consider it in this light when it is applied +in civil causes. Laws are always unstable unless they are founded upon +the manners of a nation; manners are the only durable and resisting +power in a people. When the jury is reserved for criminal offences, the +people only witnesses its occasional action in certain particular +cases; the ordinary course of life goes on without its interference, +and it is considered as an instrument, but not as the only instrument, +of obtaining justice. This is true a fortiori when the jury is only +applied to certain criminal causes. + +When, on the contrary, the influence of the jury is extended to civil +causes, its application is constantly palpable; it affects all the +interests of the community; everyone co-operates in its work: it thus +penetrates into all the usages of life, it fashions the human mind to +its peculiar forms, and is gradually associated with the idea of +justice itself. + +The institution of the jury, if confined to criminal causes, is always +in danger, but when once it is introduced into civil proceedings it +defies the aggressions of time and of man. If it had been as easy to +remove the jury from the manners as from the laws of England, it would +have perished under Henry VIII, and Elizabeth, and the civil jury did +in reality, at that period, save the liberties of the country. In +whatever manner the jury be applied, it cannot fail to exercise a +powerful influence upon the national character; but this influence is +prodigiously increased when it is introduced into civil causes. The +jury, and more especially the jury in civil cases, serves to +communicate the spirit of the judges to the minds of all the citizens; +and this spirit, with the habits which attend it, is the soundest +preparation for free institutions. It imbues all classes with a respect +for the thing judged, and with the notion of right. If these two +elements be removed, the love of independence is reduced to a mere +destructive passion. It teaches men to practice equity, every man +learns to judge his neighbor as he would himself be judged; and this is +especially true of the jury in civil causes, for, whilst the number of +persons who have reason to apprehend a criminal prosecution is small, +every one is liable to have a civil action brought against him. The +jury teaches every man not to recoil before the responsibility of his +own actions, and impresses him with that manly confidence without which +political virtue cannot exist. It invests each citizen with a kind of +magistracy, it makes them all feel the duties which they are bound to +discharge towards society, and the part which they take in the +Government. By obliging men to turn their attention to affairs which +are not exclusively their own, it rubs off that individual egotism +which is the rust of society. + +The jury contributes most powerfully to form the judgement and to +increase the natural intelligence of a people, and this is, in my +opinion, its greatest advantage. It may be regarded as a gratuitous +public school ever open, in which every juror learns to exercise his +rights, enters into daily communication with the most learned and +enlightened members of the upper classes, and becomes practically +acquainted with the laws of his country, which are brought within the +reach of his capacity by the efforts of the bar, the advice of the +judge, and even by the passions of the parties. I think that the +practical intelligence and political good sense of the Americans are +mainly attributable to the long use which they have made of the jury in +civil causes. I do not know whether the jury is useful to those who are +in litigation; but I am certain it is highly beneficial to those who +decide the litigation; and I look upon it as one of the most +efficacious means for the education of the people which society can +employ. + +What I have hitherto said applies to all nations, but the remark I am +now about to make is peculiar to the Americans and to democratic +peoples. I have already observed that in democracies the members of the +legal profession and the magistrates constitute the only aristocratic +body which can check the irregularities of the people. This aristocracy +is invested with no physical power, but it exercises its conservative +influence upon the minds of men, and the most abundant source of its +authority is the institution of the civil jury. In criminal causes, +when society is armed against a single individual, the jury is apt to +look upon the judge as the passive instrument of social power, and to +mistrust his advice. Moreover, criminal causes are entirely founded +upon the evidence of facts which common sense can readily appreciate; +upon this ground the judge and the jury are equal. Such, however, is +not the case in civil causes; then the judge appears as a disinterested +arbiter between the conflicting passions of the parties. The jurors +look up to him with confidence and listen to him with respect, for in +this instance their intelligence is completely under the control of his +learning. It is the judge who sums up the various arguments with which +their memory has been wearied out, and who guides them through the +devious course of the proceedings; he points their attention to the +exact question of fact which they are called upon to solve, and he puts +the answer to the question of law into their mouths. His influence upon +their verdict is almost unlimited. + +If I am called upon to explain why I am but little moved by the +arguments derived from the ignorance of jurors in civil causes, I +reply, that in these proceedings, whenever the question to be solved is +not a mere question of fact, the jury has only the semblance of a +judicial body. The jury sanctions the decision of the judge, they by +the authority of society which they represent, and he by that of reason +and of law. *h + +h +[ See Appendix, R.] + + +In England and in America the judges exercise an influence upon +criminal trials which the French judges have never possessed. The +reason of this difference may easily be discovered; the English and +American magistrates establish their authority in civil causes, and +only transfer it afterwards to tribunals of another kind, where that +authority was not acquired. In some cases (and they are frequently the +most important ones) the American judges have the right of deciding +causes alone. *i Upon these occasions they are accidentally placed in +the position which the French judges habitually occupy, but they are +invested with far more power than the latter; they are still surrounded +by the reminiscence of the jury, and their judgment has almost as much +authority as the voice of the community at large, represented by that +institution. Their influence extends beyond the limits of the courts; +in the recreations of private life as well as in the turmoil of public +business, abroad and in the legislative assemblies, the American judge +is constantly surrounded by men who are accustomed to regard his +intelligence as superior to their own, and after having exercised his +power in the decision of causes, he continues to influence the habits +of thought and the characters of the individuals who took a part in his +judgment. + +i +[ The Federal judges decide upon their own authority almost all the +questions most important to the country.] + + +The jury, then, which seems to restrict the rights of magistracy, does +in reality consolidate its power, and in no country are the judges so +powerful as there, where the people partakes their privileges. It is +more especially by means of the jury in civil causes that the American +magistrates imbue all classes of society with the spirit of their +profession. Thus the jury, which is the most energetic means of making +the people rule, is also the most efficacious means of teaching it to +rule well. + + + + + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part I + + +Principal Causes Which Tend To Maintain The Democratic Republic In The +United States + +A democratic republic subsists in the United States, and the principal +object of this book has been to account for the fact of its existence. +Several of the causes which contribute to maintain the institutions of +America have been involuntarily passed by or only hinted at as I was +borne along by my subject. Others I have been unable to discuss, and +those on which I have dwelt most are, as it were, buried in the details +of the former parts of this work. I think, therefore, that before I +proceed to speak of the future, I cannot do better than collect within +a small compass the reasons which best explain the present. In this +retrospective chapter I shall be succinct, for I shall take care to +remind the reader very summarily of what he already knows; and I shall +only select the most prominent of those facts which I have not yet +pointed out. + +All the causes which contribute to the maintenance of the democratic +republic in the United States are reducible to three heads:— + +I. The peculiar and accidental situation in which Providence has placed +the Americans. + +II. The laws. + +III. The manners and customs of the people. + +Accidental Or Providential Causes Which Contribute To The Maintenance +Of The Democratic Republic In The United States The Union has no +neighbors—No metropolis—The Americans have had the chances of birth in +their favor—America an empty country—How this circumstance contributes +powerfully to the maintenance of the democratic republic in America—How +the American wilds are peopled—Avidity of the Anglo-Americans in taking +possession of the solitudes of the New World—Influence of physical +prosperity upon the political opinions of the Americans. + +A thousand circumstances, independent of the will of man, concur to +facilitate the maintenance of a democratic republic in the United +States. Some of these peculiarities are known, the others may easily be +pointed out; but I shall confine myself to the most prominent amongst +them. + +The Americans have no neighbors, and consequently they have no great +wars, or financial crises, or inroads, or conquest to dread; they +require neither great taxes, nor great armies, nor great generals; and +they have nothing to fear from a scourge which is more formidable to +republics than all these evils combined, namely, military glory. It is +impossible to deny the inconceivable influence which military glory +exercises upon the spirit of a nation. General Jackson, whom the +Americans have twice elected to the head of their Government, is a man +of a violent temper and mediocre talents; no one circumstance in the +whole course of his career ever proved that he is qualified to govern a +free people, and indeed the majority of the enlightened classes of the +Union has always been opposed to him. But he was raised to the +Presidency, and has been maintained in that lofty station, solely by +the recollection of a victory which he gained twenty years ago under +the walls of New Orleans, a victory which was, however, a very ordinary +achievement, and which could only be remembered in a country where +battles are rare. Now the people which is thus carried away by the +illusions of glory is unquestionably the most cold and calculating, the +most unmilitary (if I may use the expression), and the most prosaic of +all the peoples of the earth. + +America has no great capital *a city, whose influence is directly or +indirectly felt over the whole extent of the country, which I hold to +be one of the first causes of the maintenance of republican +institutions in the United States. In cities men cannot be prevented +from concerting together, and from awakening a mutual excitement which +prompts sudden and passionate resolutions. Cities may be looked upon as +large assemblies, of which all the inhabitants are members; their +populace exercises a prodigious influence upon the magistrates, and +frequently executes its own wishes without their intervention. + +a +[ The United States have no metropolis, but they already contain +several very large cities. Philadelphia reckoned 161,000 inhabitants +and New York 202,000 in the year 1830. The lower orders which inhabit +these cities constitute a rabble even more formidable than the populace +of European towns. They consist of freed blacks in the first place, who +are condemned by the laws and by public opinion to a hereditary state +of misery and degradation. They also contain a multitude of Europeans +who have been driven to the shores of the New World by their +misfortunes or their misconduct; and these men inoculate the United +States with all our vices, without bringing with them any of those +interests which counteract their baneful influence. As inhabitants of a +country where they have no civil rights, they are ready to turn all the +passions which agitate the community to their own advantage; thus, +within the last few months serious riots have broken out in +Philadelphia and in New York. Disturbances of this kind are unknown in +the rest of the country, which is nowise alarmed by them, because the +population of the cities has hitherto exercised neither power nor +influence over the rural districts. Nevertheless, I look upon the size +of certain American cities, and especially on the nature of their +population, as a real danger which threatens the future security of the +democratic republics of the New World; and I venture to predict that +they will perish from this circumstance unless the government succeeds +in creating an armed force, which, whilst it remains under the control +of the majority of the nation, will be independent of the town +population, and able to repress its excesses. + + +[The population of the city of New York had risen, in 1870, to 942,292, +and that of Philadelphia to 674,022. Brooklyn, which may be said to +form part of New York city, has a population of 396,099, in addition to +that of New York. The frequent disturbances in the great cities of +America, and the excessive corruption of their local governments—over +which there is no effectual control—are amongst the greatest evils and +dangers of the country.]] + +To subject the provinces to the metropolis is therefore not only to +place the destiny of the empire in the hands of a portion of the +community, which may be reprobated as unjust, but to place it in the +hands of a populace acting under its own impulses, which must be +avoided as dangerous. The preponderance of capital cities is therefore +a serious blow upon the representative system, and it exposes modern +republics to the same defect as the republics of antiquity, which all +perished from not having been acquainted with that form of government. + +It would be easy for me to adduce a great number of secondary causes +which have contributed to establish, and which concur to maintain, the +democratic republic of the United States. But I discern two principal +circumstances amongst these favorable elements, which I hasten to point +out. I have already observed that the origin of the American +settlements may be looked upon as the first and most efficacious cause +to which the present prosperity of the United States may be attributed. +The Americans had the chances of birth in their favor, and their +forefathers imported that equality of conditions into the country +whence the democratic republic has very naturally taken its rise. Nor +was this all they did; for besides this republican condition of +society, the early settler bequeathed to their descendants those +customs, manners, and opinions which contribute most to the success of +a republican form of government. When I reflect upon the consequences +of this primary circumstance, methinks I see the destiny of America +embodied in the first Puritan who landed on those shores, just as the +human race was represented by the first man. + +The chief circumstance which has favored the establishment and the +maintenance of a democratic republic in the United States is the nature +of the territory which the American inhabit. Their ancestors gave them +the love of equality and of freedom, but God himself gave them the +means of remaining equal and free, by placing them upon a boundless +continent, which is open to their exertions. General prosperity is +favorable to the stability of all governments, but more particularly of +a democratic constitution, which depends upon the dispositions of the +majority, and more particularly of that portion of the community which +is most exposed to feel the pressure of want. When the people rules, it +must be rendered happy, or it will overturn the State, and misery is +apt to stimulate it to those excesses to which ambition rouses kings. +The physical causes, independent of the laws, which contribute to +promote general prosperity, are more numerous in America than they have +ever been in any other country in the world, at any other period of +history. In the United States not only is legislation democratic, but +nature herself favors the cause of the people. + +In what part of human tradition can be found anything at all similar to +that which is occurring under our eyes in North America? The celebrated +communities of antiquity were all founded in the midst of hostile +nations, which they were obliged to subjugate before they could +flourish in their place. Even the moderns have found, in some parts of +South America, vast regions inhabited by a people of inferior +civilization, but which occupied and cultivated the soil. To found +their new states it was necessary to extirpate or to subdue a numerous +population, until civilization has been made to blush for their +success. But North America was only inhabited by wandering tribes, who +took no thought of the natural riches of the soil, and that vast +country was still, properly speaking, an empty continent, a desert land +awaiting its inhabitants. + +Everything is extraordinary in America, the social condition of the +inhabitants, as well as the laws; but the soil upon which these +institutions are founded is more extraordinary than all the rest. When +man was first placed upon the earth by the Creator, the earth was +inexhaustible in its youth, but man was weak and ignorant; and when he +had learned to explore the treasures which it contained, hosts of his +fellow creatures covered its surface, and he was obliged to earn an +asylum for repose and for freedom by the sword. At that same period +North America was discovered, as if it had been kept in reserve by the +Deity, and had just risen from beneath the waters of the deluge. + +That continent still presents, as it did in the primeval time, rivers +which rise from never-failing sources, green and moist solitudes, and +fields which the ploughshare of the husbandman has never turned. In +this state it is offered to man, not in the barbarous and isolated +condition of the early ages, but to a being who is already in +possession of the most potent secrets of the natural world, who is +united to his fellow-men, and instructed by the experience of fifty +centuries. At this very time thirteen millions of civilized Europeans +are peaceably spreading over those fertile plains, with whose resources +and whose extent they are not yet themselves accurately acquainted. +Three or four thousand soldiers drive the wandering races of the +aborigines before them; these are followed by the pioneers, who pierce +the woods, scare off the beasts of prey, explore the courses of the +inland streams, and make ready the triumphal procession of civilization +across the waste. + +The favorable influence of the temporal prosperity of America upon the +institutions of that country has been so often described by others, and +adverted to by myself, that I shall not enlarge upon it beyond the +addition of a few facts. An erroneous notion is generally entertained +that the deserts of America are peopled by European emigrants, who +annually disembark upon the coasts of the New World, whilst the +American population increases and multiplies upon the soil which its +forefathers tilled. The European settler, however, usually arrives in +the United States without friends, and sometimes without resources; in +order to subsist he is obliged to work for hire, and he rarely proceeds +beyond that belt of industrious population which adjoins the ocean. The +desert cannot be explored without capital or credit; and the body must +be accustomed to the rigors of a new climate before it can be exposed +to the chances of forest life. It is the Americans themselves who daily +quit the spots which gave them birth to acquire extensive domains in a +remote country. Thus the European leaves his cottage for the +trans-Atlantic shores; and the American, who is born on that very +coast, plunges in his turn into the wilds of Central America. This +double emigration is incessant; it begins in the remotest parts of +Europe, it crosses the Atlantic Ocean, and it advances over the +solitudes of the New World. Millions of men are marching at once +towards the same horizon; their language, their religion, their manners +differ, their object is the same. The gifts of fortune are promised in +the West, and to the West they bend their course. *b + +b +[ [The number of foreign immigrants into the United States in the last +fifty years (from 1820 to 1871) is stated to be 7,556,007. Of these, +4,104,553 spoke English—that is, they came from Great Britain, Ireland, +or the British colonies; 2,643,069 came from Germany or northern +Europe; and about half a million from the south of Europe.]] + + +No event can be compared with this continuous removal of the human +race, except perhaps those irruptions which preceded the fall of the +Roman Empire. Then, as well as now, generations of men were impelled +forwards in the same direction to meet and struggle on the same spot; +but the designs of Providence were not the same; then, every newcomer +was the harbinger of destruction and of death; now, every adventurer +brings with him the elements of prosperity and of life. The future +still conceals from us the ulterior consequences of this emigration of +the Americans towards the West; but we can readily apprehend its more +immediate results. As a portion of the inhabitants annually leave the +States in which they were born, the population of these States +increases very slowly, although they have long been established: thus +in Connecticut, which only contains fifty-nine inhabitants to the +square mile, the population has not increased by more than one-quarter +in forty years, whilst that of England has been augmented by one-third +in the lapse of the same period. The European emigrant always lands, +therefore, in a country which is but half full, and where hands are in +request: he becomes a workman in easy circumstances; his son goes to +seek his fortune in unpeopled regions, and he becomes a rich landowner. +The former amasses the capital which the latter invests, and the +stranger as well as the native is unacquainted with want. + +The laws of the United States are extremely favorable to the division +of property; but a cause which is more powerful than the laws prevents +property from being divided to excess. *c This is very perceptible in +the States which are beginning to be thickly peopled; Massachusetts is +the most populous part of the Union, but it contains only eighty +inhabitants to the square mile, which is must less than in France, +where 162 are reckoned to the same extent of country. But in +Massachusetts estates are very rarely divided; the eldest son takes the +land, and the others go to seek their fortune in the desert. The law +has abolished the rights of primogeniture, but circumstances have +concurred to re-establish it under a form of which none can complain, +and by which no just rights are impaired. + +c +[ In New England the estates are exceedingly small, but they are rarely +subjected to further division.] + + +A single fact will suffice to show the prodigious number of individuals +who leave New England, in this manner, to settle themselves in the +wilds. We were assured in 1830 that thirty-six of the members of +Congress were born in the little State of Connecticut. The population +of Connecticut, which constitutes only one forty-third part of that of +the United States, thus furnished one-eighth of the whole body of +representatives. The States of Connecticut, however, only sends five +delegates to Congress; and the thirty-one others sit for the new +Western States. If these thirty-one individuals had remained in +Connecticut, it is probable that instead of becoming rich landowners +they would have remained humble laborers, that they would have lived in +obscurity without being able to rise into public life, and that, far +from becoming useful members of the legislature, they might have been +unruly citizens. + +These reflections do not escape the observation of the Americans any +more than of ourselves. “It cannot be doubted,” says Chancellor Kent in +his “Treatise on American Law,” “that the division of landed estates +must produce great evils when it is carried to such excess as that each +parcel of land is insufficient to support a family; but these +disadvantages have never been felt in the United States, and many +generations must elapse before they can be felt. The extent of our +inhabited territory, the abundance of adjacent land, and the continual +stream of emigration flowing from the shores of the Atlantic towards +the interior of the country, suffice as yet, and will long suffice, to +prevent the parcelling out of estates.” + +It is difficult to describe the rapacity with which the American rushes +forward to secure the immense booty which fortune proffers to him. In +the pursuit he fearlessly braves the arrow of the Indian and the +distempers of the forest; he is unimpressed by the silence of the +woods; the approach of beasts of prey does not disturb him; for he is +goaded onwards by a passion more intense than the love of life. Before +him lies a boundless continent, and he urges onwards as if time +pressed, and he was afraid of finding no room for his exertions. I have +spoken of the emigration from the older States, but how shall I +describe that which takes place from the more recent ones? Fifty years +have scarcely elapsed since that of Ohio was founded; the greater part +of its inhabitants were not born within its confines; its capital has +only been built thirty years, and its territory is still covered by an +immense extent of uncultivated fields; nevertheless the population of +Ohio is already proceeding westward, and most of the settlers who +descend to the fertile savannahs of Illinois are citizens of Ohio. +These men left their first country to improve their condition; they +quit their resting-place to ameliorate it still more; fortune awaits +them everywhere, but happiness they cannot attain. The desire of +prosperity is become an ardent and restless passion in their minds +which grows by what it gains. They early broke the ties which bound +them to their natal earth, and they have contracted no fresh ones on +their way. Emigration was at first necessary to them as a means of +subsistence; and it soon becomes a sort of game of chance, which they +pursue for the emotions it excites as much as for the gain it procures. + +Sometimes the progress of man is so rapid that the desert reappears +behind him. The woods stoop to give him a passage, and spring up again +when he has passed. It is not uncommon in crossing the new States of +the West to meet with deserted dwellings in the midst of the wilds; the +traveller frequently discovers the vestiges of a log house in the most +solitary retreats, which bear witness to the power, and no less to the +inconstancy of man. In these abandoned fields, and over these ruins of +a day, the primeval forest soon scatters a fresh vegetation, the beasts +resume the haunts which were once their own, and Nature covers the +traces of man’s path with branches and with flowers, which obliterate +his evanescent track. + +I remember that, in crossing one of the woodland districts which still +cover the State of New York, I reached the shores of a lake embosomed +in forests coeval with the world. A small island, covered with woods +whose thick foliage concealed its banks, rose from the centre of the +waters. Upon the shores of the lake no object attested the presence of +man except a column of smoke which might be seen on the horizon rising +from the tops of the trees to the clouds, and seeming to hang from +heaven rather than to be mounting to the sky. An Indian shallop was +hauled up on the sand, which tempted me to visit the islet that had +first attracted my attention, and in a few minutes I set foot upon its +banks. The whole island formed one of those delicious solitudes of the +New World which almost lead civilized man to regret the haunts of the +savage. A luxuriant vegetation bore witness to the incomparable +fruitfulness of the soil. The deep silence which is common to the wilds +of North America was only broken by the hoarse cooing of the +wood-pigeon, and the tapping of the woodpecker upon the bark of trees. +I was far from supposing that this spot had ever been inhabited, so +completely did Nature seem to be left to her own caprices; but when I +reached the centre of the isle I thought that I discovered some traces +of man. I then proceeded to examine the surrounding objects with care, +and I soon perceived that a European had undoubtedly been led to seek a +refuge in this retreat. Yet what changes had taken place in the scene +of his labors! The logs which he had hastily hewn to build himself a +shed had sprouted afresh; the very props were intertwined with living +verdure, and his cabin was transformed into a bower. In the midst of +these shrubs a few stones were to be seen, blackened with fire and +sprinkled with thin ashes; here the hearth had no doubt been, and the +chimney in falling had covered it with rubbish. I stood for some time +in silent admiration of the exuberance of Nature and the littleness of +man: and when I was obliged to leave that enchanting solitude, I +exclaimed with melancholy, “Are ruins, then, already here?” + +In Europe we are wont to look upon a restless disposition, an unbounded +desire of riches, and an excessive love of independence, as +propensities very formidable to society. Yet these are the very +elements which ensure a long and peaceful duration to the republics of +America. Without these unquiet passions the population would collect in +certain spots, and would soon be subject to wants like those of the Old +World, which it is difficult to satisfy; for such is the present good +fortune of the New World, that the vices of its inhabitants are +scarcely less favorable to society than their virtues. These +circumstances exercise a great influence on the estimation in which +human actions are held in the two hemispheres. The Americans frequently +term what we should call cupidity a laudable industry; and they blame +as faint-heartedness what we consider to be the virtue of moderate +desires. + +In France, simple tastes, orderly manners, domestic affections, and the +attachments which men feel to the place of their birth, are looked upon +as great guarantees of the tranquillity and happiness of the State. But +in America nothing seems to be more prejudicial to society than these +virtues. The French Canadians, who have faithfully preserved the +traditions of their pristine manners, are already embarrassed for room +upon their small territory; and this little community, which has so +recently begun to exist, will shortly be a prey to the calamities +incident to old nations. In Canada, the most enlightened, patriotic, +and humane inhabitants make extraordinary efforts to render the people +dissatisfied with those simple enjoyments which still content it. +There, the seductions of wealth are vaunted with as much zeal as the +charms of an honest but limited income in the Old World, and more +exertions are made to excite the passions of the citizens there than to +calm them elsewhere. If we listen to their eulogies, we shall hear that +nothing is more praiseworthy than to exchange the pure and homely +pleasures which even the poor man tastes in his own country for the +dull delights of prosperity under a foreign sky; to leave the +patrimonial hearth and the turf beneath which his forefathers sleep; in +short, to abandon the living and the dead in quest of fortune. + +At the present time America presents a field for human effort far more +extensive than any sum of labor which can be applied to work it. In +America too much knowledge cannot be diffused; for all knowledge, +whilst it may serve him who possesses it, turns also to the advantage +of those who are without it. New wants are not to be feared, since they +can be satisfied without difficulty; the growth of human passions need +not be dreaded, since all passions may find an easy and a legitimate +object; nor can men be put in possession of too much freedom, since +they are scarcely ever tempted to misuse their liberties. + +The American republics of the present day are like companies of +adventurers formed to explore in common the waste lands of the New +World, and busied in a flourishing trade. The passions which agitate +the Americans most deeply are not their political but their commercial +passions; or, to speak more correctly, they introduce the habits they +contract in business into their political life. They love order, +without which affairs do not prosper; and they set an especial value +upon a regular conduct, which is the foundation of a solid business; +they prefer the good sense which amasses large fortunes to that +enterprising spirit which frequently dissipates them; general ideas +alarm their minds, which are accustomed to positive calculations, and +they hold practice in more honor than theory. + +It is in America that one learns to understand the influence which +physical prosperity exercises over political actions, and even over +opinions which ought to acknowledge no sway but that of reason; and it +is more especially amongst strangers that this truth is perceptible. +Most of the European emigrants to the New World carry with them that +wild love of independence and of change which our calamities are so apt +to engender. I sometimes met with Europeans in the United States who +had been obliged to leave their own country on account of their +political opinions. They all astonished me by the language they held, +but one of them surprised me more than all the rest. As I was crossing +one of the most remote districts of Pennsylvania I was benighted, and +obliged to beg for hospitality at the gate of a wealthy planter, who +was a Frenchman by birth. He bade me sit down beside his fire, and we +began to talk with that freedom which befits persons who meet in the +backwoods, two thousand leagues from their native country. I was aware +that my host had been a great leveller and an ardent demagogue forty +years ago, and that his name was not unknown to fame. I was, therefore, +not a little surprised to hear him discuss the rights of property as an +economist or a landowner might have done: he spoke of the necessary +gradations which fortune establishes among men, of obedience to +established laws, of the influence of good morals in commonwealths, and +of the support which religious opinions give to order and to freedom; +he even went to far as to quote an evangelical authority in +corroboration of one of his political tenets. + +I listened, and marvelled at the feebleness of human reason. A +proposition is true or false, but no art can prove it to be one or the +other, in the midst of the uncertainties of science and the conflicting +lessons of experience, until a new incident disperses the clouds of +doubt; I was poor, I become rich, and I am not to expect that +prosperity will act upon my conduct, and leave my judgment free; my +opinions change with my fortune, and the happy circumstances which I +turn to my advantage furnish me with that decisive argument which was +before wanting. The influence of prosperity acts still more freely upon +the American than upon strangers. The American has always seen the +connection of public order and public prosperity, intimately united as +they are, go on before his eyes; he does not conceive that one can +subsist without the other; he has therefore nothing to forget; nor has +he, like so many Europeans, to unlearn the lessons of his early +education. + + + + + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part II + + +Influence Of The Laws Upon The Maintenance Of The Democratic Republic +In The United States + +Three principal causes of the maintenance of the democratic +republic—Federal Constitutions—Municipal institutions—Judicial power. + +The principal aim of this book has been to make known the laws of the +United States; if this purpose has been accomplished, the reader is +already enabled to judge for himself which are the laws that really +tend to maintain the democratic republic, and which endanger its +existence. If I have not succeeded in explaining this in the whole +course of my work, I cannot hope to do so within the limits of a single +chapter. It is not my intention to retrace the path I have already +pursued, and a very few lines will suffice to recapitulate what I have +previously explained. + +Three circumstances seem to me to contribute most powerfully to the +maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States. + +The first is that Federal form of Government which the Americans have +adopted, and which enables the Union to combine the power of a great +empire with the security of a small State. + +The second consists in those municipal institutions which limit the +despotism of the majority, and at the same time impart a taste for +freedom and a knowledge of the art of being free to the people. + +The third is to be met with in the constitution of the judicial power. +I have shown in what manner the courts of justice serve to repress the +excesses of democracy, and how they check and direct the impulses of +the majority without stopping its activity. + +Influence Of Manners Upon The Maintenance Of The Democratic Republic In +The United States + +I have previously remarked that the manners of the people may be +considered as one of the general causes to which the maintenance of a +democratic republic in the United States is attributable. I here used +the word manners with the meaning which the ancients attached to the +word mores, for I apply it not only to manners in their proper sense of +what constitutes the character of social intercourse, but I extend it +to the various notions and opinions current among men, and to the mass +of those ideas which constitute their character of mind. I comprise, +therefore, under this term the whole moral and intellectual condition +of a people. My intention is not to draw a picture of American manners, +but simply to point out such features of them as are favorable to the +maintenance of political institutions. + +Religion Considered As A Political Institution, Which Powerfully +Contributes To The Maintenance Of The Democratic Republic Amongst The +Americans + +North America peopled by men who professed a democratic and republican +Christianity—Arrival of the Catholics—For what reason the Catholics +form the most democratic and the most republican class at the present +time. + +Every religion is to be found in juxtaposition to a political opinion +which is connected with it by affinity. If the human mind be left to +follow its own bent, it will regulate the temporal and spiritual +institutions of society upon one uniform principle; and man will +endeavor, if I may use the expression, to harmonize the state in which +he lives upon earth with the state which he believes to await him in +heaven. The greatest part of British America was peopled by men who, +after having shaken off the authority of the Pope, acknowledged no +other religious supremacy; they brought with them into the New World a +form of Christianity which I cannot better describe than by styling it +a democratic and republican religion. This sect contributed powerfully +to the establishment of a democracy and a republic, and from the +earliest settlement of the emigrants politics and religion contracted +an alliance which has never been dissolved. + +About fifty years ago Ireland began to pour a Catholic population into +the United States; on the other hand, the Catholics of America made +proselytes, and at the present moment more than a million of Christians +professing the truths of the Church of Rome are to be met with in the +Union. *d The Catholics are faithful to the observances of their +religion; they are fervent and zealous in the support and belief of +their doctrines. Nevertheless they constitute the most republican and +the most democratic class of citizens which exists in the United +States; and although this fact may surprise the observer at first, the +causes by which it is occasioned may easily be discovered upon +reflection. + +d +[ [It is difficult to ascertain with accuracy the amount of the Roman +Catholic population of the United States, but in 1868 an able writer in +the “Edinburgh Review” (vol. cxxvii. p. 521) affirmed that the whole +Catholic population of the United States was then about 4,000,000, +divided into 43 dioceses, with 3,795 churches, under the care of 45 +bishops and 2,317 clergymen. But this rapid increase is mainly +supported by immigration from the Catholic countries of Europe.]] + + +I think that the Catholic religion has erroneously been looked upon as +the natural enemy of democracy. Amongst the various sects of +Christians, Catholicism seems to me, on the contrary, to be one of +those which are most favorable to the equality of conditions. In the +Catholic Church, the religious community is composed of only two +elements, the priest and the people. The priest alone rises above the +rank of his flock, and all below him are equal. + +On doctrinal points the Catholic faith places all human capacities upon +the same level; it subjects the wise and ignorant, the man of genius +and the vulgar crowd, to the details of the same creed; it imposes the +same observances upon the rich and needy, it inflicts the same +austerities upon the strong and the weak, it listens to no compromise +with mortal man, but, reducing all the human race to the same standard, +it confounds all the distinctions of society at the foot of the same +altar, even as they are confounded in the sight of God. If Catholicism +predisposes the faithful to obedience, it certainly does not prepare +them for inequality; but the contrary may be said of Protestantism, +which generally tends to make men independent, more than to render them +equal. + +Catholicism is like an absolute monarchy; if the sovereign be removed, +all the other classes of society are more equal than they are in +republics. It has not unfrequently occurred that the Catholic priest +has left the service of the altar to mix with the governing powers of +society, and to take his place amongst the civil gradations of men. +This religious influence has sometimes been used to secure the +interests of that political state of things to which he belonged. At +other times Catholics have taken the side of aristocracy from a spirit +of religion. + +But no sooner is the priesthood entirely separated from the government, +as is the case in the United States, than is found that no class of men +are more naturally disposed than the Catholics to transfuse the +doctrine of the equality of conditions into the political world. If, +then, the Catholic citizens of the United States are not forcibly led +by the nature of their tenets to adopt democratic and republican +principles, at least they are not necessarily opposed to them; and +their social position, as well as their limited number, obliges them to +adopt these opinions. Most of the Catholics are poor, and they have no +chance of taking a part in the government unless it be open to all the +citizens. They constitute a minority, and all rights must be respected +in order to insure to them the free exercise of their own privileges. +These two causes induce them, unconsciously, to adopt political +doctrines, which they would perhaps support with less zeal if they were +rich and preponderant. + +The Catholic clergy of the United States has never attempted to oppose +this political tendency, but it seeks rather to justify its results. +The priests in America have divided the intellectual world into two +parts: in the one they place the doctrines of revealed religion, which +command their assent; in the other they leave those truths which they +believe to have been freely left open to the researches of political +inquiry. Thus the Catholics of the United States are at the same time +the most faithful believers and the most zealous citizens. + +It may be asserted that in the United States no religious doctrine +displays the slightest hostility to democratic and republican +institutions. The clergy of all the different sects hold the same +language, their opinions are consonant to the laws, and the human +intellect flows onwards in one sole current. + +I happened to be staying in one of the largest towns in the Union, when +I was invited to attend a public meeting which had been called for the +purpose of assisting the Poles, and of sending them supplies of arms +and money. I found two or three thousand persons collected in a vast +hall which had been prepared to receive them. In a short time a priest +in his ecclesiastical robes advanced to the front of the hustings: the +spectators rose, and stood uncovered, whilst he spoke in the following +terms:— + +“Almighty God! the God of Armies! Thou who didst strengthen the hearts +and guide the arms of our fathers when they were fighting for the +sacred rights of national independence; Thou who didst make them +triumph over a hateful oppression, and hast granted to our people the +benefits of liberty and peace; Turn, O Lord, a favorable eye upon the +other hemisphere; pitifully look down upon that heroic nation which is +even now struggling as we did in the former time, and for the same +rights which we defended with our blood. Thou, who didst create Man in +the likeness of the same image, let not tyranny mar Thy work, and +establish inequality upon the earth. Almighty God! do Thou watch over +the destiny of the Poles, and render them worthy to be free. May Thy +wisdom direct their councils, and may Thy strength sustain their arms! +Shed forth Thy terror over their enemies, scatter the powers which take +counsel against them; and vouchsafe that the injustice which the world +has witnessed for fifty years, be not consummated in our time. O Lord, +who holdest alike the hearts of nations and of men in Thy powerful +hand; raise up allies to the sacred cause of right; arouse the French +nation from the apathy in which its rulers retain it, that it go forth +again to fight for the liberties of the world. + +“Lord, turn not Thou Thy face from us, and grant that we may always be +the most religious as well as the freest people of the earth. Almighty +God, hear our supplications this day. Save the Poles, we beseech Thee, +in the name of Thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died +upon the cross for the salvation of men. Amen.” + +The whole meeting responded “Amen!” with devotion. + +Indirect Influence Of Religious Opinions Upon Political Society In The +United States + +Christian morality common to all sects—Influence of religion upon the +manners of the Americans—Respect for the marriage tie—In what manner +religion confines the imagination of the Americans within certain +limits, and checks the passion of innovation—Opinion of the Americans +on the political utility of religion—Their exertions to extend and +secure its predominance. + +I have just shown what the direct influence of religion upon politics +is in the United States, but its indirect influence appears to me to be +still more considerable, and it never instructs the Americans more +fully in the art of being free than when it says nothing of freedom. + +The sects which exist in the United States are innumerable. They all +differ in respect to the worship which is due from man to his Creator, +but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to +man. Each sect adores the Deity in its own peculiar manner, but all the +sects preach the same moral law in the name of God. If it be of the +highest importance to man, as an individual, that his religion should +be true, the case of society is not the same. Society has no future +life to hope for or to fear; and provided the citizens profess a +religion, the peculiar tenets of that religion are of very little +importance to its interests. Moreover, almost all the sects of the +United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and +Christian morality is everywhere the same. + +It may be believed without unfairness that a certain number of +Americans pursue a peculiar form of worship, from habit more than from +conviction. In the United States the sovereign authority is religious, +and consequently hypocrisy must be common; but there is no country in +the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater +influence over the souls of men than in America; and there can be no +greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, +than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most +enlightened and free nation of the earth. + +I have remarked that the members of the American clergy in general, +without even excepting those who do not admit religious liberty, are +all in favor of civil freedom; but they do not support any particular +political system. They keep aloof from parties and from public affairs. +In the United States religion exercises but little influence upon the +laws and upon the details of public opinion, but it directs the manners +of the community, and by regulating domestic life it regulates the +State. + +I do not question that the great austerity of manners which is +observable in the United States, arises, in the first instance, from +religious faith. Religion is often unable to restrain man from the +numberless temptations of fortune; nor can it check that passion for +gain which every incident of his life contributes to arouse, but its +influence over the mind of woman is supreme, and women are the +protectors of morals. There is certainly no country in the world where +the tie of marriage is so much respected as in America, or where +conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated. In Europe +almost all the disturbances of society arise from the irregularities of +domestic life. To despise the natural bonds and legitimate pleasures of +home, is to contract a taste for excesses, a restlessness of heart, and +the evil of fluctuating desires. Agitated by the tumultuous passions +which frequently disturb his dwelling, the European is galled by the +obedience which the legislative powers of the State exact. But when the +American retires from the turmoil of public life to the bosom of his +family, he finds in it the image of order and of peace. There his +pleasures are simple and natural, his joys are innocent and calm; and +as he finds that an orderly life is the surest path to happiness, he +accustoms himself without difficulty to moderate his opinions as well +as his tastes. Whilst the European endeavors to forget his domestic +troubles by agitating society, the American derives from his own home +that love of order which he afterwards carries with him into public +affairs. + +In the United States the influence of religion is not confined to the +manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people. Amongst the +Anglo-Americans, there are some who profess the doctrines of +Christianity from a sincere belief in them, and others who do the same +because they are afraid to be suspected of unbelief. Christianity, +therefore, reigns without any obstacle, by universal consent; the +consequence is, as I have before observed, that every principle of the +moral world is fixed and determinate, although the political world is +abandoned to the debates and the experiments of men. Thus the human +mind is never left to wander across a boundless field; and, whatever +may be its pretensions, it is checked from time to time by barriers +which it cannot surmount. Before it can perpetrate innovation, certain +primal and immutable principles are laid down, and the boldest +conceptions of human device are subjected to certain forms which retard +and stop their completion. + +The imagination of the Americans, even in its greatest flights, is +circumspect and undecided; its impulses are checked, and its works +unfinished. These habits of restraint recur in political society, and +are singularly favorable both to the tranquillity of the people and to +the durability of the institutions it has established. Nature and +circumstances concurred to make the inhabitants of the United States +bold men, as is sufficiently attested by the enterprising spirit with +which they seek for fortune. If the mind of the Americans were free +from all trammels, they would very shortly become the most daring +innovators and the most implacable disputants in the world. But the +revolutionists of America are obliged to profess an ostensible respect +for Christian morality and equity, which does not easily permit them to +violate the laws that oppose their designs; nor would they find it easy +to surmount the scruples of their partisans, even if they were able to +get over their own. Hitherto no one in the United States has dared to +advance the maxim, that everything is permissible with a view to the +interests of society; an impious adage which seems to have been +invented in an age of freedom to shelter all the tyrants of future +ages. Thus whilst the law permits the Americans to do what they please, +religion prevents them from conceiving, and forbids them to commit, +what is rash or unjust. + +Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, +but it must nevertheless be regarded as the foremost of the political +institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for +freedom, it facilitates the use of free institutions. Indeed, it is in +this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States +themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all the +Americans have a sincere faith in their religion, for who can search +the human heart? but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable +to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not +peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the +whole nation, and to every rank of society. + +In the United States, if a political character attacks a sect, this may +not prevent even the partisans of that very sect from supporting him; +but if he attacks all the sects together, everyone abandons him, and he +remains alone. + +Whilst I was in America, a witness, who happened to be called at the +assizes of the county of Chester (State of New York), declared that he +did not believe in the existence of God, or in the immortality of the +soul. The judge refused to admit his evidence, on the ground that the +witness had destroyed beforehand all the confidence of the Court in +what he was about to say. *e The newspapers related the fact without +any further comment. + +e +[ The New York “Spectator” of August 23, 1831, relates the fact in the +following terms:—“The Court of Common Pleas of Chester county (New +York) a few days since rejected a witness who declared his disbelief in +the existence of God. The presiding judge remarked that he had not +before been aware that there was a man living who did not believe in +the existence of God; that this belief constituted the sanction of all +testimony in a court of justice, and that he knew of no cause in a +Christian country where a witness had been permitted to testify without +such belief.”] + + +The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so +intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive +the one without the other; and with them this conviction does not +spring from that barren traditionary faith which seems to vegetate in +the soul rather than to live. + +I have known of societies formed by the Americans to send out ministers +of the Gospel into the new Western States to found schools and churches +there, lest religion should be suffered to die away in those remote +settlements, and the rising States be less fitted to enjoy free +institutions than the people from which they emanated. I met with +wealthy New Englanders who abandoned the country in which they were +born in order to lay the foundations of Christianity and of freedom on +the banks of the Missouri, or in the prairies of Illinois. Thus +religious zeal is perpetually stimulated in the United States by the +duties of patriotism. These men do not act from an exclusive +consideration of the promises of a future life; eternity is only one +motive of their devotion to the cause; and if you converse with these +missionaries of Christian civilization, you will be surprised to find +how much value they set upon the goods of this world, and that you meet +with a politician where you expected to find a priest. They will tell +you that “all the American republics are collectively involved with +each other; if the republics of the West were to fall into anarchy, or +to be mastered by a despot, the republican institutions which now +flourish upon the shores of the Atlantic Ocean would be in great peril. +It is, therefore, our interest that the new States should be religious, +in order to maintain our liberties.” + +Such are the opinions of the Americans, and if any hold that the +religious spirit which I admire is the very thing most amiss in +America, and that the only element wanting to the freedom and happiness +of the human race is to believe in some blind cosmogony, or to assert +with Cabanis the secretion of thought by the brain, I can only reply +that those who hold this language have never been in America, and that +they have never seen a religious or a free nation. When they return +from their expedition, we shall hear what they have to say. + +There are persons in France who look upon republican institutions as a +temporary means of power, of wealth, and distinction; men who are the +condottieri of liberty, and who fight for their own advantage, whatever +be the colors they wear: it is not to these that I address myself. But +there are others who look forward to the republican form of government +as a tranquil and lasting state, towards which modern society is daily +impelled by the ideas and manners of the time, and who sincerely desire +to prepare men to be free. When these men attack religious opinions, +they obey the dictates of their passions to the prejudice of their +interests. Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. +Religion is much more necessary in the republic which they set forth in +glowing colors than in the monarchy which they attack; and it is more +needed in democratic republics than in any others. How is it possible +that society should escape destruction if the moral tie be not +strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? and what +can be done with a people which is its own master, if it be not +submissive to the Divinity? + + + + + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part III + + +Principal Causes Which Render Religion Powerful In America Care taken +by the Americans to separate the Church from the State—The laws, public +opinion, and even the exertions of the clergy concur to promote this +end—Influence of religion upon the mind in the United States +attributable to this cause—Reason of this—What is the natural state of +men with regard to religion at the present time—What are the peculiar +and incidental causes which prevent men, in certain countries, from +arriving at this state. + +The philosophers of the eighteenth century explained the gradual decay +of religious faith in a very simple manner. Religious zeal, said they, +must necessarily fail, the more generally liberty is established and +knowledge diffused. Unfortunately, facts are by no means in accordance +with their theory. There are certain populations in Europe whose +unbelief is only equalled by their ignorance and their debasement, +whilst in America one of the freest and most enlightened nations in the +world fulfils all the outward duties of religious fervor. + +Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the +country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I +stayed there the more did I perceive the great political consequences +resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In +France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit +of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in +America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned +in common over the same country. My desire to discover the causes of +this phenomenon increased from day to day. In order to satisfy it I +questioned the members of all the different sects; and I more +especially sought the society of the clergy, who are the depositaries +of the different persuasions, and who are more especially interested in +their duration. As a member of the Roman Catholic Church I was more +particularly brought into contact with several of its priests, with +whom I became intimately acquainted. To each of these men I expressed +my astonishment and I explained my doubts; I found that they differed +upon matters of detail alone; and that they mainly attributed the +peaceful dominion of religion in their country to the separation of +Church and State. I do not hesitate to affirm that during my stay in +America I did not meet with a single individual, of the clergy or of +the laity, who was not of the same opinion upon this point. + +This led me to examine more attentively than I had hitherto done, the +station which the American clergy occupy in political society. I +learned with surprise that they filled no public appointments; *f not +one of them is to be met with in the administration, and they are not +even represented in the legislative assemblies. In several States *g +the law excludes them from political life, public opinion in all. And +when I came to inquire into the prevailing spirit of the clergy I found +that most of its members seemed to retire of their own accord from the +exercise of power, and that they made it the pride of their profession +to abstain from politics. + +f +[ Unless this term be applied to the functions which many of them fill +in the schools. Almost all education is entrusted to the clergy.] + + +g +[ See the Constitution of New York, art. 7, Section 4:— “And whereas +the ministers of the gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to the +service of God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from +the great duties of their functions: therefore no minister of the +gospel, or priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall at any time +hereafter, under any pretence or description whatever, be eligible to, +or capable of holding, any civil or military office or place within +this State.” + + +See also the constitutions of North Carolina, art. 31; Virginia; South +Carolina, art. I, Section 23; Kentucky, art. 2, Section 26; Tennessee, +art. 8, Section I; Louisiana, art. 2, Section 22.] + +I heard them inveigh against ambition and deceit, under whatever +political opinions these vices might chance to lurk; but I learned from +their discourses that men are not guilty in the eye of God for any +opinions concerning political government which they may profess with +sincerity, any more than they are for their mistakes in building a +house or in driving a furrow. I perceived that these ministers of the +gospel eschewed all parties with the anxiety attendant upon personal +interest. These facts convinced me that what I had been told was true; +and it then became my object to investigate their causes, and to +inquire how it happened that the real authority of religion was +increased by a state of things which diminished its apparent force: +these causes did not long escape my researches. + +The short space of threescore years can never content the imagination +of man; nor can the imperfect joys of this world satisfy his heart. Man +alone, of all created beings, displays a natural contempt of existence, +and yet a boundless desire to exist; he scorns life, but he dreads +annihilation. These different feelings incessantly urge his soul to the +contemplation of a future state, and religion directs his musings +thither. Religion, then, is simply another form of hope; and it is no +less natural to the human heart than hope itself. Men cannot abandon +their religious faith without a kind of aberration of intellect, and a +sort of violent distortion of their true natures; but they are +invincibly brought back to more pious sentiments; for unbelief is an +accident, and faith is the only permanent state of mankind. If we only +consider religious institutions in a purely human point of view, they +may be said to derive an inexhaustible element of strength from man +himself, since they belong to one of the constituent principles of +human nature. + +I am aware that at certain times religion may strengthen this +influence, which originates in itself, by the artificial power of the +laws, and by the support of those temporal institutions which direct +society. Religions, intimately united to the governments of the earth, +have been known to exercise a sovereign authority derived from the +twofold source of terror and of faith; but when a religion contracts an +alliance of this nature, I do not hesitate to affirm that it commits +the same error as a man who should sacrifice his future to his present +welfare; and in obtaining a power to which it has no claim, it risks +that authority which is rightfully its own. When a religion founds its +empire upon the desire of immortality which lives in every human heart, +it may aspire to universal dominion; but when it connects itself with a +government, it must necessarily adopt maxims which are only applicable +to certain nations. Thus, in forming an alliance with a political +power, religion augments its authority over a few, and forfeits the +hope of reigning over all. + +As long as a religion rests upon those sentiments which are the +consolation of all affliction, it may attract the affections of +mankind. But if it be mixed up with the bitter passions of the world, +it may be constrained to defend allies whom its interests, and not the +principle of love, have given to it; or to repel as antagonists men who +are still attached to its own spirit, however opposed they may be to +the powers to which it is allied. The Church cannot share the temporal +power of the State without being the object of a portion of that +animosity which the latter excites. + +The political powers which seem to be most firmly established have +frequently no better guarantee for their duration than the opinions of +a generation, the interests of the time, or the life of an individual. +A law may modify the social condition which seems to be most fixed and +determinate; and with the social condition everything else must change. +The powers of society are more or less fugitive, like the years which +we spend upon the earth; they succeed each other with rapidity, like +the fleeting cares of life; and no government has ever yet been founded +upon an invariable disposition of the human heart, or upon an +imperishable interest. + +As long as a religion is sustained by those feelings, propensities, and +passions which are found to occur under the same forms, at all the +different periods of history, it may defy the efforts of time; or at +least it can only be destroyed by another religion. But when religion +clings to the interests of the world, it becomes almost as fragile a +thing as the powers of earth. It is the only one of them all which can +hope for immortality; but if it be connected with their ephemeral +authority, it shares their fortunes, and may fall with those transient +passions which supported them for a day. The alliance which religion +contracts with political powers must needs be onerous to itself; since +it does not require their assistance to live, and by giving them its +assistance it may be exposed to decay. + +The danger which I have just pointed out always exists, but it is not +always equally visible. In some ages governments seem to be +imperishable; in others, the existence of society appears to be more +precarious than the life of man. Some constitutions plunge the citizens +into a lethargic somnolence, and others rouse them to feverish +excitement. When governments appear to be so strong, and laws so +stable, men do not perceive the dangers which may accrue from a union +of Church and State. When governments display so much weakness, and +laws so much inconstancy, the danger is self-evident, but it is no +longer possible to avoid it; to be effectual, measures must be taken to +discover its approach. + +In proportion as a nation assumes a democratic condition of society, +and as communities display democratic propensities, it becomes more and +more dangerous to connect religion with political institutions; for the +time is coming when authority will be bandied from hand to hand, when +political theories will succeed each other, and when men, laws, and +constitutions will disappear, or be modified from day to day, and this, +not for a season only, but unceasingly. Agitation and mutability are +inherent in the nature of democratic republics, just as stagnation and +inertness are the law of absolute monarchies. + +If the Americans, who change the head of the Government once in four +years, who elect new legislators every two years, and renew the +provincial officers every twelvemonth; if the Americans, who have +abandoned the political world to the attempts of innovators, had not +placed religion beyond their reach, where could it abide in the ebb and +flow of human opinions? where would that respect which belongs to it be +paid, amidst the struggles of faction? and what would become of its +immortality, in the midst of perpetual decay? The American clergy were +the first to perceive this truth, and to act in conformity with it. +They saw that they must renounce their religious influence, if they +were to strive for political power; and they chose to give up the +support of the State, rather than to share its vicissitudes. + +In America, religion is perhaps less powerful than it has been at +certain periods in the history of certain peoples; but its influence is +more lasting. It restricts itself to its own resources, but of those +none can deprive it: its circle is limited to certain principles, but +those principles are entirely its own, and under its undisputed +control. + +On every side in Europe we hear voices complaining of the absence of +religious faith, and inquiring the means of restoring to religion some +remnant of its pristine authority. It seems to me that we must first +attentively consider what ought to be the natural state of men with +regard to religion at the present time; and when we know what we have +to hope and to fear, we may discern the end to which our efforts ought +to be directed. + +The two great dangers which threaten the existence of religions are +schism and indifference. In ages of fervent devotion, men sometimes +abandon their religion, but they only shake it off in order to adopt +another. Their faith changes the objects to which it is directed, but +it suffers no decline. The old religion then excites enthusiastic +attachment or bitter enmity in either party; some leave it with anger, +others cling to it with increased devotedness, and although persuasions +differ, irreligion is unknown. Such, however, is not the case when a +religious belief is secretly undermined by doctrines which may be +termed negative, since they deny the truth of one religion without +affirming that of any other. Prodigious revolutions then take place in +the human mind, without the apparent co-operation of the passions of +man, and almost without his knowledge. Men lose the objects of their +fondest hopes, as if through forgetfulness. They are carried away by an +imperceptible current which they have not the courage to stem, but +which they follow with regret, since it bears them from a faith they +love, to a scepticism that plunges them into despair. + +In ages which answer to this description, men desert their religious +opinions from lukewarmness rather than from dislike; they do not reject +them, but the sentiments by which they were once fostered disappear. +But if the unbeliever does not admit religion to be true, he still +considers it useful. Regarding religious institutions in a human point +of view, he acknowledges their influence upon manners and legislation. +He admits that they may serve to make men live in peace with one +another, and to prepare them gently for the hour of death. He regrets +the faith which he has lost; and as he is deprived of a treasure which +he has learned to estimate at its full value, he scruples to take it +from those who still possess it. + +On the other hand, those who continue to believe are not afraid openly +to avow their faith. They look upon those who do not share their +persuasion as more worthy of pity than of opposition; and they are +aware that to acquire the esteem of the unbelieving, they are not +obliged to follow their example. They are hostile to no one in the +world; and as they do not consider the society in which they live as an +arena in which religion is bound to face its thousand deadly foes, they +love their contemporaries, whilst they condemn their weaknesses and +lament their errors. + +As those who do not believe, conceal their incredulity; and as those +who believe, display their faith, public opinion pronounces itself in +favor of religion: love, support, and honor are bestowed upon it, and +it is only by searching the human soul that we can detect the wounds +which it has received. The mass of mankind, who are never without the +feeling of religion, do not perceive anything at variance with the +established faith. The instinctive desire of a future life brings the +crowd about the altar, and opens the hearts of men to the precepts and +consolations of religion. + +But this picture is not applicable to us: for there are men amongst us +who have ceased to believe in Christianity, without adopting any other +religion; others who are in the perplexities of doubt, and who already +affect not to believe; and others, again, who are afraid to avow that +Christian faith which they still cherish in secret. + +Amidst these lukewarm partisans and ardent antagonists a small number +of believers exist, who are ready to brave all obstacles and to scorn +all dangers in defence of their faith. They have done violence to human +weakness, in order to rise superior to public opinion. Excited by the +effort they have made, they scarcely knew where to stop; and as they +know that the first use which the French made of independence was to +attack religion, they look upon their contemporaries with dread, and +they recoil in alarm from the liberty which their fellow-citizens are +seeking to obtain. As unbelief appears to them to be a novelty, they +comprise all that is new in one indiscriminate animosity. They are at +war with their age and country, and they look upon every opinion which +is put forth there as the necessary enemy of the faith. + +Such is not the natural state of men with regard to religion at the +present day; and some extraordinary or incidental cause must be at work +in France to prevent the human mind from following its original +propensities and to drive it beyond the limits at which it ought +naturally to stop. I am intimately convinced that this extraordinary +and incidental cause is the close connection of politics and religion. +The unbelievers of Europe attack the Christians as their political +opponents, rather than as their religious adversaries; they hate the +Christian religion as the opinion of a party, much more than as an +error of belief; and they reject the clergy less because they are the +representatives of the Divinity than because they are the allies of +authority. + +In Europe, Christianity has been intimately united to the powers of the +earth. Those powers are now in decay, and it is, as it were, buried +under their ruins. The living body of religion has been bound down to +the dead corpse of superannuated polity: cut but the bonds which +restrain it, and that which is alive will rise once more. I know not +what could restore the Christian Church of Europe to the energy of its +earlier days; that power belongs to God alone; but it may be the effect +of human policy to leave the faith in the full exercise of the strength +which it still retains. + +How The Instruction, The Habits, And The Practical Experience Of The +Americans Promote The Success Of Their Democratic Institutions + +What is to be understood by the instruction of the American people—The +human mind more superficially instructed in the United States than in +Europe—No one completely uninstructed—Reason of this—Rapidity with +which opinions are diffused even in the uncultivated States of the +West—Practical experience more serviceable to the Americans than +book-learning. + +I have but little to add to what I have already said concerning the +influence which the instruction and the habits of the Americans +exercise upon the maintenance of their political institutions. + +America has hitherto produced very few writers of distinction; it +possesses no great historians, and not a single eminent poet. The +inhabitants of that country look upon what are properly styled literary +pursuits with a kind of disapprobation; and there are towns of very +second-rate importance in Europe in which more literary works are +annually published than in the twenty-four States of the Union put +together. The spirit of the Americans is averse to general ideas; and +it does not seek theoretical discoveries. Neither politics nor +manufactures direct them to these occupations; and although new laws +are perpetually enacted in the United States, no great writers have +hitherto inquired into the general principles of their legislation. The +Americans have lawyers and commentators, but no jurists; *h and they +furnish examples rather than lessons to the world. The same observation +applies to the mechanical arts. In America, the inventions of Europe +are adopted with sagacity; they are perfected, and adapted with +admirable skill to the wants of the country. Manufactures exist, but +the science of manufacture is not cultivated; and they have good +workmen, but very few inventors. Fulton was obliged to proffer his +services to foreign nations for a long time before he was able to +devote them to his own country. + +h +[ [This cannot be said with truth of the country of Kent, Story, and +Wheaton.]] + + +The observer who is desirous of forming an opinion on the state of +instruction amongst the Anglo-Americans must consider the same object +from two different points of view. If he only singles out the learned, +he will be astonished to find how rare they are; but if he counts the +ignorant, the American people will appear to be the most enlightened +community in the world. The whole population, as I observed in another +place, is situated between these two extremes. In New England, every +citizen receives the elementary notions of human knowledge; he is +moreover taught the doctrines and the evidences of his religion, the +history of his country, and the leading features of its Constitution. +In the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts, it is extremely rare to +find a man imperfectly acquainted with all these things, and a person +wholly ignorant of them is a sort of phenomenon. + +When I compare the Greek and Roman republics with these American +States; the manuscript libraries of the former, and their rude +population, with the innumerable journals and the enlightened people of +the latter; when I remember all the attempts which are made to judge +the modern republics by the assistance of those of antiquity, and to +infer what will happen in our time from what took place two thousand +years ago, I am tempted to burn my books, in order to apply none but +novel ideas to so novel a condition of society. + +What I have said of New England must not, however, be applied +indistinctly to the whole Union; as we advance towards the West or the +South, the instruction of the people diminishes. In the States which +are adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, a certain number of individuals may +be found, as in our own countries, who are devoid of the rudiments of +instruction. But there is not a single district in the United States +sunk in complete ignorance; and for a very simple reason: the peoples +of Europe started from the darkness of a barbarous condition, to +advance toward the light of civilization; their progress has been +unequal; some of them have improved apace, whilst others have loitered +in their course, and some have stopped, and are still sleeping upon the +way. *i + +i +[ [In the Northern States the number of persons destitute of +instruction is inconsiderable, the largest number being 241,152 in the +State of New York (according to Spaulding’s “Handbook of American +Statistics” for 1874); but in the South no less than 1,516,339 whites +and 2,671,396 colored persons are returned as “illiterate.”]] + + +Such has not been the case in the United States. The Anglo-Americans +settled in a state of civilization, upon that territory which their +descendants occupy; they had not to begin to learn, and it was +sufficient for them not to forget. Now the children of these same +Americans are the persons who, year by year, transport their dwellings +into the wilds; and with their dwellings their acquired information and +their esteem for knowledge. Education has taught them the utility of +instruction, and has enabled them to transmit that instruction to their +posterity. In the United States society has no infancy, but it is born +in man’s estate. + +The Americans never use the word “peasant,” because they have no idea +of the peculiar class which that term denotes; the ignorance of more +remote ages, the simplicity of rural life, and the rusticity of the +villager have not been preserved amongst them; and they are alike +unacquainted with the virtues, the vices, the coarse habits, and the +simple graces of an early stage of civilization. At the extreme borders +of the Confederate States, upon the confines of society and of the +wilderness, a population of bold adventurers have taken up their abode, +who pierce the solitudes of the American woods, and seek a country +there, in order to escape that poverty which awaited them in their +native provinces. As soon as the pioneer arrives upon the spot which is +to serve him for a retreat, he fells a few trees and builds a loghouse. +Nothing can offer a more miserable aspect than these isolated +dwellings. The traveller who approaches one of them towards nightfall, +sees the flicker of the hearth-flame through the chinks in the walls; +and at night, if the wind rises, he hears the roof of boughs shake to +and fro in the midst of the great forest trees. Who would not suppose +that this poor hut is the asylum of rudeness and ignorance? Yet no sort +of comparison can be drawn between the pioneer and the dwelling which +shelters him. Everything about him is primitive and unformed, but he is +himself the result of the labor and the experience of eighteen +centuries. He wears the dress, and he speaks the language of cities; he +is acquainted with the past, curious of the future, and ready for +argument upon the present; he is, in short, a highly civilized being, +who consents, for a time, to inhabit the backwoods, and who penetrates +into the wilds of the New World with the Bible, an axe, and a file of +newspapers. + +It is difficult to imagine the incredible rapidity with which public +opinion circulates in the midst of these deserts. *j I do not think +that so much intellectual intercourse takes place in the most +enlightened and populous districts of France. *k It cannot be doubted +that, in the United States, the instruction of the people powerfully +contributes to the support of a democratic republic; and such must +always be the case, I believe, where instruction which awakens the +understanding is not separated from moral education which amends the +heart. But I by no means exaggerate this benefit, and I am still +further from thinking, as so many people do think in Europe, that men +can be instantaneously made citizens by teaching them to read and +write. True information is mainly derived from experience; and if the +Americans had not been gradually accustomed to govern themselves, their +book-learning would not assist them much at the present day. + +j +[ I travelled along a portion of the frontier of the United States in a +sort of cart which was termed the mail. We passed, day and night, with +great rapidity along the roads which were scarcely marked out, through +immense forests; when the gloom of the woods became impenetrable the +coachman lighted branches of fir, and we journeyed along by the light +they cast. From time to time we came to a hut in the midst of the +forest, which was a post-office. The mail dropped an enormous bundle of +letters at the door of this isolated dwelling, and we pursued our way +at full gallop, leaving the inhabitants of the neighboring log houses +to send for their share of the treasure. + + +[When the author visited America the locomotive and the railroad were +scarcely invented, and not yet introduced in the United States. It is +superfluous to point out the immense effect of those inventions in +extending civilization and developing the resources of that vast +continent. In 1831 there were 51 miles of railway in the United States; +in 1872 there were 60,000 miles of railway.]] + +k +[ In 1832 each inhabitant of Michigan paid a sum equivalent to 1 fr. 22 +cent. (French money) to the post-office revenue, and each inhabitant of +the Floridas paid 1 fr. 5 cent. (See “National Calendar,” 1833, p. +244.) In the same year each inhabitant of the Departement du Nord paid +1 fr. 4 cent. to the revenue of the French post-office. (See the +“Compte rendu de l’administration des Finances,” 1833, p. 623.) Now the +State of Michigan only contained at that time 7 inhabitants per square +league and Florida only 5: the public instruction and the commercial +activity of these districts is inferior to that of most of the States +in the Union, whilst the Departement du Nord, which contains 3,400 +inhabitants per square league, is one of the most enlightened and +manufacturing parts of France.] + + +I have lived a great deal with the people in the United States, and I +cannot express how much I admire their experience and their good sense. +An American should never be allowed to speak of Europe; for he will +then probably display a vast deal of presumption and very foolish +pride. He will take up with those crude and vague notions which are so +useful to the ignorant all over the world. But if you question him +respecting his own country, the cloud which dimmed his intelligence +will immediately disperse; his language will become as clear and as +precise as his thoughts. He will inform you what his rights are, and by +what means he exercises them; he will be able to point out the customs +which obtain in the political world. You will find that he is well +acquainted with the rules of the administration, and that he is +familiar with the mechanism of the laws. The citizen of the United +States does not acquire his practical science and his positive notions +from books; the instruction he has acquired may have prepared him for +receiving those ideas, but it did not furnish them. The American learns +to know the laws by participating in the act of legislation; and he +takes a lesson in the forms of government from governing. The great +work of society is ever going on beneath his eyes, and, as it were, +under his hands. + +In the United States politics are the end and aim of education; in +Europe its principal object is to fit men for private life. The +interference of the citizens in public affairs is too rare an +occurrence for it to be anticipated beforehand. Upon casting a glance +over society in the two hemispheres, these differences are indicated +even by its external aspect. + +In Europe we frequently introduce the ideas and the habits of private +life into public affairs; and as we pass at once from the domestic +circle to the government of the State, we may frequently be heard to +discuss the great interests of society in the same manner in which we +converse with our friends. The Americans, on the other hand, transfuse +the habits of public life into their manners in private; and in their +country the jury is introduced into the games of schoolboys, and +parliamentary forms are observed in the order of a feast. + + + + + Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic + Republic—Part IV + + +The Laws Contribute More To The Maintenance Of The Democratic Republic +In The United States Than The Physical Circumstances Of The Country, +And The Manners More Than The Laws + +All the nations of America have a democratic state of society—Yet +democratic institutions only subsist amongst the Anglo-Americans—The +Spaniards of South America, equally favored by physical causes as the +Anglo-Americans, unable to maintain a democratic republic—Mexico, which +has adopted the Constitution of the United States, in the same +predicament—The Anglo-Americans of the West less able to maintain it +than those of the East—Reason of these different results. + +I have remarked that the maintenance of democratic institutions in the +United States is attributable to the circumstances, the laws, and the +manners of that country. *l Most Europeans are only acquainted with the +first of these three causes, and they are apt to give it a +preponderating importance which it does not really possess. + +l +[ I remind the reader of the general signification which I give to the +word “manners,” namely, the moral and intellectual characteristics of +social man taken collectively.] + + +It is true that the Anglo-Saxons settled in the New World in a state of +social equality; the low-born and the noble were not to be found +amongst them; and professional prejudices were always as entirely +unknown as the prejudices of birth. Thus, as the condition of society +was democratic, the empire of democracy was established without +difficulty. But this circumstance is by no means peculiar to the United +States; almost all the trans-Atlantic colonies were founded by men +equal amongst themselves, or who became so by inhabiting them. In no +one part of the New World have Europeans been able to create an +aristocracy. Nevertheless, democratic institutions prosper nowhere but +in the United States. + +The American Union has no enemies to contend with; it stands in the +wilds like an island in the ocean. But the Spaniards of South America +were no less isolated by nature; yet their position has not relieved +them from the charge of standing armies. They make war upon each other +when they have no foreign enemies to oppose; and the Anglo-American +democracy is the only one which has hitherto been able to maintain +itself in peace. *m + +m +[ [A remark which, since the great Civil War of 1861-65, ceases to be +applicable.]] + + +The territory of the Union presents a boundless field to human +activity, and inexhaustible materials for industry and labor. The +passion of wealth takes the place of ambition, and the warmth of +faction is mitigated by a sense of prosperity. But in what portion of +the globe shall we meet with more fertile plains, with mightier rivers, +or with more unexplored and inexhaustible riches than in South America? + +Nevertheless, South America has been unable to maintain democratic +institutions. If the welfare of nations depended on their being placed +in a remote position, with an unbounded space of habitable territory +before them, the Spaniards of South America would have no reason to +complain of their fate. And although they might enjoy less prosperity +than the inhabitants of the United States, their lot might still be +such as to excite the envy of some nations in Europe. There are, +however, no nations upon the face of the earth more miserable than +those of South America. + +Thus, not only are physical causes inadequate to produce results +analogous to those which occur in North America, but they are unable to +raise the population of South America above the level of European +States, where they act in a contrary direction. Physical causes do not, +therefore, affect the destiny of nations so much as has been supposed. + +I have met with men in New England who were on the point of leaving a +country, where they might have remained in easy circumstances, to go to +seek their fortune in the wilds. Not far from that district I found a +French population in Canada, which was closely crowded on a narrow +territory, although the same wilds were at hand; and whilst the +emigrant from the United States purchased an extensive estate with the +earnings of a short term of labor, the Canadian paid as much for land +as he would have done in France. Nature offers the solitudes of the New +World to Europeans; but they are not always acquainted with the means +of turning her gifts to account. Other peoples of America have the same +physical conditions of prosperity as the Anglo-Americans, but without +their laws and their manners; and these peoples are wretched. The laws +and manners of the Anglo-Americans are therefore that efficient cause +of their greatness which is the object of my inquiry. + +I am far from supposing that the American laws are preeminently good in +themselves; I do not hold them to be applicable to all democratic +peoples; and several of them seem to be dangerous, even in the United +States. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the American +legislation, taken collectively, is extremely well adapted to the +genius of the people and the nature of the country which it is intended +to govern. The American laws are therefore good, and to them must be +attributed a large portion of the success which attends the government +of democracy in America: but I do not believe them to be the principal +cause of that success; and if they seem to me to have more influence +upon the social happiness of the Americans than the nature of the +country, on the other hand there is reason to believe that their effect +is still inferior to that produced by the manners of the people. + +The Federal laws undoubtedly constitute the most important part of the +legislation of the United States. Mexico, which is not less fortunately +situated than the Anglo-American Union, has adopted the same laws, but +is unable to accustom itself to the government of democracy. Some other +cause is therefore at work, independently of those physical +circumstances and peculiar laws which enable the democracy to rule in +the United States. + +Another still more striking proof may be adduced. Almost all the +inhabitants of the territory of the Union are the descendants of a +common stock; they speak the same language, they worship God in the +same manner, they are affected by the same physical causes, and they +obey the same laws. Whence, then, do their characteristic differences +arise? Why, in the Eastern States of the Union, does the republican +government display vigor and regularity, and proceed with mature +deliberation? Whence does it derive the wisdom and the durability which +mark its acts, whilst in the Western States, on the contrary, society +seems to be ruled by the powers of chance? There, public business is +conducted with an irregularity and a passionate and feverish +excitement, which does not announce a long or sure duration. + +I am no longer comparing the Anglo-American States to foreign nations; +but I am contrasting them with each other, and endeavoring to discover +why they are so unlike. The arguments which are derived from the nature +of the country and the difference of legislation are here all set +aside. Recourse must be had to some other cause; and what other cause +can there be except the manners of the people? + +It is in the Eastern States that the Anglo-Americans have been longest +accustomed to the government of democracy, and that they have adopted +the habits and conceived the notions most favorable to its maintenance. +Democracy has gradually penetrated into their customs, their opinions, +and the forms of social intercourse; it is to be found in all the +details of daily life equally as in the laws. In the Eastern States the +instruction and practical education of the people have been most +perfected, and religion has been most thoroughly amalgamated with +liberty. Now these habits, opinions, customs, and convictions are +precisely the constituent elements of that which I have denominated +manners. + +In the Western States, on the contrary, a portion of the same +advantages is still wanting. Many of the Americans of the West were +born in the woods, and they mix the ideas and the customs of savage +life with the civilization of their parents. Their passions are more +intense; their religious morality less authoritative; and their +convictions less secure. The inhabitants exercise no sort of control +over their fellow-citizens, for they are scarcely acquainted with each +other. The nations of the West display, to a certain extent, the +inexperience and the rude habits of a people in its infancy; for +although they are composed of old elements, their assemblage is of +recent date. + +The manners of the Americans of the United States are, then, the real +cause which renders that people the only one of the American nations +that is able to support a democratic government; and it is the +influence of manners which produces the different degrees of order and +of prosperity that may be distinguished in the several Anglo-American +democracies. Thus the effect which the geographical position of a +country may have upon the duration of democratic institutions is +exaggerated in Europe. Too much importance is attributed to +legislation, too little to manners. These three great causes serve, no +doubt, to regulate and direct the American democracy; but if they were +to be classed in their proper order, I should say that the physical +circumstances are less efficient than the laws, and the laws very +subordinate to the manners of the people. I am convinced that the most +advantageous situation and the best possible laws cannot maintain a +constitution in spite of the manners of a country; whilst the latter +may turn the most unfavorable positions and the worst laws to some +advantage. The importance of manners is a common truth to which study +and experience incessantly direct our attention. It may be regarded as +a central point in the range of human observation, and the common +termination of all inquiry. So seriously do I insist upon this head, +that if I have hitherto failed in making the reader feel the important +influence which I attribute to the practical experience, the habits, +the opinions, in short, to the manners of the Americans, upon the +maintenance of their institutions, I have failed in the principal +object of my work. + +Whether Laws And Manners Are Sufficient To Maintain Democratic +Institutions In Other Countries Besides America + +The Anglo-Americans, if transported into Europe, would be obliged to +modify their laws—Distinction to be made between democratic +institutions and American institutions—Democratic laws may be conceived +better than, or at least different from, those which the American +democracy has adopted—The example of America only proves that it is +possible to regulate democracy by the assistance of manners and +legislation. + +I have asserted that the success of democratic institutions in the +United States is more intimately connected with the laws themselves, +and the manners of the people, than with the nature of the country. But +does it follow that the same causes would of themselves produce the +same results, if they were put into operation elsewhere; and if the +country is no adequate substitute for laws and manners, can laws and +manners in their turn prove a substitute for the country? It will +readily be understood that the necessary elements of a reply to this +question are wanting: other peoples are to be found in the New World +besides the Anglo-Americans, and as these people are affected by the +same physical circumstances as the latter, they may fairly be compared +together. But there are no nations out of America which have adopted +the same laws and manners, being destitute of the physical advantages +peculiar to the Anglo-Americans. No standard of comparison therefore +exists, and we can only hazard an opinion upon this subject. + +It appears to me, in the first place, that a careful distinction must +be made between the institutions of the United States and democratic +institutions in general. When I reflect upon the state of Europe, its +mighty nations, its populous cities, its formidable armies, and the +complex nature of its politics, I cannot suppose that even the +Anglo-Americans, if they were transported to our hemisphere, with their +ideas, their religion, and their manners, could exist without +considerably altering their laws. But a democratic nation may be +imagined, organized differently from the American people. It is not +impossible to conceive a government really established upon the will of +the majority; but in which the majority, repressing its natural +propensity to equality, should consent, with a view to the order and +the stability of the State, to invest a family or an individual with +all the prerogatives of the executive. A democratic society might +exist, in which the forces of the nation would be more centralized than +they are in the United States; the people would exercise a less direct +and less irresistible influence upon public affairs, and yet every +citizen invested with certain rights would participate, within his +sphere, in the conduct of the government. The observations I made +amongst the Anglo-Americans induce me to believe that democratic +institutions of this kind, prudently introduced into society, so as +gradually to mix with the habits and to be interfused with the opinions +of the people, might subsist in other countries besides America. If the +laws of the United States were the only imaginable democratic laws, or +the most perfect which it is possible to conceive, I should admit that +the success of those institutions affords no proof of the success of +democratic institutions in general, in a country less favored by +natural circumstances. But as the laws of America appear to me to be +defective in several respects, and as I can readily imagine others of +the same general nature, the peculiar advantages of that country do not +prove that democratic institutions cannot succeed in a nation less +favored by circumstances, if ruled by better laws. + +If human nature were different in America from what it is elsewhere; or +if the social condition of the Americans engendered habits and opinions +amongst them different from those which originate in the same social +condition in the Old World, the American democracies would afford no +means of predicting what may occur in other democracies. If the +Americans displayed the same propensities as all other democratic +nations, and if their legislators had relied upon the nature of the +country and the favor of circumstances to restrain those propensities +within due limits, the prosperity of the United States would be +exclusively attributable to physical causes, and it would afford no +encouragement to a people inclined to imitate their example, without +sharing their natural advantages. But neither of these suppositions is +borne out by facts. + +In America the same passions are to be met with as in Europe; some +originating in human nature, others in the democratic condition of +society. Thus in the United States I found that restlessness of heart +which is natural to men, when all ranks are nearly equal and the +chances of elevation are the same to all. I found the democratic +feeling of envy expressed under a thousand different forms. I remarked +that the people frequently displayed, in the conduct of affairs, a +consummate mixture of ignorance and presumption; and I inferred that in +America, men are liable to the same failings and the same absurdities +as amongst ourselves. But upon examining the state of society more +attentively, I speedily discovered that the Americans had made great +and successful efforts to counteract these imperfections of human +nature, and to correct the natural defects of democracy. Their divers +municipal laws appeared to me to be a means of restraining the ambition +of the citizens within a narrow sphere, and of turning those same +passions which might have worked havoc in the State, to the good of the +township or the parish. The American legislators have succeeded to a +certain extent in opposing the notion of rights to the feelings of +envy; the permanence of the religious world to the continual shifting +of politics; the experience of the people to its theoretical ignorance; +and its practical knowledge of business to the impatience of its +desires. + +The Americans, then, have not relied upon the nature of their country +to counterpoise those dangers which originate in their Constitution and +in their political laws. To evils which are common to all democratic +peoples they have applied remedies which none but themselves had ever +thought of before; and although they were the first to make the +experiment, they have succeeded in it. + +The manners and laws of the Americans are not the only ones which may +suit a democratic people; but the Americans have shown that it would be +wrong to despair of regulating democracy by the aid of manners and of +laws. If other nations should borrow this general and pregnant idea +from the Americans, without however intending to imitate them in the +peculiar application which they have made of it; if they should attempt +to fit themselves for that social condition, which it seems to be the +will of Providence to impose upon the generations of this age, and so +to escape from the despotism or the anarchy which threatens them; what +reason is there to suppose that their efforts would not be crowned with +success? The organization and the establishment of democracy in +Christendom is the great political problem of the time. The Americans, +unquestionably, have not resolved this problem, but they furnish useful +data to those who undertake the task. + +Importance Of What Precedes With Respect To The State Of Europe + +It may readily be discovered with what intention I undertook the +foregoing inquiries. The question here discussed is interesting not +only to the United States, but to the whole world; it concerns, not a +nation, but all mankind. If those nations whose social condition is +democratic could only remain free as long as they are inhabitants of +the wilds, we could not but despair of the future destiny of the human +race; for democracy is rapidly acquiring a more extended sway, and the +wilds are gradually peopled with men. If it were true that laws and +manners are insufficient to maintain democratic institutions, what +refuge would remain open to the nations, except the despotism of a +single individual? I am aware that there are many worthy persons at the +present time who are not alarmed at this latter alternative, and who +are so tired of liberty as to be glad of repose, far from those storms +by which it is attended. But these individuals are ill acquainted with +the haven towards which they are bound. They are so deluded by their +recollections, as to judge the tendency of absolute power by what it +was formerly, and not by what it might become at the present time. + +If absolute power were re-established amongst the democratic nations of +Europe, I am persuaded that it would assume a new form, and appear +under features unknown to our forefathers. There was a time in Europe +when the laws and the consent of the people had invested princes with +almost unlimited authority; but they scarcely ever availed themselves +of it. I do not speak of the prerogatives of the nobility, of the +authority of supreme courts of justice, of corporations and their +chartered rights, or of provincial privileges, which served to break +the blows of the sovereign authority, and to maintain a spirit of +resistance in the nation. Independently of these political +institutions—which, however opposed they might be to personal liberty, +served to keep alive the love of freedom in the mind of the public, and +which may be esteemed to have been useful in this respect—the manners +and opinions of the nation confined the royal authority within barriers +which were not less powerful, although they were less conspicuous. +Religion, the affections of the people, the benevolence of the prince, +the sense of honor, family pride, provincial prejudices, custom, and +public opinion limited the power of kings, and restrained their +authority within an invisible circle. The constitution of nations was +despotic at that time, but their manners were free. Princes had the +right, but they had neither the means nor the desire, of doing whatever +they pleased. + +But what now remains of those barriers which formerly arrested the +aggressions of tyranny? Since religion has lost its empire over the +souls of men, the most prominent boundary which divided good from evil +is overthrown; the very elements of the moral world are indeterminate; +the princes and the peoples of the earth are guided by chance, and none +can define the natural limits of despotism and the bounds of license. +Long revolutions have forever destroyed the respect which surrounded +the rulers of the State; and since they have been relieved from the +burden of public esteem, princes may henceforward surrender themselves +without fear to the seductions of arbitrary power. + +When kings find that the hearts of their subjects are turned towards +them, they are clement, because they are conscious of their strength, +and they are chary of the affection of their people, because the +affection of their people is the bulwark of the throne. A mutual +interchange of good-will then takes place between the prince and the +people, which resembles the gracious intercourse of domestic society. +The subjects may murmur at the sovereign’s decree, but they are grieved +to displease him; and the sovereign chastises his subjects with the +light hand of parental affection. + +But when once the spell of royalty is broken in the tumult of +revolution; when successive monarchs have crossed the throne, so as +alternately to display to the people the weakness of their right and +the harshness of their power, the sovereign is no longer regarded by +any as the Father of the State, and he is feared by all as its master. +If he be weak, he is despised; if he be strong, he is detested. He +himself is full of animosity and alarm; he finds that he is as a +stranger in his own country, and he treats his subjects like conquered +enemies. + +When the provinces and the towns formed so many different nations in +the midst of their common country, each of them had a will of its own, +which was opposed to the general spirit of subjection; but now that all +the parts of the same empire, after having lost their immunities, their +customs, their prejudices, their traditions, and their names, are +subjected and accustomed to the same laws, it is not more difficult to +oppress them collectively than it was formerly to oppress them singly. + +Whilst the nobles enjoyed their power, and indeed long after that power +was lost, the honor of aristocracy conferred an extraordinary degree of +force upon their personal opposition. They afford instances of men who, +notwithstanding their weakness, still entertained a high opinion of +their personal value, and dared to cope single-handed with the efforts +of the public authority. But at the present day, when all ranks are +more and more confounded, when the individual disappears in the throng, +and is easily lost in the midst of a common obscurity, when the honor +of monarchy has almost lost its empire without being succeeded by +public virtue, and when nothing can enable man to rise above himself, +who shall say at what point the exigencies of power and the servility +of weakness will stop? + +As long as family feeling was kept alive, the antagonist of oppression +was never alone; he looked about him, and found his clients, his +hereditary friends, and his kinsfolk. If this support was wanting, he +was sustained by his ancestors and animated by his posterity. But when +patrimonial estates are divided, and when a few years suffice to +confound the distinctions of a race, where can family feeling be found? +What force can there be in the customs of a country which has changed +and is still perpetually changing its aspect; in which every act of +tyranny has a precedent, and every crime an example; in which there is +nothing so old that its antiquity can save it from destruction, and +nothing so unparalleled that its novelty can prevent it from being +done? What resistance can be offered by manners of so pliant a make +that they have already often yielded? What strength can even public +opinion have retained, when no twenty persons are connected by a common +tie; when not a man, nor a family, nor chartered corporation, nor +class, nor free institution, has the power of representing or exerting +that opinion; and when every citizen—being equally weak, equally poor, +and equally dependent—has only his personal impotence to oppose to the +organized force of the government? + +The annals of France furnish nothing analogous to the condition in +which that country might then be thrown. But it may more aptly be +assimilated to the times of old, and to those hideous eras of Roman +oppression, when the manners of the people were corrupted, their +traditions obliterated, their habits destroyed, their opinions shaken, +and freedom, expelled from the laws, could find no refuge in the land; +when nothing protected the citizens, and the citizens no longer +protected themselves; when human nature was the sport of man, and +princes wearied out the clemency of Heaven before they exhausted the +patience of their subjects. Those who hope to revive the monarchy of +Henry IV or of Louis XIV, appear to me to be afflicted with mental +blindness; and when I consider the present condition of several +European nations—a condition to which all the others tend—I am led to +believe that they will soon be left with no other alternative than +democratic liberty, or the tyranny of the Caesars. *n + +n +[ [This prediction of the return of France to imperial despotism, and +of the true character of that despotic power, was written in 1832, and +realized to the letter in 1852.]] + + +And indeed it is deserving of consideration, whether men are to be +entirely emancipated or entirely enslaved; whether their rights are to +be made equal, or wholly taken away from them. If the rulers of society +were reduced either gradually to raise the crowd to their own level, or +to sink the citizens below that of humanity, would not the doubts of +many be resolved, the consciences of many be healed, and the community +prepared to make great sacrifices with little difficulty? In that case, +the gradual growth of democratic manners and institutions should be +regarded, not as the best, but as the only means of preserving freedom; +and without liking the government of democracy, it might be adopted as +the most applicable and the fairest remedy for the present ills of +society. + +It is difficult to associate a people in the work of government; but it +is still more difficult to supply it with experience, and to inspire it +with the feelings which it requires in order to govern well. I grant +that the caprices of democracy are perpetual; its instruments are rude; +its laws imperfect. But if it were true that soon no just medium would +exist between the empire of democracy and the dominion of a single arm, +should we not rather incline towards the former than submit voluntarily +to the latter? And if complete equality be our fate, is it not better +to be levelled by free institutions than by despotic power? + +Those who, after having read this book, should imagine that my +intention in writing it has been to propose the laws and manners of the +Anglo-Americans for the imitation of all democratic peoples, would +commit a very great mistake; they must have paid more attention to the +form than to the substance of my ideas. My aim has been to show, by the +example of America, that laws, and especially manners, may exist which +will allow a democratic people to remain free. But I am very far from +thinking that we ought to follow the example of the American democracy, +and copy the means which it has employed to attain its ends; for I am +well aware of the influence which the nature of a country and its +political precedents exercise upon a constitution; and I should regard +it as a great misfortune for mankind if liberty were to exist all over +the world under the same forms. + +But I am of opinion that if we do not succeed in gradually introducing +democratic institutions into France, and if we despair of imparting to +the citizens those ideas and sentiments which first prepare them for +freedom, and afterwards allow them to enjoy it, there will be no +independence at all, either for the middling classes or the nobility, +for the poor or for the rich, but an equal tyranny over all; and I +foresee that if the peaceable empire of the majority be not founded +amongst us in time, we shall sooner or later arrive at the unlimited +authority of a single despot. + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races In The United + States—Part I + + +The Present And Probable Future Condition Of The Three Races Which +Inhabit The Territory Of The United States + +The principal part of the task which I had imposed upon myself is now +performed. I have shown, as far as I was able, the laws and the manners +of the American democracy. Here I might stop; but the reader would +perhaps feel that I had not satisfied his expectations. + +The absolute supremacy of democracy is not all that we meet with in +America; the inhabitants of the New World may be considered from more +than one point of view. In the course of this work my subject has often +led me to speak of the Indians and the Negroes; but I have never been +able to stop in order to show what place these two races occupy in the +midst of the democratic people whom I was engaged in describing. I have +mentioned in what spirit, and according to what laws, the +Anglo-American Union was formed; but I could only glance at the dangers +which menace that confederation, whilst it was equally impossible for +me to give a detailed account of its chances of duration, independently +of its laws and manners. When speaking of the united republican States, +I hazarded no conjectures upon the permanence of republican forms in +the New World, and when making frequent allusion to the commercial +activity which reigns in the Union, I was unable to inquire into the +future condition of the Americans as a commercial people. + +These topics are collaterally connected with my subject without forming +a part of it; they are American without being democratic; and to +portray democracy has been my principal aim. It was therefore necessary +to postpone these questions, which I now take up as the proper +termination of my work. + +The territory now occupied or claimed by the American Union spreads +from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific Ocean. On the +east and west its limits are those of the continent itself. On the +south it advances nearly to the tropic, and it extends upwards to the +icy regions of the North. The human beings who are scattered over this +space do not form, as in Europe, so many branches of the same stock. +Three races, naturally distinct, and, I might almost say, hostile to +each other, are discoverable amongst them at the first glance. Almost +insurmountable barriers had been raised between them by education and +by law, as well as by their origin and outward characteristics; but +fortune has brought them together on the same soil, where, although +they are mixed, they do not amalgamate, and each race fulfils its +destiny apart. + +Amongst these widely differing families of men, the first which +attracts attention, the superior in intelligence, in power and in +enjoyment, is the white or European, the man pre-eminent; and in +subordinate grades, the negro and the Indian. These two unhappy races +have nothing in common; neither birth, nor features, nor language, nor +habits. Their only resemblance lies in their misfortunes. Both of them +occupy an inferior rank in the country they inhabit; both suffer from +tyranny; and if their wrongs are not the same, they originate, at any +rate, with the same authors. + +If we reasoned from what passes in the world, we should almost say that +the European is to the other races of mankind, what man is to the lower +animals;—he makes them subservient to his use; and when he cannot +subdue, he destroys them. Oppression has, at one stroke, deprived the +descendants of the Africans of almost all the privileges of humanity. +The negro of the United States has lost all remembrance of his country; +the language which his forefathers spoke is never heard around him; he +abjured their religion and forgot their customs when he ceased to +belong to Africa, without acquiring any claim to European privileges. +But he remains half way between the two communities; sold by the one, +repulsed by the other; finding not a spot in the universe to call by +the name of country, except the faint image of a home which the shelter +of his master’s roof affords. + +The negro has no family; woman is merely the temporary companion of his +pleasures, and his children are upon an equality with himself from the +moment of their birth. Am I to call it a proof of God’s mercy or a +visitation of his wrath, that man in certain states appears to be +insensible to his extreme wretchedness, and almost affects, with a +depraved taste, the cause of his misfortunes? The negro, who is plunged +in this abyss of evils, scarcely feels his own calamitous situation. +Violence made him a slave, and the habit of servitude gives him the +thoughts and desires of a slave; he admires his tyrants more than he +hates them, and finds his joy and his pride in the servile imitation of +those who oppress him: his understanding is degraded to the level of +his soul. + +The negro enters upon slavery as soon as he is born: nay, he may have +been purchased in the womb, and have begun his slavery before he began +his existence. Equally devoid of wants and of enjoyment, and useless to +himself, he learns, with his first notions of existence, that he is the +property of another, who has an interest in preserving his life, and +that the care of it does not devolve upon himself; even the power of +thought appears to him a useless gift of Providence, and he quietly +enjoys the privileges of his debasement. If he becomes free, +independence is often felt by him to be a heavier burden than slavery; +for having learned, in the course of his life, to submit to everything +except reason, he is too much unacquainted with her dictates to obey +them. A thousand new desires beset him, and he is destitute of the +knowledge and energy necessary to resist them: these are masters which +it is necessary to contend with, and he has learnt only to submit and +obey. In short, he sinks to such a depth of wretchedness, that while +servitude brutalizes, liberty destroys him. + +Oppression has been no less fatal to the Indian than to the negro race, +but its effects are different. Before the arrival of white men in the +New World, the inhabitants of North America lived quietly in their +woods, enduring the vicissitudes and practising the virtues and vices +common to savage nations. The Europeans, having dispersed the Indian +tribes and driven them into the deserts, condemned them to a wandering +life full of inexpressible sufferings. + +Savage nations are only controlled by opinion and by custom. When the +North American Indians had lost the sentiment of attachment to their +country; when their families were dispersed, their traditions obscured, +and the chain of their recollections broken; when all their habits were +changed, and their wants increased beyond measure, European tyranny +rendered them more disorderly and less civilized than they were before. +The moral and physical condition of these tribes continually grew +worse, and they became more barbarous as they became more wretched. +Nevertheless, the Europeans have not been able to metamorphose the +character of the Indians; and though they have had power to destroy +them, they have never been able to make them submit to the rules of +civilized society. + +The lot of the negro is placed on the extreme limit of servitude, while +that of the Indian lies on the uttermost verge of liberty; and slavery +does not produce more fatal effects upon the first, than independence +upon the second. The negro has lost all property in his own person, and +he cannot dispose of his existence without committing a sort of fraud: +but the savage is his own master as soon as he is able to act; parental +authority is scarcely known to him; he has never bent his will to that +of any of his kind, nor learned the difference between voluntary +obedience and a shameful subjection; and the very name of law is +unknown to him. To be free, with him, signifies to escape from all the +shackles of society. As he delights in this barbarous independence, and +would rather perish than sacrifice the least part of it, civilization +has little power over him. + +The negro makes a thousand fruitless efforts to insinuate himself +amongst men who repulse him; he conforms to the tastes of his +oppressors, adopts their opinions, and hopes by imitating them to form +a part of their community. Having been told from infancy that his race +is naturally inferior to that of the whites, he assents to the +proposition and is ashamed of his own nature. In each of his features +he discovers a trace of slavery, and, if it were in his power, he would +willingly rid himself of everything that makes him what he is. + +The Indian, on the contrary, has his imagination inflated with the +pretended nobility of his origin, and lives and dies in the midst of +these dreams of pride. Far from desiring to conform his habits to ours, +he loves his savage life as the distinguishing mark of his race, and he +repels every advance to civilization, less perhaps from the hatred +which he entertains for it, than from a dread of resembling the +Europeans. *a While he has nothing to oppose to our perfection in the +arts but the resources of the desert, to our tactics nothing but +undisciplined courage; whilst our well-digested plans are met by the +spontaneous instincts of savage life, who can wonder if he fails in +this unequal contest? + +a +[ The native of North America retains his opinions and the most +insignificant of his habits with a degree of tenacity which has no +parallel in history. For more than two hundred years the wandering +tribes of North America have had daily intercourse with the whites, and +they have never derived from them either a custom or an idea. Yet the +Europeans have exercised a powerful influence over the savages: they +have made them more licentious, but not more European. In the summer of +1831 I happened to be beyond Lake Michigan, at a place called Green +Bay, which serves as the extreme frontier between the United States and +the Indians on the north-western side. Here I became acquainted with an +American officer, Major H., who, after talking to me at length on the +inflexibility of the Indian character, related the following fact:—“I +formerly knew a young Indian,” said he, “who had been educated at a +college in New England, where he had greatly distinguished himself, and +had acquired the external appearance of a member of civilized society. +When the war broke out between ourselves and the English in 1810, I saw +this young man again; he was serving in our army, at the head of the +warriors of his tribe, for the Indians were admitted amongst the ranks +of the Americans, upon condition that they would abstain from their +horrible custom of scalping their victims. On the evening of the battle +of . . ., C. came and sat himself down by the fire of our bivouac. I +asked him what had been his fortune that day: he related his exploits; +and growing warm and animated by the recollection of them, he concluded +by suddenly opening the breast of his coat, saying, ‘You must not +betray me—see here!’ And I actually beheld,” said the Major, “between +his body and his shirt, the skin and hair of an English head, still +dripping with gore.”] + + +The negro, who earnestly desires to mingle his race with that of the +European, cannot effect if; while the Indian, who might succeed to a +certain extent, disdains to make the attempt. The servility of the one +dooms him to slavery, the pride of the other to death. + +I remember that while I was travelling through the forests which still +cover the State of Alabama, I arrived one day at the log house of a +pioneer. I did not wish to penetrate into the dwelling of the American, +but retired to rest myself for a while on the margin of a spring, which +was not far off, in the woods. While I was in this place (which was in +the neighborhood of the Creek territory), an Indian woman appeared, +followed by a negress, and holding by the hand a little white girl of +five or six years old, whom I took to be the daughter of the pioneer. A +sort of barbarous luxury set off the costume of the Indian; rings of +metal were hanging from her nostrils and ears; her hair, which was +adorned with glass beads, fell loosely upon her shoulders; and I saw +that she was not married, for she still wore that necklace of shells +which the bride always deposits on the nuptial couch. The negress was +clad in squalid European garments. They all three came and seated +themselves upon the banks of the fountain; and the young Indian, taking +the child in her arms, lavished upon her such fond caresses as mothers +give; while the negress endeavored by various little artifices to +attract the attention of the young Creole. + +The child displayed in her slightest gestures a consciousness of +superiority which formed a strange contrast with her infantine +weakness; as if she received the attentions of her companions with a +sort of condescension. The negress was seated on the ground before her +mistress, watching her smallest desires, and apparently divided between +strong affection for the child and servile fear; whilst the savage +displayed, in the midst of her tenderness, an air of freedom and of +pride which was almost ferocious. I had approached the group, and I +contemplated them in silence; but my curiosity was probably displeasing +to the Indian woman, for she suddenly rose, pushed the child roughly +from her, and giving me an angry look plunged into the thicket. I had +often chanced to see individuals met together in the same place, who +belonged to the three races of men which people North America. I had +perceived from many different results the preponderance of the whites. +But in the picture which I have just been describing there was +something peculiarly touching; a bond of affection here united the +oppressors with the oppressed, and the effort of nature to bring them +together rendered still more striking the immense distance placed +between them by prejudice and by law. + +The Present And Probable Future Condition Of The Indian Tribes Which +Inhabit The Territory Possessed By The Union + +Gradual disappearance of the native tribes—Manner in which it takes +place—Miseries accompanying the forced migrations of the Indians—The +savages of North America had only two ways of escaping destruction; war +or civilization—They are no longer able to make war—Reasons why they +refused to become civilized when it was in their power, and why they +cannot become so now that they desire it—Instance of the Creeks and +Cherokees—Policy of the particular States towards these Indians—Policy +of the Federal Government. + +None of the Indian tribes which formerly inhabited the territory of New +England—the Naragansetts, the Mohicans, the Pecots—have any existence +but in the recollection of man. The Lenapes, who received William Penn, +a hundred and fifty years ago, upon the banks of the Delaware, have +disappeared; and I myself met with the last of the Iroquois, who were +begging alms. The nations I have mentioned formerly covered the country +to the sea-coast; but a traveller at the present day must penetrate +more than a hundred leagues into the interior of the continent to find +an Indian. Not only have these wild tribes receded, but they are +destroyed; *b and as they give way or perish, an immense and increasing +people fills their place. There is no instance upon record of so +prodigious a growth, or so rapid a destruction: the manner in which the +latter change takes place is not difficult to describe. + +b +[ In the thirteen original States there are only 6,273 Indians +remaining. (See Legislative Documents, 20th Congress, No. 117, p. 90.) +[The decrease in now far greater, and is verging on extinction. See +page 360 of this volume.]] + + +When the Indians were the sole inhabitants of the wilds from whence +they have since been expelled, their wants were few. Their arms were of +their own manufacture, their only drink was the water of the brook, and +their clothes consisted of the skins of animals, whose flesh furnished +them with food. + +The Europeans introduced amongst the savages of North America +fire-arms, ardent spirits, and iron: they taught them to exchange for +manufactured stuffs, the rough garments which had previously satisfied +their untutored simplicity. Having acquired new tastes, without the +arts by which they could be gratified, the Indians were obliged to have +recourse to the workmanship of the whites; but in return for their +productions the savage had nothing to offer except the rich furs which +still abounded in his woods. Hence the chase became necessary, not +merely to provide for his subsistence, but in order to procure the only +objects of barter which he could furnish to Europe. *c Whilst the wants +of the natives were thus increasing, their resources continued to +diminish. + +c +[ Messrs. Clarke and Cass, in their Report to Congress on February 4, +1829, p. 23, expressed themselves thus:—“The time when the Indians +generally could supply themselves with food and clothing, without any +of the articles of civilized life, has long since passed away. The more +remote tribes, beyond the Mississippi, who live where immense herds of +buffalo are yet to be found and who follow those animals in their +periodical migrations, could more easily than any others recur to the +habits of their ancestors, and live without the white man or any of his +manufactures. But the buffalo is constantly receding. The smaller +animals, the bear, the deer, the beaver, the otter, the muskrat, etc., +principally minister to the comfort and support of the Indians; and +these cannot be taken without guns, ammunition, and traps. Among the +Northwestern Indians particularly, the labor of supplying a family with +food is excessive. Day after day is spent by the hunter without +success, and during this interval his family must subsist upon bark or +roots, or perish. Want and misery are around them and among them. Many +die every winter from actual starvation.” + + +The Indians will not live as Europeans live, and yet they can neither +subsist without them, nor exactly after the fashion of their fathers. +This is demonstrated by a fact which I likewise give upon official +authority. Some Indians of a tribe on the banks of Lake Superior had +killed a European; the American government interdicted all traffic with +the tribe to which the guilty parties belonged, until they were +delivered up to justice. This measure had the desired effect.] + +From the moment when a European settlement is formed in the +neighborhood of the territory occupied by the Indians, the beasts of +chase take the alarm. *d Thousands of savages, wandering in the forests +and destitute of any fixed dwelling, did not disturb them; but as soon +as the continuous sounds of European labor are heard in their +neighborhood, they begin to flee away, and retire to the West, where +their instinct teaches them that they will find deserts of immeasurable +extent. “The buffalo is constantly receding,” say Messrs. Clarke and +Cass in their Report of the year 1829; “a few years since they +approached the base of the Alleghany; and a few years hence they may +even be rare upon the immense plains which extend to the base of the +Rocky Mountains.” I have been assured that this effect of the approach +of the whites is often felt at two hundred leagues’ distance from their +frontier. Their influence is thus exerted over tribes whose name is +unknown to them; and who suffer the evils of usurpation long before +they are acquainted with the authors of their distress. *e + +d +[ “Five years ago,” (says Volney in his “Tableau des Etats-Unis,” p. +370) “in going from Vincennes to Kaskaskia, a territory which now forms +part of the State of Illinois, but which at the time I mention was +completely wild (1797), you could not cross a prairie without seeing +herds of from four to five hundred buffaloes. There are now none +remaining; they swam across the Mississippi to escape from the hunters, +and more particularly from the bells of the American cows.”] + + +e +[ The truth of what I here advance may be easily proved by consulting +the tabular statement of Indian tribes inhabiting the United States and +their territories. (Legislative Documents, 20th Congress, No. 117, pp. +90-105.) It is there shown that the tribes in the centre of America are +rapidly decreasing, although the Europeans are still at a considerable +distance from them.] + + +Bold adventurers soon penetrate into the country the Indians have +deserted, and when they have advanced about fifteen or twenty leagues +from the extreme frontiers of the whites, they begin to build +habitations for civilized beings in the midst of the wilderness. This +is done without difficulty, as the territory of a hunting-nation is +ill-defined; it is the common property of the tribe, and belongs to no +one in particular, so that individual interests are not concerned in +the protection of any part of it. + +A few European families, settled in different situations at a +considerable distance from each other, soon drive away the wild animals +which remain between their places of abode. The Indians, who had +previously lived in a sort of abundance, then find it difficult to +subsist, and still more difficult to procure the articles of barter +which they stand in need of. + +To drive away their game is to deprive them of the means of existence, +as effectually as if the fields of our agriculturists were stricken +with barrenness; and they are reduced, like famished wolves, to prowl +through the forsaken woods in quest of prey. Their instinctive love of +their country attaches them to the soil which gave them birth, *f even +after it has ceased to yield anything but misery and death. At length +they are compelled to acquiesce, and to depart: they follow the traces +of the elk, the buffalo, and the beaver, and are guided by these wild +animals in the choice of their future country. Properly speaking, +therefore, it is not the Europeans who drive away the native +inhabitants of America; it is famine which compels them to recede; a +happy distinction which had escaped the casuists of former times, and +for which we are indebted to modern discovery! + +f +[ “The Indians,” say Messrs. Clarke and Cass in their Report to +Congress, p. 15, “are attached to their country by the same feelings +which bind us to ours; and, besides, there are certain superstitious +notions connected with the alienation of what the Great Spirit gave to +their ancestors, which operate strongly upon the tribes who have made +few or no cessions, but which are gradually weakened as our intercourse +with them is extended. ‘We will not sell the spot which contains the +bones of our fathers,’ is almost always the first answer to a +proposition for a sale.”] + + +It is impossible to conceive the extent of the sufferings which attend +these forced emigrations. They are undertaken by a people already +exhausted and reduced; and the countries to which the newcomers betake +themselves are inhabited by other tribes which receive them with +jealous hostility. Hunger is in the rear; war awaits them, and misery +besets them on all sides. In the hope of escaping from such a host of +enemies, they separate, and each individual endeavors to procure the +means of supporting his existence in solitude and secrecy, living in +the immensity of the desert like an outcast in civilized society. The +social tie, which distress had long since weakened, is then dissolved; +they have lost their country, and their people soon desert them: their +very families are obliterated; the names they bore in common are +forgotten, their language perishes, and all traces of their origin +disappear. Their nation has ceased to exist, except in the recollection +of the antiquaries of America and a few of the learned of Europe. + +I should be sorry to have my reader suppose that I am coloring the +picture too highly; I saw with my own eyes several of the cases of +misery which I have been describing; and I was the witness of +sufferings which I have not the power to portray. + +At the end of the year 1831, whilst I was on the left bank of the +Mississippi at a place named by Europeans, Memphis, there arrived a +numerous band of Choctaws (or Chactas, as they are called by the French +in Louisiana). These savages had left their country, and were +endeavoring to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they hoped +to find an asylum which had been promised them by the American +government. It was then the middle of winter, and the cold was +unusually severe; the snow had frozen hard upon the ground, and the +river was drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families +with them; and they brought in their train the wounded and sick, with +children newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They +possessed neither tents nor wagons, but only their arms and some +provisions. I saw them embark to pass the mighty river, and never will +that solemn spectacle fade from my remembrance. No cry, no sob was +heard amongst the assembled crowd; all were silent. Their calamities +were of ancient date, and they knew them to be irremediable. The +Indians had all stepped into the bark which was to carry them across, +but their dogs remained upon the bank. As soon as these animals +perceived that their masters were finally leaving the shore, they set +up a dismal howl, and, plunging all together into the icy waters of the +Mississippi, they swam after the boat. + +The ejectment of the Indians very often takes place at the present day, +in a regular, and, as it were, a legal manner. When the European +population begins to approach the limit of the desert inhabited by a +savage tribe, the government of the United States usually dispatches +envoys to them, who assemble the Indians in a large plain, and having +first eaten and drunk with them, accost them in the following manner: +“What have you to do in the land of your fathers? Before long, you must +dig up their bones in order to live. In what respect is the country you +inhabit better than another? Are there no woods, marshes, or prairies, +except where you dwell? And can you live nowhere but under your own +sun? Beyond those mountains which you see at the horizon, beyond the +lake which bounds your territory on the west, there lie vast countries +where beasts of chase are found in great abundance; sell your lands to +us, and go to live happily in those solitudes.” After holding this +language, they spread before the eyes of the Indians firearms, woollen +garments, kegs of brandy, glass necklaces, bracelets of tinsel, +earrings, and looking-glasses. *g If, when they have beheld all these +riches, they still hesitate, it is insinuated that they have not the +means of refusing their required consent, and that the government +itself will not long have the power of protecting them in their rights. +What are they to do? Half convinced, and half compelled, they go to +inhabit new deserts, where the importunate whites will not let them +remain ten years in tranquillity. In this manner do the Americans +obtain, at a very low price, whole provinces, which the richest +sovereigns of Europe could not purchase. *h + +g +[ See, in the Legislative Documents of Congress (Doc. 117), the +narrative of what takes place on these occasions. This curious passage +is from the above-mentioned report, made to Congress by Messrs. Clarke +and Cass in February, 1829. Mr. Cass is now the Secretary of War. + + +“The Indians,” says the report, “reach the treaty-ground poor and +almost naked. Large quantities of goods are taken there by the traders, +and are seen and examined by the Indians. The women and children become +importunate to have their wants supplied, and their influence is soon +exerted to induce a sale. Their improvidence is habitual and +unconquerable. The gratification of his immediate wants and desires is +the ruling passion of an Indian. The expectation of future advantages +seldom produces much effect. The experience of the past is lost, and +the prospects of the future disregarded. It would be utterly hopeless +to demand a cession of land, unless the means were at hand of +gratifying their immediate wants; and when their condition and +circumstances are fairly considered, it ought not to surprise us that +they are so anxious to relieve themselves.”] + +h +[ On May 19, 1830, Mr. Edward Everett affirmed before the House of +Representatives, that the Americans had already acquired by treaty, to +the east and west of the Mississippi, 230,000,000 of acres. In 1808 the +Osages gave up 48,000,000 acres for an annual payment of $1,000. In +1818 the Quapaws yielded up 29,000,000 acres for $4,000. They reserved +for themselves a territory of 1,000,000 acres for a hunting-ground. A +solemn oath was taken that it should be respected: but before long it +was invaded like the rest. Mr. Bell, in his Report of the Committee on +Indian Affairs, February 24, 1830, has these words:—“To pay an Indian +tribe what their ancient hunting-grounds are worth to them, after the +game is fled or destroyed, as a mode of appropriating wild lands +claimed by Indians, has been found more convenient, and certainly it is +more agreeable to the forms of justice, as well as more merciful, than +to assert the possession of them by the sword. Thus the practice of +buying Indian titles is but the substitute which humanity and +expediency have imposed, in place of the sword, in arriving at the +actual enjoyment of property claimed by the right of discovery, and +sanctioned by the natural superiority allowed to the claims of +civilized communities over those of savage tribes. Up to the present +time so invariable has been the operation of certain causes, first in +diminishing the value of forest lands to the Indians, and secondly in +disposing them to sell readily, that the plan of buying their right of +occupancy has never threatened to retard, in any perceptible degree, +the prosperity of any of the States.” (Legislative Documents, 21st +Congress, No. 227, p. 6.)] + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part II + + +These are great evils; and it must be added that they appear to me to +be irremediable. I believe that the Indian nations of North America are +doomed to perish; and that whenever the Europeans shall be established +on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, that race of men will be no more. +*i The Indians had only the two alternatives of war or civilization; in +other words, they must either have destroyed the Europeans or become +their equals. + +i +[ This seems, indeed, to be the opinion of almost all American +statesmen. “Judging of the future by the past,” says Mr. Cass, “we +cannot err in anticipating a progressive diminution of their numbers, +and their eventual extinction, unless our border should become +stationary, and they be removed beyond it, or unless some radical +change should take place in the principles of our intercourse with +them, which it is easier to hope for than to expect.”] + + +At the first settlement of the colonies they might have found it +possible, by uniting their forces, to deliver themselves from the small +bodies of strangers who landed on their continent. *j They several +times attempted to do it, and were on the point of succeeding; but the +disproportion of their resources, at the present day, when compared +with those of the whites, is too great to allow such an enterprise to +be thought of. Nevertheless, there do arise from time to time among the +Indians men of penetration, who foresee the final destiny which awaits +the native population, and who exert themselves to unite all the tribes +in common hostility to the Europeans; but their efforts are unavailing. +Those tribes which are in the neighborhood of the whites, are too much +weakened to offer an effectual resistance; whilst the others, giving +way to that childish carelessness of the morrow which characterizes +savage life, wait for the near approach of danger before they prepare +to meet it; some are unable, the others are unwilling, to exert +themselves. + +j +[ Amongst other warlike enterprises, there was one of the Wampanaogs, +and other confederate tribes, under Metacom in 1675, against the +colonists of New England; the English were also engaged in war in +Virginia in 1622.] + + +It is easy to foresee that the Indians will never conform to +civilization; or that it will be too late, whenever they may be +inclined to make the experiment. + +Civilization is the result of a long social process which takes place +in the same spot, and is handed down from one generation to another, +each one profiting by the experience of the last. Of all nations, those +submit to civilization with the most difficulty which habitually live +by the chase. Pastoral tribes, indeed, often change their place of +abode; but they follow a regular order in their migrations, and often +return again to their old stations, whilst the dwelling of the hunter +varies with that of the animals he pursues. + +Several attempts have been made to diffuse knowledge amongst the +Indians, without controlling their wandering propensities; by the +Jesuits in Canada, and by the Puritans in New England; *k but none of +these endeavors were crowned by any lasting success. Civilization began +in the cabin, but it soon retired to expire in the woods. The great +error of these legislators of the Indians was their not understanding +that, in order to succeed in civilizing a people, it is first necessary +to fix it; which cannot be done without inducing it to cultivate the +soil; the Indians ought in the first place to have been accustomed to +agriculture. But not only are they destitute of this indispensable +preliminary to civilization, they would even have great difficulty in +acquiring it. Men who have once abandoned themselves to the restless +and adventurous life of the hunter, feel an insurmountable disgust for +the constant and regular labor which tillage requires. We see this +proved in the bosom of our own society; but it is far more visible +among peoples whose partiality for the chase is a part of their +national character. + +k +[ See the “Histoire de la Nouvelle France,” by Charlevoix, and the work +entitled “Lettres edifiantes.”] + + +Independently of this general difficulty, there is another, which +applies peculiarly to the Indians; they consider labor not merely as an +evil, but as a disgrace; so that their pride prevents them from +becoming civilized, as much as their indolence. *l + +l +[ “In all the tribes,” says Volney, in his “Tableau des Etats-Unis,” p. +423, “there still exists a generation of old warriors, who cannot +forbear, when they see their countrymen using the hoe, from exclaiming +against the degradation of ancient manners, and asserting that the +savages owe their decline to these innovations; adding, that they have +only to return to their primitive habits in order to recover their +power and their glory.”] + + +There is no Indian so wretched as not to retain under his hut of bark a +lofty idea of his personal worth; he considers the cares of industry +and labor as degrading occupations; he compares the husbandman to the +ox which traces the furrow; and even in our most ingenious handicraft, +he can see nothing but the labor of slaves. Not that he is devoid of +admiration for the power and intellectual greatness of the whites; but +although the result of our efforts surprises him, he contemns the means +by which we obtain it; and while he acknowledges our ascendancy, he +still believes in his superiority. War and hunting are the only +pursuits which appear to him worthy to be the occupations of a man. *m +The Indian, in the dreary solitude of his woods, cherishes the same +ideas, the same opinions as the noble of the Middle Ages in his castle, +and he only requires to become a conqueror to complete the resemblance; +thus, however strange it may seem, it is in the forests of the New +World, and not amongst the Europeans who people its coasts, that the +ancient prejudices of Europe are still in existence. + +m +[ The following description occurs in an official document: “Until a +young man has been engaged with an enemy, and has performed some acts +of valor, he gains no consideration, but is regarded nearly as a woman. +In their great war-dances all the warriors in succession strike the +post, as it is called, and recount their exploits. On these occasions +their auditory consists of the kinsmen, friends, and comrades of the +narrator. The profound impression which his discourse produces on them +is manifested by the silent attention it receives, and by the loud +shouts which hail its termination. The young man who finds himself at +such a meeting without anything to recount is very unhappy; and +instances have sometimes occurred of young warriors, whose passions had +been thus inflamed, quitting the war-dance suddenly, and going off +alone to seek for trophies which they might exhibit, and adventures +which they might be allowed to relate.”] + + +More than once, in the course of this work, I have endeavored to +explain the prodigious influence which the social condition appears to +exercise upon the laws and the manners of men; and I beg to add a few +words on the same subject. + +When I perceive the resemblance which exists between the political +institutions of our ancestors, the Germans, and of the wandering tribes +of North America; between the customs described by Tacitus, and those +of which I have sometimes been a witness, I cannot help thinking that +the same cause has brought about the same results in both hemispheres; +and that in the midst of the apparent diversity of human affairs, a +certain number of primary facts may be discovered, from which all the +others are derived. In what we usually call the German institutions, +then, I am inclined only to perceive barbarian habits; and the opinions +of savages in what we style feudal principles. + +However strongly the vices and prejudices of the North American Indians +may be opposed to their becoming agricultural and civilized, necessity +sometimes obliges them to it. Several of the Southern nations, and +amongst others the Cherokees and the Creeks, *n were surrounded by +Europeans, who had landed on the shores of the Atlantic; and who, +either descending the Ohio or proceeding up the Mississippi, arrived +simultaneously upon their borders. These tribes have not been driven +from place to place, like their Northern brethren; but they have been +gradually enclosed within narrow limits, like the game within the +thicket, before the huntsmen plunge into the interior. The Indians who +were thus placed between civilization and death, found themselves +obliged to live by ignominious labor like the whites. They took to +agriculture, and without entirely forsaking their old habits or +manners, sacrificed only as much as was necessary to their existence. + +n +[ These nations are now swallowed up in the States of Georgia, +Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. There were formerly in the South +four great nations (remnants of which still exist), the Choctaws, the +Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees. The remnants of these four +nations amounted, in 1830, to about 75,000 individuals. It is computed +that there are now remaining in the territory occupied or claimed by +the Anglo-American Union about 300,000 Indians. (See Proceedings of the +Indian Board in the City of New York.) The official documents supplied +to Congress make the number amount to 313,130. The reader who is +curious to know the names and numerical strength of all the tribes +which inhabit the Anglo-American territory should consult the documents +I refer to. (Legislative Documents, 20th Congress, No. 117, pp. +90-105.) [In the Census of 1870 it is stated that the Indian population +of the United States is only 25,731, of whom 7,241 are in California.]] + + +The Cherokees went further; they created a written language; +established a permanent form of government; and as everything proceeds +rapidly in the New World, before they had all of them clothes, they set +up a newspaper. *o + +o +[ I brought back with me to France one or two copies of this singular +publication.] + + +The growth of European habits has been remarkably accelerated among +these Indians by the mixed race which has sprung up. *p Deriving +intelligence from their father’s side, without entirely losing the +savage customs of the mother, the half-blood forms the natural link +between civilization and barbarism. Wherever this race has multiplied +the savage state has become modified, and a great change has taken +place in the manners of the people. *q + +p +[ See in the Report of the Committee on Indian Affairs, 21st Congress, +No. 227, p. 23, the reasons for the multiplication of Indians of mixed +blood among the Cherokees. The principal cause dates from the War of +Independence. Many Anglo-Americans of Georgia, having taken the side of +England, were obliged to retreat among the Indians, where they +married.] + + +q +[ Unhappily the mixed race has been less numerous and less influential +in North America than in any other country. The American continent was +peopled by two great nations of Europe, the French and the English. The +former were not slow in connecting themselves with the daughters of the +natives, but there was an unfortunate affinity between the Indian +character and their own: instead of giving the tastes and habits of +civilized life to the savages, the French too often grew passionately +fond of the state of wild freedom they found them in. They became the +most dangerous of the inhabitants of the desert, and won the friendship +of the Indian by exaggerating his vices and his virtues. M. de +Senonville, the governor of Canada, wrote thus to Louis XIV in 1685: +“It has long been believed that in order to civilize the savages we +ought to draw them nearer to us. But there is every reason to suppose +we have been mistaken. Those which have been brought into contact with +us have not become French, and the French who have lived among them are +changed into savages, affecting to dress and live like them.” (“History +of New France,” by Charlevoix, vol. ii., p. 345.) The Englishman, on +the contrary, continuing obstinately attached to the customs and the +most insignificant habits of his forefathers, has remained in the midst +of the American solitudes just what he was in the bosom of European +cities; he would not allow of any communication with savages whom he +despised, and avoided with care the union of his race with theirs. Thus +while the French exercised no salutary influence over the Indians, the +English have always remained alien from them.] + + +The success of the Cherokees proves that the Indians are capable of +civilization, but it does not prove that they will succeed in it. This +difficulty which the Indians find in submitting to civilization +proceeds from the influence of a general cause, which it is almost +impossible for them to escape. An attentive survey of history +demonstrates that, in general, barbarous nations have raised themselves +to civilization by degrees, and by their own efforts. Whenever they +derive knowledge from a foreign people, they stood towards it in the +relation of conquerors, and not of a conquered nation. When the +conquered nation is enlightened, and the conquerors are half savage, as +in the case of the invasion of Rome by the Northern nations or that of +China by the Mongols, the power which victory bestows upon the +barbarian is sufficient to keep up his importance among civilized men, +and permit him to rank as their equal, until he becomes their rival: +the one has might on his side, the other has intelligence; the former +admires the knowledge and the arts of the conquered, the latter envies +the power of the conquerors. The barbarians at length admit civilized +man into their palaces, and he in turn opens his schools to the +barbarians. But when the side on which the physical force lies, also +possesses an intellectual preponderance, the conquered party seldom +become civilized; it retreats, or is destroyed. It may therefore be +said, in a general way, that savages go forth in arms to seek +knowledge, but that they do not receive it when it comes to them. + +If the Indian tribes which now inhabit the heart of the continent could +summon up energy enough to attempt to civilize themselves, they might +possibly succeed. Superior already to the barbarous nations which +surround them, they would gradually gain strength and experience, and +when the Europeans should appear upon their borders, they would be in a +state, if not to maintain their independence, at least to assert their +right to the soil, and to incorporate themselves with the conquerors. +But it is the misfortune of Indians to be brought into contact with a +civilized people, which is also (it must be owned) the most avaricious +nation on the globe, whilst they are still semi-barbarian: to find +despots in their instructors, and to receive knowledge from the hand of +oppression. Living in the freedom of the woods, the North American +Indian was destitute, but he had no feeling of inferiority towards +anyone; as soon, however, as he desires to penetrate into the social +scale of the whites, he takes the lowest rank in society, for he +enters, ignorant and poor, within the pale of science and wealth. After +having led a life of agitation, beset with evils and dangers, but at +the same time filled with proud emotions, *r he is obliged to submit to +a wearisome, obscure, and degraded state; and to gain the bread which +nourishes him by hard and ignoble labor; such are in his eyes the only +results of which civilization can boast: and even this much he is not +sure to obtain. + +r +[ There is in the adventurous life of the hunter a certain irresistible +charm, which seizes the heart of man and carries him away in spite of +reason and experience. This is plainly shown by the memoirs of Tanner. +Tanner is a European who was carried away at the age of six by the +Indians, and has remained thirty years with them in the woods. Nothing +can be conceived more appalling that the miseries which he describes. +He tells us of tribes without a chief, families without a nation to +call their own, men in a state of isolation, wrecks of powerful tribes +wandering at random amid the ice and snow and desolate solitudes of +Canada. Hunger and cold pursue them; every day their life is in +jeopardy. Amongst these men, manners have lost their empire, traditions +are without power. They become more and more savage. Tanner shared in +all these miseries; he was aware of his European origin; he was not +kept away from the whites by force; on the contrary, he came every year +to trade with them, entered their dwellings, and witnessed their +enjoyments; he knew that whenever he chose to return to civilized life +he was perfectly able to do so—and he remained thirty years in the +deserts. When he came into civilized society he declared that the rude +existence which he described, had a secret charm for him which he was +unable to define: he returned to it again and again: at length he +abandoned it with poignant regret; and when he was at length fixed +among the whites, several of his children refused to share his tranquil +and easy situation. I saw Tanner myself at the lower end of Lake +Superior; he seemed to me to be more like a savage than a civilized +being. His book is written without either taste or order; but he gives, +even unconsciously, a lively picture of the prejudices, the passions, +the vices, and, above all, of the destitution in which he lived.] + + +When the Indians undertake to imitate their European neighbors, and to +till the earth like the settlers, they are immediately exposed to a +very formidable competition. The white man is skilled in the craft of +agriculture; the Indian is a rough beginner in an art with which he is +unacquainted. The former reaps abundant crops without difficulty, the +latter meets with a thousand obstacles in raising the fruits of the +earth. + +The European is placed amongst a population whose wants he knows and +partakes. The savage is isolated in the midst of a hostile people, with +whose manners, language, and laws he is imperfectly acquainted, but +without whose assistance he cannot live. He can only procure the +materials of comfort by bartering his commodities against the goods of +the European, for the assistance of his countrymen is wholly +insufficient to supply his wants. When the Indian wishes to sell the +produce of his labor, he cannot always meet with a purchaser, whilst +the European readily finds a market; and the former can only produce at +a considerable cost that which the latter vends at a very low rate. +Thus the Indian has no sooner escaped those evils to which barbarous +nations are exposed, than he is subjected to the still greater miseries +of civilized communities; and he finds is scarcely less difficult to +live in the midst of our abundance, than in the depth of his own +wilderness. + +He has not yet lost the habits of his erratic life; the traditions of +his fathers and his passion for the chase are still alive within him. +The wild enjoyments which formerly animated him in the woods, painfully +excite his troubled imagination; and his former privations appear to be +less keen, his former perils less appalling. He contrasts the +independence which he possessed amongst his equals with the servile +position which he occupies in civilized society. On the other hand, the +solitudes which were so long his free home are still at hand; a few +hours’ march will bring him back to them once more. The whites offer +him a sum, which seems to him to be considerable, for the ground which +he has begun to clear. This money of the Europeans may possibly furnish +him with the means of a happy and peaceful subsistence in remoter +regions; and he quits the plough, resumes his native arms, and returns +to the wilderness forever. *s The condition of the Creeks and +Cherokees, to which I have already alluded, sufficiently corroborates +the truth of this deplorable picture. + +s +[ The destructive influence of highly civilized nations upon others +which are less so, has been exemplified by the Europeans themselves. +About a century ago the French founded the town of Vincennes up on the +Wabash, in the middle of the desert; and they lived there in great +plenty until the arrival of the American settlers, who first ruined the +previous inhabitants by their competition, and afterwards purchased +their lands at a very low rate. At the time when M. de Volney, from +whom I borrow these details, passed through Vincennes, the number of +the French was reduced to a hundred individuals, most of whom were +about to pass over to Louisiana or to Canada. These French settlers +were worthy people, but idle and uninstructed: they had contracted many +of the habits of savages. The Americans, who were perhaps their +inferiors, in a moral point of view, were immeasurably superior to them +in intelligence: they were industrious, well informed, rich, and +accustomed to govern their own community. + + +I myself saw in Canada, where the intellectual difference between the +two races is less striking, that the English are the masters of +commerce and manufacture in the Canadian country, that they spread on +all sides, and confine the French within limits which scarcely suffice +to contain them. In like manner, in Louisiana, almost all activity in +commerce and manufacture centres in the hands of the Anglo-Americans. + +But the case of Texas is still more striking: the State of Texas is a +part of Mexico, and lies upon the frontier between that country and the +United States. In the course of the last few years the Anglo-Americans +have penetrated into this province, which is still thinly peopled; they +purchase land, they produce the commodities of the country, and +supplant the original population. It may easily be foreseen that if +Mexico takes no steps to check this change, the province of Texas will +very shortly cease to belong to that government. + +If the different degrees—comparatively so slight—which exist in +European civilization produce results of such magnitude, the +consequences which must ensue from the collision of the most perfect +European civilization with Indian savages may readily be conceived.] + +The Indians, in the little which they have done, have unquestionably +displayed as much natural genius as the peoples of Europe in their most +important designs; but nations as well as men require time to learn, +whatever may be their intelligence and their zeal. Whilst the savages +were engaged in the work of civilization, the Europeans continued to +surround them on every side, and to confine them within narrower +limits; the two races gradually met, and they are now in immediate +juxtaposition to each other. The Indian is already superior to his +barbarous parent, but he is still very far below his white neighbor. +With their resources and acquired knowledge, the Europeans soon +appropriated to themselves most of the advantages which the natives +might have derived from the possession of the soil; they have settled +in the country, they have purchased land at a very low rate or have +occupied it by force, and the Indians have been ruined by a competition +which they had not the means of resisting. They were isolated in their +own country, and their race only constituted a colony of troublesome +aliens in the midst of a numerous and domineering people. *t + +t +[ See in the Legislative Documents (21st Congress, No. 89) instances of +excesses of every kind committed by the whites upon the territory of +the Indians, either in taking possession of a part of their lands, +until compelled to retire by the troops of Congress, or carrying off +their cattle, burning their houses, cutting down their corn, and doing +violence to their persons. It appears, nevertheless, from all these +documents that the claims of the natives are constantly protected by +the government from the abuse of force. The Union has a representative +agent continually employed to reside among the Indians; and the report +of the Cherokee agent, which is among the documents I have referred to, +is almost always favorable to the Indians. “The intrusion of whites,” +he says, “upon the lands of the Cherokees would cause ruin to the poor, +helpless, and inoffensive inhabitants.” And he further remarks upon the +attempt of the State of Georgia to establish a division line for the +purpose of limiting the boundaries of the Cherokees, that the line +drawn having been made by the whites, and entirely upon ex parte +evidence of their several rights, was of no validity whatever.] + + +Washington said in one of his messages to Congress, “We are more +enlightened and more powerful than the Indian nations, we are therefore +bound in honor to treat them with kindness and even with generosity.” +But this virtuous and high-minded policy has not been followed. The +rapacity of the settlers is usually backed by the tyranny of the +government. Although the Cherokees and the Creeks are established upon +the territory which they inhabited before the settlement of the +Europeans, and although the Americans have frequently treated with them +as with foreign nations, the surrounding States have not consented to +acknowledge them as independent peoples, and attempts have been made to +subject these children of the woods to Anglo-American magistrates, +laws, and customs. *u Destitution had driven these unfortunate Indians +to civilization, and oppression now drives them back to their former +condition: many of them abandon the soil which they had begun to clear, +and return to their savage course of life. + +u +[ In 1829 the State of Alabama divided the Creek territory into +counties, and subjected the Indian population to the power of European +magistrates. + +In 1830 the State of Mississippi assimilated the Choctaws and +Chickasaws to the white population, and declared that any of them that +should take the title of chief would be punished by a fine of $1,000 +and a year’s imprisonment. When these laws were enforced upon the +Choctaws, who inhabited that district, the tribe assembled, their chief +communicated to them the intentions of the whites, and read to them +some of the laws to which it was intended that they should submit; and +they unanimously declared that it was better at once to retreat again +into the wilds.] + + + + +Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part III + + +If we consider the tyrannical measures which have been adopted by the +legislatures of the Southern States, the conduct of their Governors, +and the decrees of their courts of justice, we shall be convinced that +the entire expulsion of the Indians is the final result to which the +efforts of their policy are directed. The Americans of that part of the +Union look with jealousy upon the aborigines, *v they are aware that +these tribes have not yet lost the traditions of savage life, and +before civilization has permanently fixed them to the soil, it is +intended to force them to recede by reducing them to despair. The +Creeks and Cherokees, oppressed by the several States, have appealed to +the central government, which is by no means insensible to their +misfortunes, and is sincerely desirous of saving the remnant of the +natives, and of maintaining them in the free possession of that +territory, which the Union is pledged to respect. *w But the several +States oppose so formidable a resistance to the execution of this +design, that the government is obliged to consent to the extirpation of +a few barbarous tribes in order not to endanger the safety of the +American Union. + +v +[ The Georgians, who are so much annoyed by the proximity of the +Indians, inhabit a territory which does not at present contain more +than seven inhabitants to the square mile. In France there are one +hundred and sixty-two inhabitants to the same extent of country.] + + +w +[ In 1818 Congress appointed commissioners to visit the Arkansas +Territory, accompanied by a deputation of Creeks, Choctaws, and +Chickasaws. This expedition was commanded by Messrs. Kennerly, M’Coy, +Wash Hood, and John Bell. See the different reports of the +commissioners, and their journal, in the Documents of Congress, No. 87, +House of Representatives.] + + +But the federal government, which is not able to protect the Indians, +would fain mitigate the hardships of their lot; and, with this +intention, proposals have been made to transport them into more remote +regions at the public cost. + +Between the thirty-third and thirty-seventh degrees of north latitude, +a vast tract of country lies, which has taken the name of Arkansas, +from the principal river that waters its extent. It is bounded on the +one side by the confines of Mexico, on the other by the Mississippi. +Numberless streams cross it in every direction; the climate is mild, +and the soil productive, but it is only inhabited by a few wandering +hordes of savages. The government of the Union wishes to transport the +broken remnants of the indigenous population of the South to the +portion of this country which is nearest to Mexico, and at a great +distance from the American settlements. + +We were assured, towards the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians +had already gone down to the shores of the Arkansas; and fresh +detachments were constantly following them; but Congress has been +unable to excite a unanimous determination in those whom it is disposed +to protect. Some, indeed, are willing to quit the seat of oppression, +but the most enlightened members of the community refuse to abandon +their recent dwellings and their springing crops; they are of opinion +that the work of civilization, once interrupted, will never be resumed; +they fear that those domestic habits which have been so recently +contracted, may be irrevocably lost in the midst of a country which is +still barbarous, and where nothing is prepared for the subsistence of +an agricultural people; they know that their entrance into those wilds +will be opposed by inimical hordes, and that they have lost the energy +of barbarians, without acquiring the resources of civilization to +resist their attacks. Moreover, the Indians readily discover that the +settlement which is proposed to them is merely a temporary expedient. +Who can assure them that they will at length be allowed to dwell in +peace in their new retreat? The United States pledge themselves to the +observance of the obligation; but the territory which they at present +occupy was formerly secured to them by the most solemn oaths of +Anglo-American faith. *x The American government does not indeed rob +them of their lands, but it allows perpetual incursions to be made on +them. In a few years the same white population which now flocks around +them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas; they will then +be exposed to the same evils without the same remedies, and as the +limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only refuge is the +grave. + +x +[ The fifth article of the treaty made with the Creeks in August, 1790, +is in the following words:—“The United States solemnly guarantee to the +Creek nation all their land within the limits of the United States.” + + +The seventh article of the treaty concluded in 1791 with the Cherokees +says:—“The United States solemnly guarantee to the Cherokee nation all +their lands not hereby ceded.” The following article declared that if +any citizen of the United States or other settler not of the Indian +race should establish himself upon the territory of the Cherokees, the +United States would withdraw their protection from that individual, and +give him up to be punished as the Cherokee nation should think fit.] + +The Union treats the Indians with less cupidity and rigor than the +policy of the several States, but the two governments are alike +destitute of good faith. The States extend what they are pleased to +term the benefits of their laws to the Indians, with a belief that the +tribes will recede rather than submit; and the central government, +which promises a permanent refuge to these unhappy beings is well aware +of its inability to secure it to them. *y + +y +[ This does not prevent them from promising in the most solemn manner +to do so. See the letter of the President addressed to the Creek +Indians, March 23, 1829 (Proceedings of the Indian Board, in the city +of New York, p. 5): “Beyond the great river Mississippi, where a part +of your nation has gone, your father has provided a country large +enough for all of you, and he advises you to remove to it. There your +white brothers will not trouble you; they will have no claim to the +land, and you can live upon it, you and all your children, as long as +the grass grows, or the water runs, in peace and plenty. It will be +yours forever.” + + +The Secretary of War, in a letter written to the Cherokees, April 18, +1829, (see the same work, p. 6), declares to them that they cannot +expect to retain possession of the lands at that time occupied by them, +but gives them the most positive assurance of uninterrupted peace if +they would remove beyond the Mississippi: as if the power which could +not grant them protection then, would be able to afford it them +hereafter!] + +Thus the tyranny of the States obliges the savages to retire, the +Union, by its promises and resources, facilitates their retreat; and +these measures tend to precisely the same end. *z “By the will of our +Father in Heaven, the Governor of the whole world,” said the Cherokees +in their petition to Congress, *a “the red man of America has become +small, and the white man great and renowned. When the ancestors of the +people of these United States first came to the shores of America they +found the red man strong: though he was ignorant and savage, yet he +received them kindly, and gave them dry land to rest their weary feet. +They met in peace, and shook hands in token of friendship. Whatever the +white man wanted and asked of the Indian, the latter willingly gave. At +that time the Indian was the lord, and the white man the suppliant. But +now the scene has changed. The strength of the red man has become +weakness. As his neighbors increased in numbers his power became less +and less, and now, of the many and powerful tribes who once covered +these United States, only a few are to be seen—a few whom a sweeping +pestilence has left. The northern tribes, who were once so numerous and +powerful, are now nearly extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man +of America. Shall we, who are remnants, share the same fate?” + +z +[ To obtain a correct idea of the policy pursued by the several States +and the Union with respect to the Indians, it is necessary to consult, +1st, “The Laws of the Colonial and State Governments relating to the +Indian Inhabitants.” (See the Legislative Documents, 21st Congress, No. +319.) 2d, The Laws of the Union on the same subject, and especially +that of March 30, 1802. (See Story’s “Laws of the United States.”) 3d, +The Report of Mr. Cass, Secretary of War, relative to Indian Affairs, +November 29, 1823.] + + +a +[ December 18, 1829.] + + +“The land on which we stand we have received as an inheritance from our +fathers, who possessed it from time immemorial, as a gift from our +common Father in Heaven. They bequeathed it to us as their children, +and we have sacredly kept it, as containing the remains of our beloved +men. This right of inheritance we have never ceded nor ever forfeited. +Permit us to ask what better right can the people have to a country +than the right of inheritance and immemorial peaceable possession? We +know it is said of late by the State of Georgia and by the Executive of +the United States, that we have forfeited this right; but we think this +is said gratuitously. At what time have we made the forfeit? What great +crime have we committed, whereby we must forever be divested of our +country and rights? Was it when we were hostile to the United States, +and took part with the King of Great Britain, during the struggle for +independence? If so, why was not this forfeiture declared in the first +treaty of peace between the United States and our beloved men? Why was +not such an article as the following inserted in the treaty:—‘The +United States give peace to the Cherokees, but, for the part they took +in the late war, declare them to be but tenants at will, to be removed +when the convenience of the States, within whose chartered limits they +live, shall require it’? That was the proper time to assume such a +possession. But it was not thought of, nor would our forefathers have +agreed to any treaty whose tendency was to deprive them of their rights +and their country.” + +Such is the language of the Indians: their assertions are true, their +forebodings inevitable. From whichever side we consider the destinies +of the aborigines of North America, their calamities appear to be +irremediable: if they continue barbarous, they are forced to retire; if +they attempt to civilize their manners, the contact of a more civilized +community subjects them to oppression and destitution. They perish if +they continue to wander from waste to waste, and if they attempt to +settle they still must perish; the assistance of Europeans is necessary +to instruct them, but the approach of Europeans corrupts and repels +them into savage life; they refuse to change their habits as long as +their solitudes are their own, and it is too late to change them when +they are constrained to submit. + +The Spaniards pursued the Indians with bloodhounds, like wild beasts; +they sacked the New World with no more temper or compassion than a city +taken by storm; but destruction must cease, and frenzy be stayed; the +remnant of the Indian population which had escaped the massacre mixed +with its conquerors, and adopted in the end their religion and their +manners. *b The conduct of the Americans of the United States towards +the aborigines is characterized, on the other hand, by a singular +attachment to the formalities of law. Provided that the Indians retain +their barbarous condition, the Americans take no part in their affairs; +they treat them as independent nations, and do not possess themselves +of their hunting grounds without a treaty of purchase; and if an Indian +nation happens to be so encroached upon as to be unable to subsist upon +its territory, they afford it brotherly assistance in transporting it +to a grave sufficiently remote from the land of its fathers. + +b +[ The honor of this result is, however, by no means due to the +Spaniards. If the Indian tribes had not been tillers of the ground at +the time of the arrival of the Europeans, they would unquestionably +have been destroyed in South as well as in North America.] + + +The Spaniards were unable to exterminate the Indian race by those +unparalleled atrocities which brand them with indelible shame, nor did +they even succeed in wholly depriving it of its rights; but the +Americans of the United States have accomplished this twofold purpose +with singular felicity; tranquilly, legally, philanthropically, without +shedding blood, and without violating a single great principle of +morality in the eyes of the world. *c It is impossible to destroy men +with more respect for the laws of humanity. + +c +[ See, amongst other documents, the report made by Mr. Bell in the name +of the Committee on Indian Affairs, February 24, 1830, in which is most +logically established and most learnedly proved, that “the fundamental +principle that the Indians had no right by virtue of their ancient +possession either of will or sovereignty, has never been abandoned +either expressly or by implication.” In perusing this report, which is +evidently drawn up by an experienced hand, one is astonished at the +facility with which the author gets rid of all arguments founded upon +reason and natural right, which he designates as abstract and +theoretical principles. The more I contemplate the difference between +civilized and uncivilized man with regard to the principles of justice, +the more I observe that the former contests the justice of those rights +which the latter simply violates.] + + +[I leave this chapter wholly unchanged, for it has always appeared to +me to be one of the most eloquent and touching parts of this book. But +it has ceased to be prophetic; the destruction of the Indian race in +the United States is already consummated. In 1870 there remained but +25,731 Indians in the whole territory of the Union, and of these by far +the largest part exist in California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Dakota, and +New Mexico and Nevada. In New England, Pennsylvania, and New York the +race is extinct; and the predictions of M. de Tocqueville are +fulfilled. —Translator’s Note.] + +Situation Of The Black Population In The United States, And Dangers +With Which Its Presence Threatens The Whites + +Why it is more difficult to abolish slavery, and to efface all vestiges +of it amongst the moderns than it was amongst the ancients—In the +United States the prejudices of the Whites against the Blacks seem to +increase in proportion as slavery is abolished—Situation of the Negroes +in the Northern and Southern States—Why the Americans abolish +slavery—Servitude, which debases the slave, impoverishes the +master—Contrast between the left and the right bank of the Ohio—To what +attributable—The Black race, as well as slavery, recedes towards the +South—Explanation of this fact—Difficulties attendant upon the +abolition of slavery in the South—Dangers to come—General +anxiety—Foundation of a Black colony in Africa—Why the Americans of the +South increase the hardships of slavery, whilst they are distressed at +its continuance. + +The Indians will perish in the same isolated condition in which they +have lived; but the destiny of the negroes is in some measure +interwoven with that of the Europeans. These two races are attached to +each other without intermingling, and they are alike unable entirely to +separate or to combine. The most formidable of all the ills which +threaten the future existence of the Union arises from the presence of +a black population upon its territory; and in contemplating the cause +of the present embarrassments or of the future dangers of the United +States, the observer is invariably led to consider this as a primary +fact. + +The permanent evils to which mankind is subjected are usually produced +by the vehement or the increasing efforts of men; but there is one +calamity which penetrated furtively into the world, and which was at +first scarcely distinguishable amidst the ordinary abuses of power; it +originated with an individual whose name history has not preserved; it +was wafted like some accursed germ upon a portion of the soil, but it +afterwards nurtured itself, grew without effort, and spreads naturally +with the society to which it belongs. I need scarcely add that this +calamity is slavery. Christianity suppressed slavery, but the +Christians of the sixteenth century re-established it—as an exception, +indeed, to their social system, and restricted to one of the races of +mankind; but the wound thus inflicted upon humanity, though less +extensive, was at the same time rendered far more difficult of cure. + +It is important to make an accurate distinction between slavery itself +and its consequences. The immediate evils which are produced by slavery +were very nearly the same in antiquity as they are amongst the moderns; +but the consequences of these evils were different. The slave, amongst +the ancients, belonged to the same race as his master, and he was often +the superior of the two in education *d and instruction. Freedom was +the only distinction between them; and when freedom was conferred they +were easily confounded together. The ancients, then, had a very simple +means of avoiding slavery and its evil consequences, which was that of +affranchisement; and they succeeded as soon as they adopted this +measure generally. Not but, in ancient States, the vestiges of +servitude subsisted for some time after servitude itself was abolished. +There is a natural prejudice which prompts men to despise whomsoever +has been their inferior long after he is become their equal; and the +real inequality which is produced by fortune or by law is always +succeeded by an imaginary inequality which is implanted in the manners +of the people. Nevertheless, this secondary consequence of slavery was +limited to a certain term amongst the ancients, for the freedman bore +so entire a resemblance to those born free, that it soon became +impossible to distinguish him from amongst them. + +d +[ It is well known that several of the most distinguished authors of +antiquity, and amongst them Aesop and Terence, were, or had been +slaves. Slaves were not always taken from barbarous nations, and the +chances of war reduced highly civilized men to servitude.] + + +The greatest difficulty in antiquity was that of altering the law; +amongst the moderns it is that of altering the manners; and, as far as +we are concerned, the real obstacles begin where those of the ancients +left off. This arises from the circumstance that, amongst the moderns, +the abstract and transient fact of slavery is fatally united to the +physical and permanent fact of color. The tradition of slavery +dishonors the race, and the peculiarity of the race perpetuates the +tradition of slavery. No African has ever voluntarily emigrated to the +shores of the New World; whence it must be inferred, that all the +blacks who are now to be found in that hemisphere are either slaves or +freedmen. Thus the negro transmits the eternal mark of his ignominy to +all his descendants; and although the law may abolish slavery, God +alone can obliterate the traces of its existence. + +The modern slave differs from his master not only in his condition, but +in his origin. You may set the negro free, but you cannot make him +otherwise than an alien to the European. Nor is this all; we scarcely +acknowledge the common features of mankind in this child of debasement +whom slavery has brought amongst us. His physiognomy is to our eyes +hideous, his understanding weak, his tastes low; and we are almost +inclined to look upon him as a being intermediate between man and the +brutes. *e The moderns, then, after they have abolished slavery, have +three prejudices to contend against, which are less easy to attack and +far less easy to conquer than the mere fact of servitude: the prejudice +of the master, the prejudice of the race, and the prejudice of color. + +e +[ To induce the whites to abandon the opinion they have conceived of +the moral and intellectual inferiority of their former slaves, the +negroes must change; but as long as this opinion subsists, to change is +impossible.] + + +It is difficult for us, who have had the good fortune to be born +amongst men like ourselves by nature, and equal to ourselves by law, to +conceive the irreconcilable differences which separate the negro from +the European in America. But we may derive some faint notion of them +from analogy. France was formerly a country in which numerous +distinctions of rank existed, that had been created by the legislation. +Nothing can be more fictitious than a purely legal inferiority; nothing +more contrary to the instinct of mankind than these permanent divisions +which had been established between beings evidently similar. +Nevertheless these divisions subsisted for ages; they still subsist in +many places; and on all sides they have left imaginary vestiges, which +time alone can efface. If it be so difficult to root out an inequality +which solely originates in the law, how are those distinctions to be +destroyed which seem to be based upon the immutable laws of Nature +herself? When I remember the extreme difficulty with which aristocratic +bodies, of whatever nature they may be, are commingled with the mass of +the people; and the exceeding care which they take to preserve the +ideal boundaries of their caste inviolate, I despair of seeing an +aristocracy disappear which is founded upon visible and indelible +signs. Those who hope that the Europeans will ever mix with the +negroes, appear to me to delude themselves; and I am not led to any +such conclusion by my own reason, or by the evidence of facts. + +Hitherto, wherever the whites have been the most powerful, they have +maintained the blacks in a subordinate or a servile position; wherever +the negroes have been strongest they have destroyed the whites; such +has been the only retribution which has ever taken place between the +two races. + +I see that in a certain portion of the territory of the United States +at the present day, the legal barrier which separated the two races is +tending to fall away, but not that which exists in the manners of the +country; slavery recedes, but the prejudice to which it has given birth +remains stationary. Whosoever has inhabited the United States must have +perceived that in those parts of the Union in which the negroes are no +longer slaves, they have in no wise drawn nearer to the whites. On the +contrary, the prejudice of the race appears to be stronger in the +States which have abolished slavery, than in those where it still +exists; and nowhere is it so intolerant as in those States where +servitude has never been known. + +It is true, that in the North of the Union, marriages may be legally +contracted between negroes and whites; but public opinion would +stigmatize a man who should connect himself with a negress as infamous, +and it would be difficult to meet with a single instance of such a +union. The electoral franchise has been conferred upon the negroes in +almost all the States in which slavery has been abolished; but if they +come forward to vote, their lives are in danger. If oppressed, they may +bring an action at law, but they will find none but whites amongst +their judges; and although they may legally serve as jurors, prejudice +repulses them from that office. The same schools do not receive the +child of the black and of the European. In the theatres, gold cannot +procure a seat for the servile race beside their former masters; in the +hospitals they lie apart; and although they are allowed to invoke the +same Divinity as the whites, it must be at a different altar, and in +their own churches, with their own clergy. The gates of Heaven are not +closed against these unhappy beings; but their inferiority is continued +to the very confines of the other world; when the negro is defunct, his +bones are cast aside, and the distinction of condition prevails even in +the equality of death. The negro is free, but he can share neither the +rights, nor the pleasures, nor the labor, nor the afflictions, nor the +tomb of him whose equal he has been declared to be; and he cannot meet +him upon fair terms in life or in death. + +In the South, where slavery still exists, the negroes are less +carefully kept apart; they sometimes share the labor and the +recreations of the whites; the whites consent to intermix with them to +a certain extent, and although the legislation treats them more +harshly, the habits of the people are more tolerant and compassionate. +In the South the master is not afraid to raise his slave to his own +standing, because he knows that he can in a moment reduce him to the +dust at pleasure. In the North the white no longer distinctly perceives +the barrier which separates him from the degraded race, and he shuns +the negro with the more pertinacity, since he fears lest they should +some day be confounded together. + +Amongst the Americans of the South, nature sometimes reasserts her +rights, and restores a transient equality between the blacks and the +whites; but in the North pride restrains the most imperious of human +passions. The American of the Northern States would perhaps allow the +negress to share his licentious pleasures, if the laws of his country +did not declare that she may aspire to be the legitimate partner of his +bed; but he recoils with horror from her who might become his wife. + +Thus it is, in the United States, that the prejudice which repels the +negroes seems to increase in proportion as they are emancipated, and +inequality is sanctioned by the manners whilst it is effaced from the +laws of the country. But if the relative position of the two races +which inhabit the United States is such as I have described, it may be +asked why the Americans have abolished slavery in the North of the +Union, why they maintain it in the South, and why they aggravate its +hardships there? The answer is easily given. It is not for the good of +the negroes, but for that of the whites, that measures are taken to +abolish slavery in the United States. + +The first negroes were imported into Virginia about the year 1621. *f +In America, therefore, as well as in the rest of the globe, slavery +originated in the South. Thence it spread from one settlement to +another; but the number of slaves diminished towards the Northern +States, and the negro population was always very limited in New +England. *g + +f +[ See Beverley’s “History of Virginia.” See also in Jefferson’s +“Memoirs” some curious details concerning the introduction of negroes +into Virginia, and the first Act which prohibited the importation of +them in 1778.] + + +g +[ The number of slaves was less considerable in the North, but the +advantages resulting from slavery were not more contested there than in +the South. In 1740, the Legislature of the State of New York declared +that the direct importation of slaves ought to be encouraged as much as +possible, and smuggling severely punished in order not to discourage +the fair trader. (Kent’s “Commentaries,” vol. ii. p. 206.) Curious +researches, by Belknap, upon slavery in New England, are to be found in +the “Historical Collection of Massachusetts,” vol. iv. p. 193. It +appears that negroes were introduced there in 1630, but that the +legislation and manners of the people were opposed to slavery from the +first; see also, in the same work, the manner in which public opinion, +and afterwards the laws, finally put an end to slavery.] + + +A century had scarcely elapsed since the foundation of the colonies, +when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary +fact, that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves, +increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity more rapidly than +those which contained the greatest number of negroes. In the former, +however, the inhabitants were obliged to cultivate the soil themselves, +or by hired laborers; in the latter they were furnished with hands for +which they paid no wages; yet although labor and expenses were on the +one side, and ease with economy on the other, the former were in +possession of the most advantageous system. This consequence seemed to +be the more difficult to explain, since the settlers, who all belonged +to the same European race, had the same habits, the same civilization, +the same laws, and their shades of difference were extremely slight. + +Time, however, continued to advance, and the Anglo-Americans, spreading +beyond the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, penetrated farther and farther +into the solitudes of the West; they met with a new soil and an +unwonted climate; the obstacles which opposed them were of the most +various character; their races intermingled, the inhabitants of the +South went up towards the North, those of the North descended to the +South; but in the midst of all these causes, the same result occurred +at every step, and in general, the colonies in which there were no +slaves became more populous and more rich than those in which slavery +flourished. The more progress was made, the more was it shown that +slavery, which is so cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master. + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part IV + + +But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization +reached the banks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had +distinguished by the name of Ohio, or Beautiful River, waters one of +the most magnificent valleys that has ever been made the abode of man. +Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil +affords inexhaustible treasures to the laborer; on either bank the air +is wholesome and the climate mild, and each of them forms the extreme +frontier of a vast State: That which follows the numerous windings of +the Ohio upon the left is called Kentucky, that upon the right bears +the name of the river. These two States only differ in a single +respect; Kentucky has admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has +prohibited the existence of slaves within its borders. *h + +h +[ Not only is slavery prohibited in Ohio, but no free negroes are +allowed to enter the territory of that State, or to hold property in +it. See the Statutes of Ohio.] + + +Thus the traveller who floats down the current of the Ohio to the spot +where that river falls into the Mississippi, may be said to sail +between liberty and servitude; and a transient inspection of the +surrounding objects will convince him as to which of the two is most +favorable to mankind. Upon the left bank of the stream the population +is rare; from time to time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in +the half-desert fields; the primaeval forest recurs at every turn; +society seems to be asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a +scene of activity and of life. From the right bank, on the contrary, a +confused hum is heard which proclaims the presence of industry; the +fields are covered with abundant harvests, the elegance of the +dwellings announces the taste and activity of the laborer, and man +appears to be in the enjoyment of that wealth and contentment which is +the reward of labor. *i + +i +[ The activity of Ohio is not confined to individuals, but the +undertakings of the State are surprisingly great; a canal has been +established between Lake Erie and the Ohio, by means of which the +valley of the Mississippi communicates with the river of the North, and +the European commodities which arrive at New York may be forwarded by +water to New Orleans across five hundred leagues of continent.] + + +The State of Kentucky was founded in 1775, the State of Ohio only +twelve years later; but twelve years are more in America than half a +century in Europe, and, at the present day, the population of Ohio +exceeds that of Kentucky by two hundred and fifty thousand souls. *j +These opposite consequences of slavery and freedom may readily be +understood, and they suffice to explain many of the differences which +we remark between the civilization of antiquity and that of our own +time. + +j +[ The exact numbers given by the census of 1830 were: Kentucky, +688,-844; Ohio, 937,679. [In 1890 the population of Ohio was 3,672,316, +that of Kentucky, 1,858,635.]] + + +Upon the left bank of the Ohio labor is confounded with the idea of +slavery, upon the right bank it is identified with that of prosperity +and improvement; on the one side it is degraded, on the other it is +honored; on the former territory no white laborers can be found, for +they would be afraid of assimilating themselves to the negroes; on the +latter no one is idle, for the white population extends its activity +and its intelligence to every kind of employment. Thus the men whose +task it is to cultivate the rich soil of Kentucky are ignorant and +lukewarm; whilst those who are active and enlightened either do nothing +or pass over into the State of Ohio, where they may work without +dishonor. + +It is true that in Kentucky the planters are not obliged to pay wages +to the slaves whom they employ; but they derive small profits from +their labor, whilst the wages paid to free workmen would be returned +with interest in the value of their services. The free workman is paid, +but he does his work quicker than the slave, and rapidity of execution +is one of the great elements of economy. The white sells his services, +but they are only purchased at the times at which they may be useful; +the black can claim no remuneration for his toil, but the expense of +his maintenance is perpetual; he must be supported in his old age as +well as in the prime of manhood, in his profitless infancy as well as +in the productive years of youth. Payment must equally be made in order +to obtain the services of either class of men: the free workman +receives his wages in money, the slave in education, in food, in care, +and in clothing. The money which a master spends in the maintenance of +his slaves goes gradually and in detail, so that it is scarcely +perceived; the salary of the free workman is paid in a round sum, which +appears only to enrich the individual who receives it, but in the end +the slave has cost more than the free servant, and his labor is less +productive. *k + +k +[ Independently of these causes, which, wherever free workmen abound, +render their labor more productive and more economical than that of +slaves, another cause may be pointed out which is peculiar to the +United States: the sugar-cane has hitherto been cultivated with success +only upon the banks of the Mississippi, near the mouth of that river in +the Gulf of Mexico. In Louisiana the cultivation of the sugar-cane is +exceedingly lucrative, and nowhere does a laborer earn so much by his +work, and, as there is always a certain relation between the cost of +production and the value of the produce, the price of slaves is very +high in Louisiana. But Louisiana is one of the confederated States, and +slaves may be carried thither from all parts of the Union; the price +given for slaves in New Orleans consequently raises the value of slaves +in all the other markets. The consequence of this is, that in the +countries where the land is less productive, the cost of slave labor is +still very considerable, which gives an additional advantage to the +competition of free labor.] + + +The influence of slavery extends still further; it affects the +character of the master, and imparts a peculiar tendency to his ideas +and his tastes. Upon both banks of the Ohio, the character of the +inhabitants is enterprising and energetic; but this vigor is very +differently exercised in the two States. The white inhabitant of Ohio, +who is obliged to subsist by his own exertions, regards temporal +prosperity as the principal aim of his existence; and as the country +which he occupies presents inexhaustible resources to his industry and +ever-varying lures to his activity, his acquisitive ardor surpasses the +ordinary limits of human cupidity: he is tormented by the desire of +wealth, and he boldly enters upon every path which fortune opens to +him; he becomes a sailor, a pioneer, an artisan, or a laborer with the +same indifference, and he supports, with equal constancy, the fatigues +and the dangers incidental to these various professions; the resources +of his intelligence are astonishing, and his avidity in the pursuit of +gain amounts to a species of heroism. + +But the Kentuckian scorns not only labor, but all the undertakings +which labor promotes; as he lives in an idle independence, his tastes +are those of an idle man; money loses a portion of its value in his +eyes; he covets wealth much less than pleasure and excitement; and the +energy which his neighbor devotes to gain, turns with him to a +passionate love of field sports and military exercises; he delights in +violent bodily exertion, he is familiar with the use of arms, and is +accustomed from a very early age to expose his life in single combat. +Thus slavery not only prevents the whites from becoming opulent, but +even from desiring to become so. + +As the same causes have been continually producing opposite effects for +the last two centuries in the British colonies of North America, they +have established a very striking difference between the commercial +capacity of the inhabitants of the South and those of the North. At the +present day it is only the Northern States which are in possession of +shipping, manufactures, railroads, and canals. This difference is +perceptible not only in comparing the North with the South, but in +comparing the several Southern States. Almost all the individuals who +carry on commercial operations, or who endeavor to turn slave labor to +account in the most Southern districts of the Union, have emigrated +from the North. The natives of the Northern States are constantly +spreading over that portion of the American territory where they have +less to fear from competition; they discover resources there which +escaped the notice of the inhabitants; and, as they comply with a +system which they do not approve, they succeed in turning it to better +advantage than those who first founded and who still maintain it. + +Were I inclined to continue this parallel, I could easily prove that +almost all the differences which may be remarked between the characters +of the Americans in the Southern and in the Northern States have +originated in slavery; but this would divert me from my subject, and my +present intention is not to point out all the consequences of +servitude, but those effects which it has produced upon the prosperity +of the countries which have admitted it. + +The influence of slavery upon the production of wealth must have been +very imperfectly known in antiquity, as slavery then obtained +throughout the civilized world; and the nations which were unacquainted +with it were barbarous. And indeed Christianity only abolished slavery +by advocating the claims of the slave; at the present time it may be +attacked in the name of the master, and, upon this point, interest is +reconciled with morality. + +As these truths became apparent in the United States, slavery receded +before the progress of experience. Servitude had begun in the South, +and had thence spread towards the North; but it now retires again. +Freedom, which started from the North, now descends uninterruptedly +towards the South. Amongst the great States, Pennsylvania now +constitutes the extreme limit of slavery to the North: but even within +those limits the slave system is shaken: Maryland, which is immediately +below Pennsylvania, is preparing for its abolition; and Virginia, which +comes next to Maryland, is already discussing its utility and its +dangers. *l + +l +[ A peculiar reason contributes to detach the two last-mentioned States +from the cause of slavery. The former wealth of this part of the Union +was principally derived from the cultivation of tobacco. This +cultivation is specially carried on by slaves; but within the last few +years the market-price of tobacco has diminished, whilst the value of +the slaves remains the same. Thus the ratio between the cost of +production and the value of the produce is changed. The natives of +Maryland and Virginia are therefore more disposed than they were thirty +years ago, to give up slave labor in the cultivation of tobacco, or to +give up slavery and tobacco at the same time.] + + +No great change takes place in human institutions without involving +amongst its causes the law of inheritance. When the law of +primogeniture obtained in the South, each family was represented by a +wealthy individual, who was neither compelled nor induced to labor; and +he was surrounded, as by parasitic plants, by the other members of his +family who were then excluded by law from sharing the common +inheritance, and who led the same kind of life as himself. The very +same thing then occurred in all the families of the South as still +happens in the wealthy families of some countries in Europe, namely, +that the younger sons remain in the same state of idleness as their +elder brother, without being as rich as he is. This identical result +seems to be produced in Europe and in America by wholly analogous +causes. In the South of the United States the whole race of whites +formed an aristocratic body, which was headed by a certain number of +privileged individuals, whose wealth was permanent, and whose leisure +was hereditary. These leaders of the American nobility kept alive the +traditional prejudices of the white race in the body of which they were +the representatives, and maintained the honor of inactive life. This +aristocracy contained many who were poor, but none who would work; its +members preferred want to labor, consequently no competition was set on +foot against negro laborers and slaves, and, whatever opinion might be +entertained as to the utility of their efforts, it was indispensable to +employ them, since there was no one else to work. + +No sooner was the law of primogeniture abolished than fortunes began to +diminish, and all the families of the country were simultaneously +reduced to a state in which labor became necessary to procure the means +of subsistence: several of them have since entirely disappeared, and +all of them learned to look forward to the time at which it would be +necessary for everyone to provide for his own wants. Wealthy +individuals are still to be met with, but they no longer constitute a +compact and hereditary body, nor have they been able to adopt a line of +conduct in which they could persevere, and which they could infuse into +all ranks of society. The prejudice which stigmatized labor was in the +first place abandoned by common consent; the number of needy men was +increased, and the needy were allowed to gain a laborious subsistence +without blushing for their exertions. Thus one of the most immediate +consequences of the partible quality of estates has been to create a +class of free laborers. As soon as a competition was set on foot +between the free laborer and the slave, the inferiority of the latter +became manifest, and slavery was attacked in its fundamental principle, +which is the interest of the master. + +As slavery recedes, the black population follows its retrograde course, +and returns with it towards those tropical regions from which it +originally came. However singular this fact may at first appear to be, +it may readily be explained. Although the Americans abolish the +principle of slavery, they do not set their slaves free. To illustrate +this remark, I will quote the example of the State of New York. In +1788, the State of New York prohibited the sale of slaves within its +limits, which was an indirect method of prohibiting the importation of +blacks. Thenceforward the number of negroes could only increase +according to the ratio of the natural increase of population. But eight +years later a more decisive measure was taken, and it was enacted that +all children born of slave parents after July 4, 1799, should be free. +No increase could then take place, and although slaves still existed, +slavery might be said to be abolished. + +From the time at which a Northern State prohibited the importation of +slaves, no slaves were brought from the South to be sold in its +markets. On the other hand, as the sale of slaves was forbidden in that +State, an owner was no longer able to get rid of his slave (who thus +became a burdensome possession) otherwise than by transporting him to +the South. But when a Northern State declared that the son of the slave +should be born free, the slave lost a large portion of his market +value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and +the owner had then a strong interest in transporting him to the South. +Thus the same law prevents the slaves of the South from coming to the +Northern States, and drives those of the North to the South. + +The want of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number +of slaves decreases. But in proportion as labor is performed by free +hands, slave labor becomes less productive; and the slave is then a +useless or onerous possession, whom it is important to export to those +Southern States where the same competition is not to be feared. Thus +the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free, but it merely +transfers him from one master to another, and from the North to the +South. + +The emancipated negroes, and those born after the abolition of slavery, +do not, indeed, migrate from the North to the South; but their +situation with regard to the Europeans is not unlike that of the +aborigines of America; they remain half civilized, and deprived of +their rights in the midst of a population which is far superior to them +in wealth and in knowledge; where they are exposed to the tyranny of +the laws *m and the intolerance of the people. On some accounts they +are still more to be pitied than the Indians, since they are haunted by +the reminiscence of slavery, and they cannot claim possession of a +single portion of the soil: many of them perish miserably, *n and the +rest congregate in the great towns, where they perform the meanest +offices, and lead a wretched and precarious existence. + +m +[ The States in which slavery is abolished usually do what they can to +render their territory disagreeable to the negroes as a place of +residence; and as a kind of emulation exists between the different +States in this respect, the unhappy blacks can only choose the least of +the evils which beset them.] + + +n +[ There is a very great difference between the mortality of the blacks +and of the whites in the States in which slavery is abolished; from +1820 to 1831 only one out of forty-two individuals of the white +population died in Philadelphia; but one negro out of twenty-one +individuals of the black population died in the same space of time. The +mortality is by no means so great amongst the negroes who are still +slaves. (See Emerson’s “Medical Statistics,” p. 28.)] + + +But even if the number of negroes continued to increase as rapidly as +when they were still in a state of slavery, as the number of whites +augments with twofold rapidity since the abolition of slavery, the +blacks would soon be, as it were, lost in the midst of a strange +population. + +A district which is cultivated by slaves is in general more scantily +peopled than a district cultivated by free labor: moreover, America is +still a new country, and a State is therefore not half peopled at the +time when it abolishes slavery. No sooner is an end put to slavery than +the want of free labor is felt, and a crowd of enterprising adventurers +immediately arrive from all parts of the country, who hasten to profit +by the fresh resources which are then opened to industry. The soil is +soon divided amongst them, and a family of white settlers takes +possession of each tract of country. Besides which, European emigration +is exclusively directed to the free States; for what would be the fate +of a poor emigrant who crosses the Atlantic in search of ease and +happiness if he were to land in a country where labor is stigmatized as +degrading? + +Thus the white population grows by its natural increase, and at the +same time by the immense influx of emigrants; whilst the black +population receives no emigrants, and is upon its decline. The +proportion which existed between the two races is soon inverted. The +negroes constitute a scanty remnant, a poor tribe of vagrants, which is +lost in the midst of an immense people in full possession of the land; +and the presence of the blacks is only marked by the injustice and the +hardships of which they are the unhappy victims. + +In several of the Western States the negro race never made its +appearance, and in all the Northern States it is rapidly declining. +Thus the great question of its future condition is confined within a +narrow circle, where it becomes less formidable, though not more easy +of solution. + +The more we descend towards the South, the more difficult does it +become to abolish slavery with advantage: and this arises from several +physical causes which it is important to point out. + +The first of these causes is the climate; it is well known that in +proportion as Europeans approach the tropics they suffer more from +labor. Many of the Americans even assert that within a certain latitude +the exertions which a negro can make without danger are fatal to them; +*o but I do not think that this opinion, which is so favorable to the +indolence of the inhabitants of southern regions, is confirmed by +experience. The southern parts of the Union are not hotter than the +South of Italy and of Spain; *p and it may be asked why the European +cannot work as well there as in the two latter countries. If slavery +has been abolished in Italy and in Spain without causing the +destruction of the masters, why should not the same thing take place in +the Union? I cannot believe that nature has prohibited the Europeans in +Georgia and the Floridas, under pain of death, from raising the means +of subsistence from the soil, but their labor would unquestionably be +more irksome and less productive to them than to the inhabitants of New +England. As the free workman thus loses a portion of his superiority +over the slave in the Southern States, there are fewer inducements to +abolish slavery. + +o +[ This is true of the spots in which rice is cultivated; rice-grounds, +which are unwholesome in all countries, are particularly dangerous in +those regions which are exposed to the beams of a tropical sun. +Europeans would not find it easy to cultivate the soil in that part of +the New World if it must be necessarily be made to produce rice; but +may they not subsist without rice-grounds?] + + +p +[ These States are nearer to the equator than Italy and Spain, but the +temperature of the continent of America is very much lower than that of +Europe. + + +The Spanish Government formerly caused a certain number of peasants +from the Acores to be transported into a district of Louisiana called +Attakapas, by way of experiment. These settlers still cultivate the +soil without the assistance of slaves, but their industry is so languid +as scarcely to supply their most necessary wants.] + +All the plants of Europe grow in the northern parts of the Union; the +South has special productions of its own. It has been observed that +slave labor is a very expensive method of cultivating corn. The farmer +of corn land in a country where slavery is unknown habitually retains a +small number of laborers in his service, and at seed-time and harvest +he hires several additional hands, who only live at his cost for a +short period. But the agriculturist in a slave State is obliged to keep +a large number of slaves the whole year round, in order to sow his +fields and to gather in his crops, although their services are only +required for a few weeks; but slaves are unable to wait till they are +hired, and to subsist by their own labor in the mean time like free +laborers; in order to have their services they must be bought. Slavery, +independently of its general disadvantages, is therefore still more +inapplicable to countries in which corn is cultivated than to those +which produce crops of a different kind. The cultivation of tobacco, of +cotton, and especially of the sugar-cane, demands, on the other hand, +unremitting attention: and women and children are employed in it, whose +services are of but little use in the cultivation of wheat. Thus +slavery is naturally more fitted to the countries from which these +productions are derived. Tobacco, cotton, and the sugar-cane are +exclusively grown in the South, and they form one of the principal +sources of the wealth of those States. If slavery were abolished, the +inhabitants of the South would be constrained to adopt one of two +alternatives: they must either change their system of cultivation, and +then they would come into competition with the more active and more +experienced inhabitants of the North; or, if they continued to +cultivate the same produce without slave labor, they would have to +support the competition of the other States of the South, which might +still retain their slaves. Thus, peculiar reasons for maintaining +slavery exist in the South which do not operate in the North. + +But there is yet another motive which is more cogent than all the +others: the South might indeed, rigorously speaking, abolish slavery; +but how should it rid its territory of the black population? Slaves and +slavery are driven from the North by the same law, but this twofold +result cannot be hoped for in the South. + +The arguments which I have adduced to show that slavery is more natural +and more advantageous in the South than in the North, sufficiently +prove that the number of slaves must be far greater in the former +districts. It was to the southern settlements that the first Africans +were brought, and it is there that the greatest number of them have +always been imported. As we advance towards the South, the prejudice +which sanctions idleness increases in power. In the States nearest to +the tropics there is not a single white laborer; the negroes are +consequently much more numerous in the South than in the North. And, as +I have already observed, this disproportion increases daily, since the +negroes are transferred to one part of the Union as soon as slavery is +abolished in the other. Thus the black population augments in the +South, not only by its natural fecundity, but by the compulsory +emigration of the negroes from the North; and the African race has +causes of increase in the South very analogous to those which so +powerfully accelerate the growth of the European race in the North. + +In the State of Maine there is one negro in 300 inhabitants; in +Massachusetts, one in 100; in New York, two in 100; in Pennsylvania, +three in the same number; in Maryland, thirty-four; in Virginia, +forty-two; and lastly, in South Carolina *q fifty-five per cent. Such +was the proportion of the black population to the whites in the year +1830. But this proportion is perpetually changing, as it constantly +decreases in the North and augments in the South. + +q +[ We find it asserted in an American work, entitled “Letters on the +Colonization Society,” by Mr. Carey, 1833, “That for the last forty +years the black race has increased more rapidly than the white race in +the State of South Carolina; and that if we take the average population +of the five States of the South into which slaves were first +introduced, viz., Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, +and Georgia, we shall find that from 1790 to 1830 the whites have +augmented in the proportion of 80 to 100, and the blacks in that of 112 +to 100.” + + +In the United States, in 1830, the population of the two races stood as +follows:— + +States where slavery is abolished, 6,565,434 whites; 120,520 blacks. +Slave States, 3,960,814 whites; 2,208,102 blacks. [In 1890 the United +States contained a population of 54,983,890 whites, and 7,638,360 +negroes.]] + +It is evident that the most Southern States of the Union cannot abolish +slavery without incurring very great dangers, which the North had no +reason to apprehend when it emancipated its black population. We have +already shown the system by which the Northern States secure the +transition from slavery to freedom, by keeping the present generation +in chains, and setting their descendants free; by this means the +negroes are gradually introduced into society; and whilst the men who +might abuse their freedom are kept in a state of servitude, those who +are emancipated may learn the art of being free before they become +their own masters. But it would be difficult to apply this method in +the South. To declare that all the negroes born after a certain period +shall be free, is to introduce the principle and the notion of liberty +into the heart of slavery; the blacks whom the law thus maintains in a +state of slavery from which their children are delivered, are +astonished at so unequal a fate, and their astonishment is only the +prelude to their impatience and irritation. Thenceforward slavery +loses, in their eyes, that kind of moral power which it derived from +time and habit; it is reduced to a mere palpable abuse of force. The +Northern States had nothing to fear from the contrast, because in them +the blacks were few in number, and the white population was very +considerable. But if this faint dawn of freedom were to show two +millions of men their true position, the oppressors would have reason +to tremble. After having affranchised the children of their slaves the +Europeans of the Southern States would very shortly be obliged to +extend the same benefit to the whole black population. + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part V + + +In the North, as I have already remarked, a twofold migration ensues +upon the abolition of slavery, or even precedes that event when +circumstances have rendered it probable; the slaves quit the country to +be transported southwards; and the whites of the Northern States, as +well as the emigrants from Europe, hasten to fill up their place. But +these two causes cannot operate in the same manner in the Southern +States. On the one hand, the mass of slaves is too great for any +expectation of their ever being removed from the country to be +entertained; and on the other hand, the Europeans and Anglo-Americans +of the North are afraid to come to inhabit a country in which labor has +not yet been reinstated in its rightful honors. Besides, they very +justly look upon the States in which the proportion of the negroes +equals or exceeds that of the whites, as exposed to very great dangers; +and they refrain from turning their activity in that direction. + +Thus the inhabitants of the South would not be able, like their +Northern countrymen, to initiate the slaves gradually into a state of +freedom by abolishing slavery; they have no means of perceptibly +diminishing the black population, and they would remain unsupported to +repress its excesses. So that in the course of a few years, a great +people of free negroes would exist in the heart of a white nation of +equal size. + +The same abuses of power which still maintain slavery, would then +become the source of the most alarming perils which the white +population of the South might have to apprehend. At the present time +the descendants of the Europeans are the sole owners of the land; the +absolute masters of all labor; and the only persons who are possessed +of wealth, knowledge, and arms. The black is destitute of all these +advantages, but he subsists without them because he is a slave. If he +were free, and obliged to provide for his own subsistence, would it be +possible for him to remain without these things and to support life? Or +would not the very instruments of the present superiority of the white, +whilst slavery exists, expose him to a thousand dangers if it were +abolished? + +As long as the negro remains a slave, he may be kept in a condition not +very far removed from that of the brutes; but, with his liberty, he +cannot but acquire a degree of instruction which will enable him to +appreciate his misfortunes, and to discern a remedy for them. Moreover, +there exists a singular principle of relative justice which is very +firmly implanted in the human heart. Men are much more forcibly struck +by those inequalities which exist within the circle of the same class, +than with those which may be remarked between different classes. It is +more easy for them to admit slavery, than to allow several millions of +citizens to exist under a load of eternal infamy and hereditary +wretchedness. In the North the population of freed negroes feels these +hardships and resents these indignities; but its numbers and its powers +are small, whilst in the South it would be numerous and strong. + +As soon as it is admitted that the whites and the emancipated blacks +are placed upon the same territory in the situation of two alien +communities, it will readily be understood that there are but two +alternatives for the future; the negroes and the whites must either +wholly part or wholly mingle. I have already expressed the conviction +which I entertain as to the latter event. *r I do not imagine that the +white and black races will ever live in any country upon an equal +footing. But I believe the difficulty to be still greater in the United +States than elsewhere. An isolated individual may surmount the +prejudices of religion, of his country, or of his race, and if this +individual is a king he may effect surprising changes in society; but a +whole people cannot rise, as it were, above itself. A despot who should +subject the Americans and their former slaves to the same yoke, might +perhaps succeed in commingling their races; but as long as the American +democracy remains at the head of affairs, no one will undertake so +difficult a task; and it may be foreseen that the freer the white +population of the United States becomes, the more isolated will it +remain. *s + +r +[ This opinion is sanctioned by authorities infinitely weightier than +anything that I can say: thus, for instance, it is stated in the +“Memoirs of Jefferson” (as collected by M. Conseil), “Nothing is more +clearly written in the book of destiny than the emancipation of the +blacks; and it is equally certain that the two races will never live in +a state of equal freedom under the same government, so insurmountable +are the barriers which nature, habit, and opinions have established +between them.”] + + +s +[ If the British West India planters had governed themselves, they +would assuredly not have passed the Slave Emancipation Bill which the +mother-country has recently imposed upon them.] + + +I have previously observed that the mixed race is the true bond of +union between the Europeans and the Indians; just so the mulattoes are +the true means of transition between the white and the negro; so that +wherever mulattoes abound, the intermixture of the two races is not +impossible. In some parts of America, the European and the negro races +are so crossed by one another, that it is rare to meet with a man who +is entirely black, or entirely white: when they are arrived at this +point, the two races may really be said to be combined; or rather to +have been absorbed in a third race, which is connected with both +without being identical with either. + +Of all the Europeans the English are those who have mixed least with +the negroes. More mulattoes are to be seen in the South of the Union +than in the North, but still they are infinitely more scarce than in +any other European colony: mulattoes are by no means numerous in the +United States; they have no force peculiar to themselves, and when +quarrels originating in differences of color take place, they generally +side with the whites; just as the lackeys of the great, in Europe, +assume the contemptuous airs of nobility to the lower orders. + +The pride of origin, which is natural to the English, is singularly +augmented by the personal pride which democratic liberty fosters +amongst the Americans: the white citizen of the United States is proud +of his race, and proud of himself. But if the whites and the negroes do +not intermingle in the North of the Union, how should they mix in the +South? Can it be supposed for an instant, that an American of the +Southern States, placed, as he must forever be, between the white man +with all his physical and moral superiority and the negro, will ever +think of preferring the latter? The Americans of the Southern States +have two powerful passions which will always keep them aloof; the first +is the fear of being assimilated to the negroes, their former slaves; +and the second the dread of sinking below the whites, their neighbors. + +If I were called upon to predict what will probably occur at some +future time, I should say, that the abolition of slavery in the South +will, in the common course of things, increase the repugnance of the +white population for the men of color. I found this opinion upon the +analogous observation which I already had occasion to make in the +North. I there remarked that the white inhabitants of the North avoid +the negroes with increasing care, in proportion as the legal barriers +of separation are removed by the legislature; and why should not the +same result take place in the South? In the North, the whites are +deterred from intermingling with the blacks by the fear of an imaginary +danger; in the South, where the danger would be real, I cannot imagine +that the fear would be less general. + +If, on the one hand, it be admitted (and the fact is unquestionable) +that the colored population perpetually accumulates in the extreme +South, and that it increases more rapidly than that of the whites; and +if, on the other hand, it be allowed that it is impossible to foresee a +time at which the whites and the blacks will be so intermingled as to +derive the same benefits from society; must it not be inferred that the +blacks and the whites will, sooner or later, come to open strife in the +Southern States of the Union? But if it be asked what the issue of the +struggle is likely to be, it will readily be understood that we are +here left to form a very vague surmise of the truth. The human mind may +succeed in tracing a wide circle, as it were, which includes the course +of future events; but within that circle a thousand various chances and +circumstances may direct it in as many different ways; and in every +picture of the future there is a dim spot, which the eye of the +understanding cannot penetrate. It appears, however, to be extremely +probable that in the West Indian Islands the white race is destined to +be subdued, and the black population to share the same fate upon the +continent. + +In the West India Islands the white planters are surrounded by an +immense black population; on the continent, the blacks are placed +between the ocean and an innumerable people, which already extends over +them in a dense mass, from the icy confines of Canada to the frontiers +of Virginia, and from the banks of the Missouri to the shores of the +Atlantic. If the white citizens of North America remain united, it +cannot be supposed that the negroes will escape the destruction with +which they are menaced; they must be subdued by want or by the sword. +But the black population which is accumulated along the coast of the +Gulf of Mexico, has a chance of success if the American Union is +dissolved when the struggle between the two races begins. If the +federal tie were broken, the citizens of the South would be wrong to +rely upon any lasting succor from their Northern countrymen. The latter +are well aware that the danger can never reach them; and unless they +are constrained to march to the assistance of the South by a positive +obligation, it may be foreseen that the sympathy of color will be +insufficient to stimulate their exertions. + +Yet, at whatever period the strife may break out, the whites of the +South, even if they are abandoned to their own resources, will enter +the lists with an immense superiority of knowledge and of the means of +warfare; but the blacks will have numerical strength and the energy of +despair upon their side, and these are powerful resources to men who +have taken up arms. The fate of the white population of the Southern +States will, perhaps, be similar to that of the Moors in Spain. After +having occupied the land for centuries, it will perhaps be forced to +retire to the country whence its ancestors came, and to abandon to the +negroes the possession of a territory, which Providence seems to have +more peculiarly destined for them, since they can subsist and labor in +it more easily that the whites. + +The danger of a conflict between the white and the black inhabitants of +the Southern States of the Union—a danger which, however remote it may +be, is inevitable—perpetually haunts the imagination of the Americans. +The inhabitants of the North make it a common topic of conversation, +although they have no direct injury to fear from the struggle; but they +vainly endeavor to devise some means of obviating the misfortunes which +they foresee. In the Southern States the subject is not discussed: the +planter does not allude to the future in conversing with strangers; the +citizen does not communicate his apprehensions to his friends; he seeks +to conceal them from himself; but there is something more alarming in +the tacit forebodings of the South, than in the clamorous fears of the +Northern States. + +This all-pervading disquietude has given birth to an undertaking which +is but little known, but which may have the effect of changing the fate +of a portion of the human race. From apprehension of the dangers which +I have just been describing, a certain number of American citizens have +formed a society for the purpose of exporting to the coast of Guinea, +at their own expense, such free negroes as may be willing to escape +from the oppression to which they are subject. *t In 1820, the society +to which I allude formed a settlement in Africa, upon the seventh +degree of north latitude, which bears the name of Liberia. The most +recent intelligence informs us that 2,500 negroes are collected there; +they have introduced the democratic institutions of America into the +country of their forefathers; and Liberia has a representative system +of government, negro jurymen, negro magistrates, and negro priests; +churches have been built, newspapers established, and, by a singular +change in the vicissitudes of the world, white men are prohibited from +sojourning within the settlement. *u + +t +[ This society assumed the name of “The Society for the Colonization of +the Blacks.” See its annual reports; and more particularly the +fifteenth. See also the pamphlet, to which allusion has already been +made, entitled “Letters on the Colonization Society, and on its +probable Results,” by Mr. Carey, Philadelphia, 1833.] + + +u +[ This last regulation was laid down by the founders of the settlement; +they apprehended that a state of things might arise in Africa similar +to that which exists on the frontiers of the United States, and that if +the negroes, like the Indians, were brought into collision with a +people more enlightened than themselves, they would be destroyed before +they could be civilized.] + + +This is indeed a strange caprice of fortune. Two hundred years have now +elapsed since the inhabitants of Europe undertook to tear the negro +from his family and his home, in order to transport him to the shores +of North America; at the present day, the European settlers are engaged +in sending back the descendants of those very negroes to the Continent +from which they were originally taken; and the barbarous Africans have +been brought into contact with civilization in the midst of bondage, +and have become acquainted with free political institutions in slavery. +Up to the present time Africa has been closed against the arts and +sciences of the whites; but the inventions of Europe will perhaps +penetrate into those regions, now that they are introduced by Africans +themselves. The settlement of Liberia is founded upon a lofty and a +most fruitful idea; but whatever may be its results with regard to the +Continent of Africa, it can afford no remedy to the New World. + +In twelve years the Colonization Society has transported 2,500 negroes +to Africa; in the same space of time about 700,000 blacks were born in +the United States. If the colony of Liberia were so situated as to be +able to receive thousands of new inhabitants every year, and if the +negroes were in a state to be sent thither with advantage; if the Union +were to supply the society with annual subsidies, *v and to transport +the negroes to Africa in the vessels of the State, it would still be +unable to counterpoise the natural increase of population amongst the +blacks; and as it could not remove as many men in a year as are born +upon its territory within the same space of time, it would fail in +suspending the growth of the evil which is daily increasing in the +States. *w The negro race will never leave those shores of the American +continent, to which it was brought by the passions and the vices of +Europeans; and it will not disappear from the New World as long as it +continues to exist. The inhabitants of the United States may retard the +calamities which they apprehend, but they cannot now destroy their +efficient cause. + +v +[ Nor would these be the only difficulties attendant upon the +undertaking; if the Union undertook to buy up the negroes now in +America, in order to transport them to Africa, the price of slaves, +increasing with their scarcity, would soon become enormous; and the +States of the North would never consent to expend such great sums for a +purpose which would procure such small advantages to themselves. If the +Union took possession of the slaves in the Southern States by force, or +at a rate determined by law, an insurmountable resistance would arise +in that part of the country. Both alternatives are equally impossible.] + + +w +[ In 1830 there were in the United States 2,010,327 slaves and 319,439 +free blacks, in all 2,329,766 negroes: which formed about one-fifth of +the total population of the United States at that time.] + + +I am obliged to confess that I do not regard the abolition of slavery +as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races in the United +States. The negroes may long remain slaves without complaining; but if +they are once raised to the level of free men, they will soon revolt at +being deprived of all their civil rights; and as they cannot become the +equals of the whites, they will speedily declare themselves as enemies. +In the North everything contributed to facilitate the emancipation of +the slaves; and slavery was abolished, without placing the free negroes +in a position which could become formidable, since their number was too +small for them ever to claim the exercise of their rights. But such is +not the case in the South. The question of slavery was a question of +commerce and manufacture for the slave-owners in the North; for those +of the South, it is a question of life and death. God forbid that I +should seek to justify the principle of negro slavery, as has been done +by some American writers! But I only observe that all the countries +which formerly adopted that execrable principle are not equally able to +abandon it at the present time. + +When I contemplate the condition of the South, I can only discover two +alternatives which may be adopted by the white inhabitants of those +States; viz., either to emancipate the negroes, and to intermingle with +them; or, remaining isolated from them, to keep them in a state of +slavery as long as possible. All intermediate measures seem to me +likely to terminate, and that shortly, in the most horrible of civil +wars, and perhaps in the extirpation of one or other of the two races. +Such is the view which the Americans of the South take of the question, +and they act consistently with it. As they are determined not to mingle +with the negroes, they refuse to emancipate them. + +Not that the inhabitants of the South regard slavery as necessary to +the wealth of the planter, for on this point many of them agree with +their Northern countrymen in freely admitting that slavery is +prejudicial to their interest; but they are convinced that, however +prejudicial it may be, they hold their lives upon no other tenure. The +instruction which is now diffused in the South has convinced the +inhabitants that slavery is injurious to the slave-owner, but it has +also shown them, more clearly than before, that no means exist of +getting rid of its bad consequences. Hence arises a singular contrast; +the more the utility of slavery is contested, the more firmly is it +established in the laws; and whilst the principle of servitude is +gradually abolished in the North, that self-same principle gives rise +to more and more rigorous consequences in the South. + +The legislation of the Southern States with regard to slaves, presents +at the present day such unparalleled atrocities as suffice to show how +radically the laws of humanity have been perverted, and to betray the +desperate position of the community in which that legislation has been +promulgated. The Americans of this portion of the Union have not, +indeed, augmented the hardships of slavery; they have, on the contrary, +bettered the physical condition of the slaves. The only means by which +the ancients maintained slavery were fetters and death; the Americans +of the South of the Union have discovered more intellectual securities +for the duration of their power. They have employed their despotism and +their violence against the human mind. In antiquity, precautions were +taken to prevent the slave from breaking his chains; at the present day +measures are adopted to deprive him even of the desire of freedom. The +ancients kept the bodies of their slaves in bondage, but they placed no +restraint upon the mind and no check upon education; and they acted +consistently with their established principle, since a natural +termination of slavery then existed, and one day or other the slave +might be set free, and become the equal of his master. But the +Americans of the South, who do not admit that the negroes can ever be +commingled with themselves, have forbidden them to be taught to read or +to write, under severe penalties; and as they will not raise them to +their own level, they sink them as nearly as possible to that of the +brutes. + +The hope of liberty had always been allowed to the slave to cheer the +hardships of his condition. But the Americans of the South are well +aware that emancipation cannot but be dangerous, when the freed man can +never be assimilated to his former master. To give a man his freedom, +and to leave him in wretchedness and ignominy, is nothing less than to +prepare a future chief for a revolt of the slaves. Moreover, it has +long been remarked that the presence of a free negro vaguely agitates +the minds of his less fortunate brethren, and conveys to them a dim +notion of their rights. The Americans of the South have consequently +taken measures to prevent slave-owners from emancipating their slaves +in most cases; not indeed by a positive prohibition, but by subjecting +that step to various forms which it is difficult to comply with. I +happened to meet with an old man, in the South of the Union, who had +lived in illicit intercourse with one of his negresses, and had had +several children by her, who were born the slaves of their father. He +had indeed frequently thought of bequeathing to them at least their +liberty; but years had elapsed without his being able to surmount the +legal obstacles to their emancipation, and in the mean while his old +age was come, and he was about to die. He pictured to himself his sons +dragged from market to market, and passing from the authority of a +parent to the rod of the stranger, until these horrid anticipations +worked his expiring imagination into frenzy. When I saw him he was a +prey to all the anguish of despair, and he made me feel how awful is +the retribution of nature upon those who have broken her laws. + +These evils are unquestionably great; but they are the necessary and +foreseen consequence of the very principle of modern slavery. When the +Europeans chose their slaves from a race differing from their own, +which many of them considered as inferior to the other races of +mankind, and which they all repelled with horror from any notion of +intimate connection, they must have believed that slavery would last +forever; since there is no intermediate state which can be durable +between the excessive inequality produced by servitude and the complete +equality which originates in independence. The Europeans did +imperfectly feel this truth, but without acknowledging it even to +themselves. Whenever they have had to do with negroes, their conduct +has either been dictated by their interest and their pride, or by their +compassion. They first violated every right of humanity by their +treatment of the negro and they afterwards informed him that those +rights were precious and inviolable. They affected to open their ranks +to the slaves, but the negroes who attempted to penetrate into the +community were driven back with scorn; and they have incautiously and +involuntarily been led to admit of freedom instead of slavery, without +having the courage to be wholly iniquitous, or wholly just. + +If it be impossible to anticipate a period at which the Americans of +the South will mingle their blood with that of the negroes, can they +allow their slaves to become free without compromising their own +security? And if they are obliged to keep that race in bondage in order +to save their own families, may they not be excused for availing +themselves of the means best adapted to that end? The events which are +taking place in the Southern States of the Union appear to me to be at +once the most horrible and the most natural results of slavery. When I +see the order of nature overthrown, and when I hear the cry of humanity +in its vain struggle against the laws, my indignation does not light +upon the men of our own time who are the instruments of these outrages; +but I reserve my execration for those who, after a thousand years of +freedom, brought back slavery into the world once more. + +Whatever may be the efforts of the Americans of the South to maintain +slavery, they will not always succeed. Slavery, which is now confined +to a single tract of the civilized earth, which is attacked by +Christianity as unjust, and by political economy as prejudicial; and +which is now contrasted with democratic liberties and the information +of our age, cannot survive. By the choice of the master, or by the will +of the slave, it will cease; and in either case great calamities may be +expected to ensue. If liberty be refused to the negroes of the South, +they will in the end seize it for themselves by force; if it be given, +they will abuse it ere long. *x + +x +[ [This chapter is no longer applicable to the condition of the negro +race in the United States, since the abolition of slavery was the +result, though not the object, of the great Civil War, and the negroes +have been raised to the condition not only of freedmen, but of +citizens; and in some States they exercise a preponderating political +power by reason of their numerical majority. Thus, in South Carolina +there were in 1870, 289,667 whites and 415,814 blacks. But the +emancipation of the slaves has not solved the problem, how two races so +different and so hostile are to live together in peace in one country +on equal terms. That problem is as difficult, perhaps more difficult +than ever; and to this difficulty the author’s remarks are still +perfectly applicable.]] + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part VI + + +What Are The Chances In Favor Of The Duration Of The American Union, +And What Dangers Threaten It *y + +y +[ [This chapter is one of the most curious and interesting portions of +the work, because it embraces almost all the constitutional and social +questions which were raised by the great secession of the South and +decided by the results of the Civil War. But it must be confessed that +the sagacity of the author is sometimes at fault in these speculations, +and did not save him from considerable errors, which the course of +events has since made apparent. He held that “the legislators of the +Constitution of 1789 were not appointed to constitute the government of +a single people, but to regulate the association of several States; +that the Union was formed by the voluntary agreement of the States, and +in uniting together they have not forfeited their nationality, nor have +they been reduced to the condition of one and the same people.” Whence +he inferred that “if one of the States chose to withdraw its name from +the contract, it would be difficult to disprove its right of doing so; +and that the Federal Government would have no means of maintaining its +claims directly, either by force or by right.” This is the Southern +theory of the Constitution, and the whole case of the South in favor of +secession. To many Europeans, and to some American (Northern) jurists, +this view appeared to be sound; but it was vigorously resisted by the +North, and crushed by force of arms. + + +The author of this book was mistaken in supposing that the “Union was a +vast body which presents no definite object to patriotic feeling.” When +the day of trial came, millions of men were ready to lay down their +lives for it. He was also mistaken in supposing that the Federal +Executive is so weak that it requires the free consent of the governed +to enable it to subsist, and that it would be defeated in a struggle to +maintain the Union against one or more separate States. In 1861 nine +States, with a population of 8,753,000, seceded, and maintained for +four years a resolute but unequal contest for independence, but they +were defeated. + +Lastly, the author was mistaken in supposing that a community of +interests would always prevail between North and South sufficiently +powerful to bind them together. He overlooked the influence which the +question of slavery must have on the Union the moment that the majority +of the people of the North declared against it. In 1831, when the +author visited America, the anti-slavery agitation had scarcely begun; +and the fact of Southern slavery was accepted by men of all parties, +even in the States where there were no slaves: and that was +unquestionably the view taken by all the States and by all American +statesmen at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, in 1789. But +in the course of thirty years a great change took place, and the North +refused to perpetuate what had become the “peculiar institution” of the +South, especially as it gave the South a species of aristocratic +preponderance. The result was the ratification, in December, 1865, of +the celebrated 13th article or amendment of the Constitution, which +declared that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude—except as a +punishment for crime—shall exist within the United States.” To which +was soon afterwards added the 15th article, “The right of citizens to +vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any +State, on account of race, color, or previous servitude.” The +emancipation of several millions of negro slaves without compensation, +and the transfer to them of political preponderance in the States in +which they outnumber the white population, were acts of the North +totally opposed to the interests of the South, and which could only +have been carried into effect by conquest.—Translator’s Note.]] + +Reason for which the preponderating force lies in the States rather +than in the Union—The Union will only last as long as all the States +choose to belong to it—Causes which tend to keep them united—Utility of +the Union to resist foreign enemies, and to prevent the existence of +foreigners in America—No natural barriers between the several States—No +conflicting interests to divide them—Reciprocal interests of the +Northern, Southern, and Western States—Intellectual ties of +union—Uniformity of opinions—Dangers of the Union resulting from the +different characters and the passions of its citizens—Character of the +citizens in the South and in the North—The rapid growth of the Union +one of its greatest dangers—Progress of the population to the +Northwest—Power gravitates in the same direction—Passions originating +from sudden turns of fortune—Whether the existing Government of the +Union tends to gain strength, or to lose it—Various signs of its +decrease—Internal improvements—Waste lands—Indians—The Bank—The +Tariff—General Jackson. + +The maintenance of the existing institutions of the several States +depends in some measure upon the maintenance of the Union itself. It is +therefore important in the first instance to inquire into the probable +fate of the Union. One point may indeed be assumed at once: if the +present confederation were dissolved, it appears to me to be +incontestable that the States of which it is now composed would not +return to their original isolated condition, but that several unions +would then be formed in the place of one. It is not my intention to +inquire into the principles upon which these new unions would probably +be established, but merely to show what the causes are which may effect +the dismemberment of the existing confederation. + +With this object I shall be obliged to retrace some of the steps which +I have already taken, and to revert to topics which I have before +discussed. I am aware that the reader may accuse me of repetition, but +the importance of the matter which still remains to be treated is my +excuse; I had rather say too much, than say too little to be thoroughly +understood, and I prefer injuring the author to slighting the subject. + +The legislators who formed the Constitution of 1789 endeavored to +confer a distinct and preponderating authority upon the federal power. +But they were confined by the conditions of the task which they had +undertaken to perform. They were not appointed to constitute the +government of a single people, but to regulate the association of +several States; and, whatever their inclinations might be, they could +not but divide the exercise of sovereignty in the end. + +In order to understand the consequences of this division, it is +necessary to make a short distinction between the affairs of the +Government. There are some objects which are national by their very +nature, that is to say, which affect the nation as a body, and can only +be intrusted to the man or the assembly of men who most completely +represent the entire nation. Amongst these may be reckoned war and +diplomacy. There are other objects which are provincial by their very +nature, that is to say, which only affect certain localities, and which +can only be properly treated in that locality. Such, for instance, is +the budget of a municipality. Lastly, there are certain objects of a +mixed nature, which are national inasmuch as they affect all the +citizens who compose the nation, and which are provincial inasmuch as +it is not necessary that the nation itself should provide for them all. +Such are the rights which regulate the civil and political condition of +the citizens. No society can exist without civil and political rights. +These rights therefore interest all the citizens alike; but it is not +always necessary to the existence and the prosperity of the nation that +these rights should be uniform, nor, consequently, that they should be +regulated by the central authority. + +There are, then, two distinct categories of objects which are submitted +to the direction of the sovereign power; and these categories occur in +all well-constituted communities, whatever the basis of the political +constitution may otherwise be. Between these two extremes the objects +which I have termed mixed may be considered to lie. As these objects +are neither exclusively national nor entirely provincial, they may be +obtained by a national or by a provincial government, according to the +agreement of the contracting parties, without in any way impairing the +contract of association. + +The sovereign power is usually formed by the union of separate +individuals, who compose a people; and individual powers or collective +forces, each representing a very small portion of the sovereign +authority, are the sole elements which are subjected to the general +Government of their choice. In this case the general Government is more +naturally called upon to regulate, not only those affairs which are of +essential national importance, but those which are of a more local +interest; and the local governments are reduced to that small share of +sovereign authority which is indispensable to their prosperity. + +But sometimes the sovereign authority is composed of preorganized +political bodies, by virtue of circumstances anterior to their union; +and in this case the provincial governments assume the control, not +only of those affairs which more peculiarly belong to their province, +but of all, or of a part of the mixed affairs to which allusion has +been made. For the confederate nations which were independent sovereign +States before their union, and which still represent a very +considerable share of the sovereign power, have only consented to cede +to the general Government the exercise of those rights which are +indispensable to the Union. + +When the national Government, independently of the prerogatives +inherent in its nature, is invested with the right of regulating the +affairs which relate partly to the general and partly to the local +interests, it possesses a preponderating influence. Not only are its +own rights extensive, but all the rights which it does not possess +exist by its sufferance, and it may be apprehended that the provincial +governments may be deprived of their natural and necessary prerogatives +by its influence. + +When, on the other hand, the provincial governments are invested with +the power of regulating those same affairs of mixed interest, an +opposite tendency prevails in society. The preponderating force resides +in the province, not in the nation; and it may be apprehended that the +national Government may in the end be stripped of the privileges which +are necessary to its existence. + +Independent nations have therefore a natural tendency to +centralization, and confederations to dismemberment. + +It now only remains for us to apply these general principles to the +American Union. The several States were necessarily possessed of the +right of regulating all exclusively provincial affairs. Moreover these +same States retained the rights of determining the civil and political +competency of the citizens, or regulating the reciprocal relations of +the members of the community, and of dispensing justice; rights which +are of a general nature, but which do not necessarily appertain to the +national Government. We have shown that the Government of the Union is +invested with the power of acting in the name of the whole nation in +those cases in which the nation has to appear as a single and undivided +power; as, for instance, in foreign relations, and in offering a common +resistance to a common enemy; in short, in conducting those affairs +which I have styled exclusively national. + +In this division of the rights of sovereignty, the share of the Union +seems at first sight to be more considerable than that of the States; +but a more attentive investigation shows it to be less so. The +undertakings of the Government of the Union are more vast, but their +influence is more rarely felt. Those of the provincial governments are +comparatively small, but they are incessant, and they serve to keep +alive the authority which they represent. The Government of the Union +watches the general interests of the country; but the general interests +of a people have a very questionable influence upon individual +happiness, whilst provincial interests produce a most immediate effect +upon the welfare of the inhabitants. The Union secures the independence +and the greatness of the nation, which do not immediately affect +private citizens; but the several States maintain the liberty, regulate +the rights, protect the fortune, and secure the life and the whole +future prosperity of every citizen. + +The Federal Government is very far removed from its subjects, whilst +the provincial governments are within the reach of them all, and are +ready to attend to the smallest appeal. The central Government has upon +its side the passions of a few superior men who aspire to conduct it; +but upon the side of the provincial governments are the interests of +all those second-rate individuals who can only hope to obtain power +within their own State, and who nevertheless exercise the largest share +of authority over the people because they are placed nearest to its +level. The Americans have therefore much more to hope and to fear from +the States than from the Union; and, in conformity with the natural +tendency of the human mind, they are more likely to attach themselves +to the former than to the latter. In this respect their habits and +feelings harmonize with their interests. + +When a compact nation divides its sovereignty, and adopts a confederate +form of government, the traditions, the customs, and the manners of the +people are for a long time at variance with their legislation; and the +former tend to give a degree of influence to the central government +which the latter forbids. When a number of confederate states unite to +form a single nation, the same causes operate in an opposite direction. +I have no doubt that if France were to become a confederate republic +like that of the United States, the government would at first display +more energy than that of the Union; and if the Union were to alter its +constitution to a monarchy like that of France, I think that the +American Government would be a long time in acquiring the force which +now rules the latter nation. When the national existence of the +Anglo-Americans began, their provincial existence was already of long +standing; necessary relations were established between the townships +and the individual citizens of the same States; and they were +accustomed to consider some objects as common to them all, and to +conduct other affairs as exclusively relating to their own special +interests. + +The Union is a vast body which presents no definite object to patriotic +feeling. The forms and limits of the State are distinct and +circumscribed; since it represents a certain number of objects which +are familiar to the citizens and beloved by all. It is identified with +the very soil, with the right of property and the domestic affections, +with the recollections of the past, the labors of the present, and the +hopes of the future. Patriotism, then, which is frequently a mere +extension of individual egotism, is still directed to the State, and is +not excited by the Union. Thus the tendency of the interests, the +habits, and the feelings of the people is to centre political activity +in the States, in preference to the Union. + +It is easy to estimate the different forces of the two governments, by +remarking the manner in which they fulfil their respective functions. +Whenever the government of a State has occasion to address an +individual or an assembly of individuals, its language is clear and +imperative; and such is also the tone of the Federal Government in its +intercourse with individuals, but no sooner has it anything to do with +a State than it begins to parley, to explain its motives and to justify +its conduct, to argue, to advise, and, in short, anything but to +command. If doubts are raised as to the limits of the constitutional +powers of each government, the provincial government prefers its claim +with boldness, and takes prompt and energetic steps to support it. In +the mean while the Government of the Union reasons; it appeals to the +interests, to the good sense, to the glory of the nation; it +temporizes, it negotiates, and does not consent to act until it is +reduced to the last extremity. At first sight it might readily be +imagined that it is the provincial government which is armed with the +authority of the nation, and that Congress represents a single State. + +The Federal Government is, therefore, notwithstanding the precautions +of those who founded it, naturally so weak that it more peculiarly +requires the free consent of the governed to enable it to subsist. It +is easy to perceive that its object is to enable the States to realize +with facility their determination of remaining united; and, as long as +this preliminary condition exists, its authority is great, temperate, +and effective. The Constitution fits the Government to control +individuals, and easily to surmount such obstacles as they may be +inclined to offer; but it was by no means established with a view to +the possible separation of one or more of the States from the Union. + +If the sovereignty of the Union were to engage in a struggle with that +of the States at the present day, its defeat may be confidently +predicted; and it is not probable that such a struggle would be +seriously undertaken. As often as a steady resistance is offered to the +Federal Government it will be found to yield. Experience has hitherto +shown that whenever a State has demanded anything with perseverance and +resolution, it has invariably succeeded; and that if a separate +government has distinctly refused to act, it was left to do as it +thought fit. *z + +z +[ See the conduct of the Northern States in the war of 1812. “During +that war,” says Jefferson in a letter to General Lafayette, “four of +the Eastern States were only attached to the Union, like so many +inanimate bodies to living men.”] + + +But even if the Government of the Union had any strength inherent in +itself, the physical situation of the country would render the exercise +of that strength very difficult. *a The United States cover an immense +territory; they are separated from each other by great distances; and +the population is disseminated over the surface of a country which is +still half a wilderness. If the Union were to undertake to enforce the +allegiance of the confederate States by military means, it would be in +a position very analogous to that of England at the time of the War of +Independence. + +a +[ The profound peace of the Union affords no pretext for a standing +army; and without a standing army a government is not prepared to +profit by a favorable opportunity to conquer resistance, and take the +sovereign power by surprise. [This note, and the paragraph in the text +which precedes, have been shown by the results of the Civil War to be a +misconception of the writer.]] + + +However strong a government may be, it cannot easily escape from the +consequences of a principle which it has once admitted as the +foundation of its constitution. The Union was formed by the voluntary +agreement of the States; and, in uniting together, they have not +forfeited their nationality, nor have they been reduced to the +condition of one and the same people. If one of the States chose to +withdraw its name from the contract, it would be difficult to disprove +its right of doing so; and the Federal Government would have no means +of maintaining its claims directly, either by force or by right. In +order to enable the Federal Government easily to conquer the resistance +which may be offered to it by any one of its subjects, it would be +necessary that one or more of them should be specially interested in +the existence of the Union, as has frequently been the case in the +history of confederations. + +If it be supposed that amongst the States which are united by the +federal tie there are some which exclusively enjoy the principal +advantages of union, or whose prosperity depends on the duration of +that union, it is unquestionable that they will always be ready to +support the central Government in enforcing the obedience of the +others. But the Government would then be exerting a force not derived +from itself, but from a principle contrary to its nature. States form +confederations in order to derive equal advantages from their union; +and in the case just alluded to, the Federal Government would derive +its power from the unequal distribution of those benefits amongst the +States. + +If one of the confederate States have acquired a preponderance +sufficiently great to enable it to take exclusive possession of the +central authority, it will consider the other States as subject +provinces, and it will cause its own supremacy to be respected under +the borrowed name of the sovereignty of the Union. Great things may +then be done in the name of the Federal Government, but in reality that +Government will have ceased to exist. *b In both these cases, the power +which acts in the name of the confederation becomes stronger the more +it abandons the natural state and the acknowledged principles of +confederations. + +b +[ Thus the province of Holland in the republic of the Low Countries, +and the Emperor in the Germanic Confederation, have sometimes put +themselves in the place of the union, and have employed the federal +authority to their own advantage.] + + +In America the existing Union is advantageous to all the States, but it +is not indispensable to any one of them. Several of them might break +the federal tie without compromising the welfare of the others, +although their own prosperity would be lessened. As the existence and +the happiness of none of the States are wholly dependent on the present +Constitution, they would none of them be disposed to make great +personal sacrifices to maintain it. On the other hand, there is no +State which seems hitherto to have its ambition much interested in the +maintenance of the existing Union. They certainly do not all exercise +the same influence in the federal councils, but no one of them can hope +to domineer over the rest, or to treat them as its inferiors or as its +subjects. + +It appears to me unquestionable that if any portion of the Union +seriously desired to separate itself from the other States, they would +not be able, nor indeed would they attempt, to prevent it; and that the +present Union will only last as long as the States which compose it +choose to continue members of the confederation. If this point be +admitted, the question becomes less difficult; and our object is, not +to inquire whether the States of the existing Union are capable of +separating, but whether they will choose to remain united. + +Amongst the various reasons which tend to render the existing Union +useful to the Americans, two principal causes are peculiarly evident to +the observer. Although the Americans are, as it were, alone upon their +continent, their commerce makes them the neighbors of all the nations +with which they trade. Notwithstanding their apparent isolation, the +Americans require a certain degree of strength, which they cannot +retain otherwise than by remaining united to each other. If the States +were to split, they would not only diminish the strength which they are +now able to display towards foreign nations, but they would soon create +foreign powers upon their own territory. A system of inland +custom-houses would then be established; the valleys would be divided +by imaginary boundary lines; the courses of the rivers would be +confined by territorial distinctions; and a multitude of hindrances +would prevent the Americans from exploring the whole of that vast +continent which Providence has allotted to them for a dominion. At +present they have no invasion to fear, and consequently no standing +armies to maintain, no taxes to levy. If the Union were dissolved, all +these burdensome measures might ere long be required. The Americans are +then very powerfully interested in the maintenance of their Union. On +the other hand, it is almost impossible to discover any sort of +material interest which might at present tempt a portion of the Union +to separate from the other States. + +When we cast our eyes upon the map of the United States, we perceive +the chain of the Alleghany Mountains, running from the northeast to the +southwest, and crossing nearly one thousand miles of country; and we +are led to imagine that the design of Providence was to raise between +the valley of the Mississippi and the coast of the Atlantic Ocean one +of those natural barriers which break the mutual intercourse of men, +and form the necessary limits of different States. But the average +height of the Alleghanies does not exceed 2,500 feet; their greatest +elevation is not above 4,000 feet; their rounded summits, and the +spacious valleys which they conceal within their passes, are of easy +access from several sides. Besides which, the principal rivers which +fall into the Atlantic Ocean—the Hudson, the Susquehanna, and the +Potomac—take their rise beyond the Alleghanies, in an open district, +which borders upon the valley of the Mississippi. These streams quit +this tract of country, make their way through the barrier which would +seem to turn them westward, and as they wind through the mountains they +open an easy and natural passage to man. No natural barrier exists in +the regions which are now inhabited by the Anglo-Americans; the +Alleghanies are so far from serving as a boundary to separate nations, +that they do not even serve as a frontier to the States. New York, +Pennsylvania, and Virginia comprise them within their borders, and they +extend as much to the west as to the east of the line. The territory +now occupied by the twenty-four States of the Union, and the three +great districts which have not yet acquired the rank of States, +although they already contain inhabitants, covers a surface of +1,002,600 square miles, *c which is about equal to five times the +extent of France. Within these limits the qualities of the soil, the +temperature, and the produce of the country, are extremely various. The +vast extent of territory occupied by the Anglo-American republics has +given rise to doubts as to the maintenance of their Union. Here a +distinction must be made; contrary interests sometimes arise in the +different provinces of a vast empire, which often terminate in open +dissensions; and the extent of the country is then most prejudicial to +the power of the State. But if the inhabitants of these vast regions +are not divided by contrary interests, the extent of the territory may +be favorable to their prosperity; for the unity of the government +promotes the interchange of the different productions of the soil, and +increases their value by facilitating their consumption. + +c +[ See “Darby’s View of the United States,” p. 435. [In 1890 the number +of States and Territories had increased to 51, the population to +62,831,900, and the area of the States, 3,602,990 square miles. This +does not include the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, or Porto Rico. A +conservative estimate of the population of the Philippine Islands is +8,000,000; that of Hawaii, by the census of 1897, was given at 109,020; +and the present estimated population of Porto Rico is 900,000. The area +of the Philippine Islands is about 120,000 square miles, that of Hawaii +is 6,740 square miles, and the area of Porto Rico is about 3,600 square +miles.]] + + +It is indeed easy to discover different interests in the different +parts of the Union, but I am unacquainted with any which are hostile to +each other. The Southern States are almost exclusively agricultural. +The Northern States are more peculiarly commercial and manufacturing. +The States of the West are at the same time agricultural and +manufacturing. In the South the crops consist of tobacco, of rice, of +cotton, and of sugar; in the North and the West, of wheat and maize. +These are different sources of wealth; but union is the means by which +these sources are opened to all, and rendered equally advantageous to +the several districts. + +The North, which ships the produce of the Anglo-Americans to all parts +of the world, and brings back the produce of the globe to the Union, is +evidently interested in maintaining the confederation in its present +condition, in order that the number of American producers and consumers +may remain as large as possible. The North is the most natural agent of +communication between the South and the West of the Union on the one +hand, and the rest of the world upon the other; the North is therefore +interested in the union and prosperity of the South and the West, in +order that they may continue to furnish raw materials for its +manufactures, and cargoes for its shipping. + +The South and the West, on their side, are still more directly +interested in the preservation of the Union, and the prosperity of the +North. The produce of the South is, for the most part, exported beyond +seas; the South and the West consequently stand in need of the +commercial resources of the North. They are likewise interested in the +maintenance of a powerful fleet by the Union, to protect them +efficaciously. The South and the West have no vessels, but they cannot +refuse a willing subsidy to defray the expenses of the navy; for if the +fleets of Europe were to blockade the ports of the South and the delta +of the Mississippi, what would become of the rice of the Carolinas, the +tobacco of Virginia, and the sugar and cotton which grow in the valley +of the Mississippi? Every portion of the federal budget does therefore +contribute to the maintenance of material interests which are common to +all the confederate States. + +Independently of this commercial utility, the South and the West of the +Union derive great political advantages from their connection with the +North. The South contains an enormous slave population; a population +which is already alarming, and still more formidable for the future. +The States of the West lie in the remotest parts of a single valley; +and all the rivers which intersect their territory rise in the Rocky +Mountains or in the Alleghanies, and fall into the Mississippi, which +bears them onwards to the Gulf of Mexico. The Western States are +consequently entirely cut off, by their position, from the traditions +of Europe and the civilization of the Old World. The inhabitants of the +South, then, are induced to support the Union in order to avail +themselves of its protection against the blacks; and the inhabitants of +the West in order not to be excluded from a free communication with the +rest of the globe, and shut up in the wilds of central America. The +North cannot but desire the maintenance of the Union, in order to +remain, as it now is, the connecting link between that vast body and +the other parts of the world. + +The temporal interests of all the several parts of the Union are, then, +intimately connected; and the same assertion holds true respecting +those opinions and sentiments which may be termed the immaterial +interests of men. + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part VII + + +The inhabitants of the United States talk a great deal of their +attachment to their country; but I confess that I do not rely upon that +calculating patriotism which is founded upon interest, and which a +change in the interests at stake may obliterate. Nor do I attach much +importance to the language of the Americans, when they manifest, in +their daily conversations, the intention of maintaining the federal +system adopted by their forefathers. A government retains its sway over +a great number of citizens, far less by the voluntary and rational +consent of the multitude, than by that instinctive, and to a certain +extent involuntary agreement, which results from similarity of feelings +and resemblances of opinion. I will never admit that men constitute a +social body, simply because they obey the same head and the same laws. +Society can only exist when a great number of men consider a great +number of things in the same point of view; when they hold the same +opinions upon many subjects, and when the same occurrences suggest the +same thoughts and impressions to their minds. + +The observer who examines the present condition of the United States +upon this principle, will readily discover, that although the citizens +are divided into twenty-four distinct sovereignties, they nevertheless +constitute a single people; and he may perhaps be led to think that the +state of the Anglo-American Union is more truly a state of society than +that of certain nations of Europe which live under the same legislation +and the same prince. + +Although the Anglo-Americans have several religious sects, they all +regard religion in the same manner. They are not always agreed upon the +measures which are most conducive to good government, and they vary +upon some of the forms of government which it is expedient to adopt; +but they are unanimous upon the general principles which ought to rule +human society. From Maine to the Floridas, and from the Missouri to the +Atlantic Ocean, the people is held to be the legitimate source of all +power. The same notions are entertained respecting liberty and +equality, the liberty of the press, the right of association, the jury, +and the responsibility of the agents of Government. + +If we turn from their political and religious opinions to the moral and +philosophical principles which regulate the daily actions of life and +govern their conduct, we shall still find the same uniformity. The +Anglo-Americans *d acknowledge the absolute moral authority of the +reason of the community, as they acknowledge the political authority of +the mass of citizens; and they hold that public opinion is the surest +arbiter of what is lawful or forbidden, true or false. The majority of +them believe that a man will be led to do what is just and good by +following his own interest rightly understood. They hold that every man +is born in possession of the right of self-government, and that no one +has the right of constraining his fellow-creatures to be happy. They +have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man; they are of +opinion that the effects of the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily +be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all +consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a +changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and +they admit that what appears to them to be good to-day may be +superseded by something better-to-morrow. I do not give all these +opinions as true, but I quote them as characteristic of the Americans. + +d +[ It is scarcely necessary for me to observe that by the expression +Anglo-Americans, I only mean to designate the great majority of the +nation; for a certain number of isolated individuals are of course to +be met with holding very different opinions.] + + +The Anglo-Americans are not only united together by these common +opinions, but they are separated from all other nations by a common +feeling of pride. For the last fifty years no pains have been spared to +convince the inhabitants of the United States that they constitute the +only religious, enlightened, and free people. They perceive that, for +the present, their own democratic institutions succeed, whilst those of +other countries fail; hence they conceive an overweening opinion of +their superiority, and they are not very remote from believing +themselves to belong to a distinct race of mankind. + +The dangers which threaten the American Union do not originate in the +diversity of interests or of opinions, but in the various characters +and passions of the Americans. The men who inhabit the vast territory +of the United States are almost all the issue of a common stock; but +the effects of the climate, and more especially of slavery, have +gradually introduced very striking differences between the British +settler of the Southern States and the British settler of the North. In +Europe it is generally believed that slavery has rendered the interests +of one part of the Union contrary to those of another part; but I by no +means remarked this to be the case: slavery has not created interests +in the South contrary to those of the North, but it has modified the +character and changed the habits of the natives of the South. + +I have already explained the influence which slavery has exercised upon +the commercial ability of the Americans in the South; and this same +influence equally extends to their manners. The slave is a servant who +never remonstrates, and who submits to everything without complaint. He +may sometimes assassinate, but he never withstands, his master. In the +South there are no families so poor as not to have slaves. The citizen +of the Southern States of the Union is invested with a sort of domestic +dictatorship, from his earliest years; the first notion he acquires in +life is that he is born to command, and the first habit which he +contracts is that of being obeyed without resistance. His education +tends, then, to give him the character of a supercilious and a hasty +man; irascible, violent, and ardent in his desires, impatient of +obstacles, but easily discouraged if he cannot succeed upon his first +attempt. + +The American of the Northern States is surrounded by no slaves in his +childhood; he is even unattended by free servants, and is usually +obliged to provide for his own wants. No sooner does he enter the world +than the idea of necessity assails him on every side: he soon learns to +know exactly the natural limit of his authority; he never expects to +subdue those who withstand him, by force; and he knows that the surest +means of obtaining the support of his fellow-creatures, is to win their +favor. He therefore becomes patient, reflecting, tolerant, slow to act, +and persevering in his designs. + +In the Southern States the more immediate wants of life are always +supplied; the inhabitants of those parts are not busied in the material +cares of life, which are always provided for by others; and their +imagination is diverted to more captivating and less definite objects. +The American of the South is fond of grandeur, luxury, and renown, of +gayety, of pleasure, and above all of idleness; nothing obliges him to +exert himself in order to subsist; and as he has no necessary +occupations, he gives way to indolence, and does not even attempt what +would be useful. + +But the equality of fortunes, and the absence of slavery in the North, +plunge the inhabitants in those same cares of daily life which are +disdained by the white population of the South. They are taught from +infancy to combat want, and to place comfort above all the pleasures of +the intellect or the heart. The imagination is extinguished by the +trivial details of life, and the ideas become less numerous and less +general, but far more practical and more precise. As prosperity is the +sole aim of exertion, it is excellently well attained; nature and +mankind are turned to the best pecuniary advantage, and society is +dexterously made to contribute to the welfare of each of its members, +whilst individual egotism is the source of general happiness. + +The citizen of the North has not only experience, but knowledge: +nevertheless he sets but little value upon the pleasures of knowledge; +he esteems it as the means of attaining a certain end, and he is only +anxious to seize its more lucrative applications. The citizen of the +South is more given to act upon impulse; he is more clever, more frank, +more generous, more intellectual, and more brilliant. The former, with +a greater degree of activity, of common-sense, of information, and of +general aptitude, has the characteristic good and evil qualities of the +middle classes. The latter has the tastes, the prejudices, the +weaknesses, and the magnanimity of all aristocracies. If two men are +united in society, who have the same interests, and to a certain extent +the same opinions, but different characters, different acquirements, +and a different style of civilization, it is probable that these men +will not agree. The same remark is applicable to a society of nations. +Slavery, then, does not attack the American Union directly in its +interests, but indirectly in its manners. + +e +[ Census of 1790, 3,929,328; 1830, 12,856,165; 1860, 31,443,321; 1870, +38,555,983; 1890, 62,831,900.] + + +The States which gave their assent to the federal contract in 1790 were +thirteen in number; the Union now consists of thirty-four members. The +population, which amounted to nearly 4,000,000 in 1790, had more than +tripled in the space of forty years; and in 1830 it amounted to nearly +13,000,000. *e Changes of such magnitude cannot take place without some +danger. + +A society of nations, as well as a society of individuals, derives its +principal chances of duration from the wisdom of its members, their +individual weakness, and their limited number. The Americans who quit +the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean to plunge into the western wilderness, +are adventurers impatient of restraint, greedy of wealth, and +frequently men expelled from the States in which they were born. When +they arrive in the deserts they are unknown to each other, and they +have neither traditions, family feeling, nor the force of example to +check their excesses. The empire of the laws is feeble amongst them; +that of morality is still more powerless. The settlers who are +constantly peopling the valley of the Mississippi are, then, in every +respect very inferior to the Americans who inhabit the older parts of +the Union. Nevertheless, they already exercise a great influence in its +councils; and they arrive at the government of the commonwealth before +they have learnt to govern themselves. *f + +f +[ This indeed is only a temporary danger. I have no doubt that in time +society will assume as much stability and regularity in the West as it +has already done upon the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.] + + +The greater the individual weakness of each of the contracting parties, +the greater are the chances of the duration of the contract; for their +safety is then dependent upon their union. When, in 1790, the most +populous of the American republics did not contain 500,000 inhabitants, +*g each of them felt its own insignificance as an independent people, +and this feeling rendered compliance with the federal authority more +easy. But when one of the confederate States reckons, like the State of +New York, 2,000,000 of inhabitants, and covers an extent of territory +equal in surface to a quarter of France, *h it feels its own strength; +and although it may continue to support the Union as advantageous to +its prosperity, it no longer regards that body as necessary to its +existence, and as it continues to belong to the federal compact, it +soon aims at preponderance in the federal assemblies. The probable +unanimity of the States is diminished as their number increases. At +present the interests of the different parts of the Union are not at +variance; but who is able to foresee the multifarious changes of the +future, in a country in which towns are founded from day to day, and +States almost from year to year? + +g +[ Pennsylvania contained 431,373 inhabitants in 1790 [and 5,258,014 in +1890.]] + + +h +[ The area of the State of New York is 49,170 square miles. [See U. S. +census report of 1890.]] + + +Since the first settlement of the British colonies, the number of +inhabitants has about doubled every twenty-two years. I perceive no +causes which are likely to check this progressive increase of the +Anglo-American population for the next hundred years; and before that +space of time has elapsed, I believe that the territories and +dependencies of the United States will be covered by more than +100,000,000 of inhabitants, and divided into forty States. *i I admit +that these 100,000,000 of men have no hostile interests. I suppose, on +the contrary, that they are all equally interested in the maintenance +of the Union; but I am still of opinion that where there are +100,000,000 of men, and forty distinct nations, unequally strong, the +continuance of the Federal Government can only be a fortunate accident. + +i +[ If the population continues to double every twenty-two years, as it +has done for the last two hundred years, the number of inhabitants in +the United States in 1852 will be twenty millions; in 1874, forty-eight +millions; and in 1896, ninety-six millions. This may still be the case +even if the lands on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains should be +found to be unfit for cultivation. The territory which is already +occupied can easily contain this number of inhabitants. One hundred +millions of men disseminated over the surface of the twenty-four +States, and the three dependencies, which constitute the Union, would +only give 762 inhabitants to the square league; this would be far below +the mean population of France, which is 1,063 to the square league; or +of England, which is 1,457; and it would even be below the population +of Switzerland, for that country, notwithstanding its lakes and +mountains, contains 783 inhabitants to the square league. See “Malte +Brun,” vol. vi. p. 92. + + +[The actual result has fallen somewhat short of these calculations, in +spite of the vast territorial acquisitions of the United States: but in +1899 the population is probably about eighty-seven millions, including +the population of the Philippines, Hawaii, and Porto Rico.]] + +Whatever faith I may have in the perfectibility of man, until human +nature is altered, and men wholly transformed, I shall refuse to +believe in the duration of a government which is called upon to hold +together forty different peoples, disseminated over a territory equal +to one-half of Europe in extent; to avoid all rivalry, ambition, and +struggles between them, and to direct their independent activity to the +accomplishment of the same designs. + +But the greatest peril to which the Union is exposed by its increase +arises from the continual changes which take place in the position of +its internal strength. The distance from Lake Superior to the Gulf of +Mexico extends from the 47th to the 30th degree of latitude, a distance +of more than 1,200 miles as the bird flies. The frontier of the United +States winds along the whole of this immense line, sometimes falling +within its limits, but more frequently extending far beyond it, into +the waste. It has been calculated that the whites advance every year a +mean distance of seventeen miles along the whole of his vast boundary. +*j Obstacles, such as an unproductive district, a lake or an Indian +nation unexpectedly encountered, are sometimes met with. The advancing +column then halts for a while; its two extremities fall back upon +themselves, and as soon as they are reunited they proceed onwards. This +gradual and continuous progress of the European race towards the Rocky +Mountains has the solemnity of a providential event; it is like a +deluge of men rising unabatedly, and daily driven onwards by the hand +of God. + +j +[ See Legislative Documents, 20th Congress, No. 117, p. 105.] + + +Within this first line of conquering settlers towns are built, and vast +States founded. In 1790 there were only a few thousand pioneers +sprinkled along the valleys of the Mississippi; and at the present day +these valleys contain as many inhabitants as were to be found in the +whole Union in 1790. Their population amounts to nearly 4,000,000. *k +The city of Washington was founded in 1800, in the very centre of the +Union; but such are the changes which have taken place, that it now +stands at one of the extremities; and the delegates of the most remote +Western States are already obliged to perform a journey as long as that +from Vienna to Paris. *l + +k +[ 3,672,317—Census of 1830.] + + +l +[ The distance from Jefferson, the capital of the State of Missouri, to +Washington is 1,019 miles. (“American Almanac,” 1831, p. 48.)] + + +All the States are borne onwards at the same time in the path of +fortune, but of course they do not all increase and prosper in the same +proportion. To the North of the Union the detached branches of the +Alleghany chain, which extend as far as the Atlantic Ocean, form +spacious roads and ports, which are constantly accessible to vessels of +the greatest burden. But from the Potomac to the mouth of the +Mississippi the coast is sandy and flat. In this part of the Union the +mouths of almost all the rivers are obstructed; and the few harbors +which exist amongst these lagoons afford much shallower water to +vessels, and much fewer commercial advantages than those of the North. + +This first natural cause of inferiority is united to another cause +proceeding from the laws. We have already seen that slavery, which is +abolished in the North, still exists in the South; and I have pointed +out its fatal consequences upon the prosperity of the planter himself. + +The North is therefore superior to the South both in commerce *m and +manufacture; the natural consequence of which is the more rapid +increase of population and of wealth within its borders. The States +situate upon the shores of the Atlantic Ocean are already half-peopled. +Most of the land is held by an owner; and these districts cannot +therefore receive so many emigrants as the Western States, where a +boundless field is still open to their exertions. The valley of the +Mississippi is far more fertile than the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. +This reason, added to all the others, contributes to drive the +Europeans westward—a fact which may be rigorously demonstrated by +figures. It is found that the sum total of the population of all the +United States has about tripled in the course of forty years. But in +the recent States adjacent to the Mississippi, the population has +increased thirty-one-fold, within the same space of time. *n + +m +[ The following statements will suffice to show the difference which +exists between the commerce of the South and that of the North:— + + +In 1829 the tonnage of all the merchant vessels belonging to Virginia, +the two Carolinas, and Georgia (the four great Southern States), +amounted to only 5,243 tons. In the same year the tonnage of the +vessels of the State of Massachusetts alone amounted to 17,322 tons. +(See Legislative Documents, 21st Congress, 2d session, No. 140, p. +244.) Thus the State of Massachusetts had three times as much shipping +as the four above-mentioned States. Nevertheless the area of the State +of Massachusetts is only 7,335 square miles, and its population amounts +to 610,014 inhabitants [2,238,943 in 1890]; whilst the area of the four +other States I have quoted is 210,000 square miles, and their +population 3,047,767. Thus the area of the State of Massachusetts forms +only one-thirtieth part of the area of the four States; and its +population is five times smaller than theirs. (See “Darby’s View of the +United States.”) Slavery is prejudicial to the commercial prosperity of +the South in several different ways; by diminishing the spirit of +enterprise amongst the whites, and by preventing them from meeting with +as numerous a class of sailors as they require. Sailors are usually +taken from the lowest ranks of the population. But in the Southern +States these lowest ranks are composed of slaves, and it is very +difficult to employ them at sea. They are unable to serve as well as a +white crew, and apprehensions would always be entertained of their +mutinying in the middle of the ocean, or of their escaping in the +foreign countries at which they might touch.] + +n +[ “Darby’s View of the United States,” p. 444.] + + +The relative position of the central federal power is continually +displaced. Forty years ago the majority of the citizens of the Union +was established upon the coast of the Atlantic, in the environs of the +spot upon which Washington now stands; but the great body of the people +is now advancing inland and to the north, so that in twenty years the +majority will unquestionably be on the western side of the Alleghanies. +If the Union goes on to subsist, the basin of the Mississippi is +evidently marked out, by its fertility and its extent, as the future +centre of the Federal Government. In thirty or forty years, that tract +of country will have assumed the rank which naturally belongs to it. It +is easy to calculate that its population, compared to that of the coast +of the Atlantic, will be, in round numbers, as 40 to 11. In a few years +the States which founded the Union will lose the direction of its +policy, and the population of the valley of the Mississippi will +preponderate in the federal assemblies. + +This constant gravitation of the federal power and influence towards +the northwest is shown every ten years, when a general census of the +population is made, and the number of delegates which each State sends +to Congress is settled afresh. *o In 1790 Virginia had nineteen +representatives in Congress. This number continued to increase until +the year 1813, when it reached to twenty-three; from that time it began +to decrease, and in 1833 Virginia elected only twenty-one +representatives. *p During the same period the State of New York +progressed in the contrary direction: in 1790 it had ten +representatives in Congress; in 1813, twenty-seven; in 1823, +thirty-four; and in 1833, forty. The State of Ohio had only one +representative in 1803, and in 1833 it had already nineteen. + +o +[ It may be seen that in the course of the last ten years (1820-1830) +the population of one district, as, for instance, the State of +Delaware, has increased in the proportion of five per cent.; whilst +that of another, as the territory of Michigan, has increased 250 per +cent. Thus the population of Virginia had augmented thirteen per cent., +and that of the border State of Ohio sixty-one per cent., in the same +space of time. The general table of these changes, which is given in +the “National Calendar,” displays a striking picture of the unequal +fortunes of the different States.] + + +p +[ It has just been said that in the course of the last term the +population of Virginia has increased thirteen per cent.; and it is +necessary to explain how the number of representatives for a State may +decrease, when the population of that State, far from diminishing, is +actually upon the increase. I take the State of Virginia, to which I +have already alluded, as my term of comparison. The number of +representatives of Virginia in 1823 was proportionate to the total +number of the representatives of the Union, and to the relation which +the population bore to that of the whole Union: in 1833 the number of +representatives of Virginia was likewise proportionate to the total +number of the representatives of the Union, and to the relation which +its population, augmented in the course of ten years, bore to the +augmented population of the Union in the same space of time. The new +number of Virginian representatives will then be to the old numver, on +the one hand, as the new numver of all the representatives is to the +old number; and, on the other hand, as the augmentation of the +population of Virginia is to that of the whole population of the +country. Thus, if the increase of the population of the lesser country +be to that of the greater in an exact inverse ratio of the proportion +between the new and the old numbers of all the representatives, the +number of the representatives of Virginia will remain stationary; and +if the increase of the Virginian population be to that of the whole +Union in a feeblerratio than the new number of the representatives of +the Union to the old number, the number of the representatives of +Virginia must decrease. [Thus, to the 56th Congress in 1899, Virginia +and West Virginia send only fourteen representatives.]] + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part VIII + + +It is difficult to imagine a durable union of a people which is rich +and strong with one which is poor and weak, even if it were proved that +the strength and wealth of the one are not the causes of the weakness +and poverty of the other. But union is still more difficult to maintain +at a time at which one party is losing strength, and the other is +gaining it. This rapid and disproportionate increase of certain States +threatens the independence of the others. New York might perhaps +succeed, with its 2,000,000 of inhabitants and its forty +representatives, in dictating to the other States in Congress. But even +if the more powerful States make no attempt to bear down the lesser +ones, the danger still exists; for there is almost as much in the +possibility of the act as in the act itself. The weak generally +mistrust the justice and the reason of the strong. The States which +increase less rapidly than the others look upon those which are more +favored by fortune with envy and suspicion. Hence arise the deep-seated +uneasiness and ill-defined agitation which are observable in the South, +and which form so striking a contrast to the confidence and prosperity +which are common to other parts of the Union. I am inclined to think +that the hostile measures taken by the Southern provinces upon a recent +occasion are attributable to no other cause. The inhabitants of the +Southern States are, of all the Americans, those who are most +interested in the maintenance of the Union; they would assuredly suffer +most from being left to themselves; and yet they are the only citizens +who threaten to break the tie of confederation. But it is easy to +perceive that the South, which has given four Presidents, Washington, +Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, to the Union, which perceives that it +is losing its federal influence, and that the number of its +representatives in Congress is diminishing from year to year, whilst +those of the Northern and Western States are increasing; the South, +which is peopled with ardent and irascible beings, is becoming more and +more irritated and alarmed. The citizens reflect upon their present +position and remember their past influence, with the melancholy +uneasiness of men who suspect oppression: if they discover a law of the +Union which is not unequivocally favorable to their interests, they +protest against it as an abuse of force; and if their ardent +remonstrances are not listened to, they threaten to quit an association +which loads them with burdens whilst it deprives them of their due +profits. “The tariff,” said the inhabitants of Carolina in 1832, +“enriches the North, and ruins the South; for if this were not the +case, to what can we attribute the continually increasing power and +wealth of the North, with its inclement skies and arid soil; whilst the +South, which may be styled the garden of America, is rapidly +declining?” *q + +q +[ See the report of its committee to the Convention which proclaimed +the nullification of the tariff in South Carolina.] + + +If the changes which I have described were gradual, so that each +generation at least might have time to disappear with the order of +things under which it had lived, the danger would be less; but the +progress of society in America is precipitate, and almost +revolutionary. The same citizen may have lived to see his State take +the lead in the Union, and afterwards become powerless in the federal +assemblies; and an Anglo-American republic has been known to grow as +rapidly as a man passing from birth and infancy to maturity in the +course of thirty years. It must not be imagined, however, that the +States which lose their preponderance, also lose their population or +their riches: no stop is put to their prosperity, and they even go on +to increase more rapidly than any kingdom in Europe. *r But they +believe themselves to be impoverished because their wealth does not +augment as rapidly as that of their neighbors; any they think that +their power is lost, because they suddenly come into collision with a +power greater than their own: *s thus they are more hurt in their +feelings and their passions than in their interests. But this is amply +sufficient to endanger the maintenance of the Union. If kings and +peoples had only had their true interests in view ever since the +beginning of the world, the name of war would scarcely be known among +mankind. + +r +[ The population of a country assuredly constitutes the first element +of its wealth. In the ten years (1820-1830) during which Virginia lost +two of its representatives in Congress, its population increased in the +proportion of 13.7 per cent.; that of Carolina in the proportion of +fifteen per cent.; and that of Georgia, 15.5 per cent. (See the +“American Almanac,” 1832, p. 162) But the population of Russia, which +increases more rapidly than that of any other European country, only +augments in ten years at the rate of 9.5 per cent.; in France, at the +rate of seven per cent.; and in Europe in general, at the rate of 4.7 +per cent. (See “Malte Brun,” vol. vi. p. 95)] + + +s +[ It must be admitted, however, that the depreciation which has taken +place in the value of tobacco, during the last fifty years, has notably +diminished the opulence of the Southern planters: but this circumstance +is as independent of the will of their Northern brethren as it is of +their own.] + + +Thus the prosperity of the United States is the source of the most +serious dangers that threaten them, since it tends to create in some of +the confederate States that over-excitement which accompanies a rapid +increase of fortune; and to awaken in others those feelings of envy, +mistrust, and regret which usually attend upon the loss of it. The +Americans contemplate this extraordinary and hasty progress with +exultation; but they would be wiser to consider it with sorrow and +alarm. The Americans of the United States must inevitably become one of +the greatest nations in the world; their offset will cover almost the +whole of North America; the continent which they inhabit is their +dominion, and it cannot escape them. What urges them to take possession +of it so soon? Riches, power, and renown cannot fail to be theirs at +some future time, but they rush upon their fortune as if but a moment +remained for them to make it their own. + +I think that I have demonstrated that the existence of the present +confederation depends entirely on the continued assent of all the +confederates; and, starting from this principle, I have inquired into +the causes which may induce the several States to separate from the +others. The Union may, however, perish in two different ways: one of +the confederate States may choose to retire from the compact, and so +forcibly to sever the federal tie; and it is to this supposition that +most of the remarks that I have made apply: or the authority of the +Federal Government may be progressively entrenched on by the +simultaneous tendency of the united republics to resume their +independence. The central power, successively stripped of all its +prerogatives, and reduced to impotence by tacit consent, would become +incompetent to fulfil its purpose; and the second Union would perish, +like the first, by a sort of senile inaptitude. The gradual weakening +of the federal tie, which may finally lead to the dissolution of the +Union, is a distinct circumstance, that may produce a variety of minor +consequences before it operates so violent a change. The confederation +might still subsist, although its Government were reduced to such a +degree of inanition as to paralyze the nation, to cause internal +anarchy, and to check the general prosperity of the country. + +After having investigated the causes which may induce the +Anglo-Americans to disunite, it is important to inquire whether, if the +Union continues to subsist, their Government will extend or contract +its sphere of action, and whether it will become more energetic or more +weak. + +The Americans are evidently disposed to look upon their future +condition with alarm. They perceive that in most of the nations of the +world the exercise of the rights of sovereignty tends to fall under the +control of a few individuals, and they are dismayed by the idea that +such will also be the case in their own country. Even the statesmen +feel, or affect to feel, these fears; for, in America, centralization +is by no means popular, and there is no surer means of courting the +majority than by inveighing against the encroachments of the central +power. The Americans do not perceive that the countries in which this +alarming tendency to centralization exists are inhabited by a single +people; whilst the fact of the Union being composed of different +confederate communities is sufficient to baffle all the inferences +which might be drawn from analogous circumstances. I confess that I am +inclined to consider the fears of a great number of Americans as purely +imaginary; and far from participating in their dread of the +consolidation of power in the hands of the Union, I think that the +Federal Government is visibly losing strength. + +To prove this assertion I shall not have recourse to any remote +occurrences, but to circumstances which I have myself witnessed, and +which belong to our own time. + +An attentive examination of what is going on in the United States will +easily convince us that two opposite tendencies exist in that country, +like two distinct currents flowing in contrary directions in the same +channel. The Union has now existed for forty-five years, and in the +course of that time a vast number of provincial prejudices, which were +at first hostile to its power, have died away. The patriotic feeling +which attached each of the Americans to his own native State is become +less exclusive; and the different parts of the Union have become more +intimately connected the better they have become acquainted with each +other. The post, *t that great instrument of intellectual intercourse, +now reaches into the backwoods; and steamboats have established daily +means of communication between the different points of the coast. An +inland navigation of unexampled rapidity conveys commodities up and +down the rivers of the country. *u And to these facilities of nature +and art may be added those restless cravings, that busy-mindedness, and +love of pelf, which are constantly urging the American into active +life, and bringing him into contact with his fellow-citizens. He +crosses the country in every direction; he visits all the various +populations of the land; and there is not a province in France in which +the natives are so well known to each other as the 13,000,000 of men +who cover the territory of the United States. + +t +[ In 1832, the district of Michigan, which only contains 31,639 +inhabitants, and is still an almost unexplored wilderness, possessed +940 miles of mail-roads. The territory of Arkansas, which is still more +uncultivated, was already intersected by 1,938 miles of mail-roads. +(See the report of the General Post Office, November 30, 1833.) The +postage of newspapers alone in the whole Union amounted to $254,796.] + + +u +[ In the course of ten years, from 1821 to 1831, 271 steamboats have +been launched upon the rivers which water the valley of the Mississippi +alone. In 1829 259 steamboats existed in the United States. (See +Legislative Documents, No. 140, p. 274.)] + + +But whilst the Americans intermingle, they grow in resemblance of each +other; the differences resulting from their climate, their origin, and +their institutions, diminish; and they all draw nearer and nearer to +the common type. Every year, thousands of men leave the North to settle +in different parts of the Union: they bring with them their faith, +their opinions, and their manners; and as they are more enlighthned +than the men amongst whom they are about to dwell, they soon rise to +the head of affairs, and they adapt society to their own advantage. +This continual emigration of the North to the South is peculiarly +favorable to the fusion of all the different provincial characters into +one national character. The civilization of the North appears to be the +common standard, to which the whole nation will one day be assimilated. + +The commercial ties which unite the confederate States are strengthened +by the increasing manufactures of the Americans; and the union which +began to exist in their opinions, gradually forms a part of their +habits: the course of time has swept away the bugbear thoughts which +haunted the imaginations of the citizens in 1789. The federal power is +not become oppressive; it has not destroyed the independence of the +States; it has not subjected the confederates to monarchial +institutions; and the Union has not rendered the lesser States +dependent upon the larger ones; but the confederation has continued to +increase in population, in wealth, and in power. I am therefore +convinced that the natural obstacles to the continuance of the American +Union are not so powerful at the present time as they were in 1789; and +that the enemies of the Union are not so numerous. + +Nevertheless, a careful examination of the history of the United States +for the last forty-five years will readily convince us that the federal +power is declining; nor is it difficult to explain the causes of this +phenomenon. *v When the Constitution of 1789 was promulgated, the +nation was a prey to anarchy; the Union, which succeeded this +confusion, excited much dread and much animosity; but it was warmly +supported because it satisfied an imperious want. Thus, although it was +more attacked than it is now, the federal power soon reached the +maximum of its authority, as is usually the case with a government +which triumphs after having braced its strength by the struggle. At +that time the interpretation of the Constitution seemed to extend, +rather than to repress, the federal sovereignty; and the Union offered, +in several respects, the appearance of a single and undivided people, +directed in its foreign and internal policy by a single Government. But +to attain this point the people had risen, to a certain extent, above +itself. + +v +[ [Since 1861 the movement is certainly in the opposite direction, and +the federal power has largely increased, and tends to further +increase.]] + + +The Constitution had not destroyed the distinct sovereignty of the +States; and all communities, of whatever nature they may be, are +impelled by a secret propensity to assert their independence. This +propensity is still more decided in a country like America, in which +every village forms a sort of republic accustomed to conduct its own +affairs. It therefore cost the States an effort to submit to the +federal supremacy; and all efforts, however successful they may be, +necessarily subside with the causes in which they originated. + +As the Federal Government consolidated its authority, America resumed +its rank amongst the nations, peace returned to its frontiers, and +public credit was restored; confusion was succeeded by a fixed state of +things, which was favorable to the full and free exercise of +industrious enterprise. It was this very prosperity which made the +Americans forget the cause to which it was attributable; and when once +the danger was passed, the energy and the patriotism which had enabled +them to brave it disappeared from amongst them. No sooner were they +delivered from the cares which oppressed them, than they easily +returned to their ordinary habits, and gave themselves up without +resistance to their natural inclinations. When a powerful Government no +longer appeared to be necessary, they once more began to think it +irksome. The Union encouraged a general prosperity, and the States were +not inclined to abandon the Union; but they desired to render the +action of the power which represented that body as light as possible. +The general principle of Union was adopted, but in every minor detail +there was an actual tendency to independence. The principle of +confederation was every day more easily admitted, and more rarely +applied; so that the Federal Government brought about its own decline, +whilst it was creating order and peace. + +As soon as this tendency of public opinion began to be manifested +externally, the leaders of parties, who live by the passions of the +people, began to work it to their own advantage. The position of the +Federal Government then became exceedingly critical. Its enemies were +in possession of the popular favor; and they obtained the right of +conducting its policy by pledging themselves to lessen its influence. +From that time forwards the Government of the Union has invariably been +obliged to recede, as often as it has attempted to enter the lists with +the governments of the States. And whenever an interpretation of the +terms of the Federal Constitution has been called for, that +interpretation has most frequently been opposed to the Union, and +favorable to the States. + +The Constitution invested the Federal Government with the right of +providing for the interests of the nation; and it had been held that no +other authority was so fit to superintend the “internal improvements” +which affected the prosperity of the whole Union; such, for instance, +as the cutting of canals. But the States were alarmed at a power, +distinct from their own, which could thus dispose of a portion of their +territory; and they were afraid that the central Government would, by +this means, acquire a formidable extent of patronage within their own +confines, and exercise a degree of influence which they intended to +reserve exclusively to their own agents. The Democratic party, which +has constantly been opposed to the increase of the federal authority, +then accused the Congress of usurpation, and the Chief Magistrate of +ambition. The central Government was intimidated by the opposition; and +it soon acknowledged its error, promising exactly to confine its +influence for the future within the circle which was prescribed to it. + +The Constitution confers upon the Union the right of treating with +foreign nations. The Indian tribes, which border upon the frontiers of +the United States, had usually been regarded in this light. As long as +these savages consented to retire before the civilized settlers, the +federal right was not contested: but as soon as an Indian tribe +attempted to fix its dwelling upon a given spot, the adjacent States +claimed possession of the lands and the rights of sovereignty over the +natives. The central Government soon recognized both these claims; and +after it had concluded treaties with the Indians as independent +nations, it gave them up as subjects to the legislative tyranny of the +States. *w + +w +[ See in the Legislative Documents, already quoted in speaking of the +Indians, the letter of the President of the United States to the +Cherokees, his correspondence on this subject with his agents, and his +messages to Congress.] + + +Some of the States which had been founded upon the coast of the +Atlantic, extended indefinitely to the West, into wild regions where no +European had ever penetrated. The States whose confines were +irrevocably fixed, looked with a jealous eye upon the unbounded regions +which the future would enable their neighbors to explore. The latter +then agreed, with a view to conciliate the others, and to facilitate +the act of union, to lay down their own boundaries, and to abandon all +the territory which lay beyond those limits to the confederation at +large. *x Thenceforward the Federal Government became the owner of all +the uncultivated lands which lie beyond the borders of the thirteen +States first confederated. It was invested with the right of parcelling +and selling them, and the sums derived from this source were +exclusively reserved to the public treasure of the Union, in order to +furnish supplies for purchasing tracts of country from the Indians, for +opening roads to the remote settlements, and for accelerating the +increase of civilization as much as possible. New States have, however, +been formed in the course of time, in the midst of those wilds which +were formerly ceded by the inhabitants of the shores of the Atlantic. +Congress has gone on to sell, for the profit of the nation at large, +the uncultivated lands which those new States contained. But the latter +at length asserted that, as they were now fully constituted, they ought +to enjoy the exclusive right of converting the produce of these sales +to their own use. As their remonstrances became more and more +threatening, Congress thought fit to deprive the Union of a portion of +the privileges which it had hitherto enjoyed; and at the end of 1832 it +passed a law by which the greatest part of the revenue derived from the +sale of lands was made over to the new western republics, although the +lands themselves were not ceded to them. *y + +x +[ The first act of session was made by the State of New York in 1780; +Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, South and North Carolina, +followed this example at different times, and lastly, the act of +cession of Georgia was made as recently as 1802.] + + +y +[ It is true that the President refused his assent to this law; but he +completely adopted it in principle. (See Message of December 8, 1833.)] + + +The slightest observation in the United States enables one to +appreciate the advantages which the country derives from the bank. +These advantages are of several kinds, but one of them is peculiarly +striking to the stranger. The banknotes of the United States are taken +upon the borders of the desert for the same value as at Philadelphia, +where the bank conducts its operations. *z + +z +[ The present Bank of the United States was established in 1816, with a +capital of $35,000,000; its charter expires in 1836. Last year Congress +passed a law to renew it, but the President put his veto upon the bill. +The struggle is still going on with great violence on either side, and +the speedy fall of the bank may easily be foreseen. [It was soon +afterwards extinguished by General Jackson.]] + + +The Bank of the United States is nevertheless the object of great +animosity. Its directors have proclaimed their hostility to the +President: and they are accused, not without some show of probability, +of having abused their influence to thwart his election. The President +therefore attacks the establishment which they represent with all the +warmth of personal enmity; and he is encouraged in the pursuit of his +revenge by the conviction that he is supported by the secret +propensities of the majority. The bank may be regarded as the great +monetary tie of the Union, just as Congress is the great legislative +tie; and the same passions which tend to render the States independent +of the central power, contribute to the overthrow of the bank. + +The Bank of the United States always holds a great number of the notes +issued by the provincial banks, which it can at any time oblige them to +convert into cash. It has itself nothing to fear from a similar demand, +as the extent of its resources enables it to meet all claims. But the +existence of the provincial banks is thus threatened, and their +operations are restricted, since they are only able to issue a quantity +of notes duly proportioned to their capital. They submit with +impatience to this salutary control. The newspapers which they have +bought over, and the President, whose interest renders him their +instrument, attack the bank with the greatest vehemence. They rouse the +local passions and the blind democratic instinct of the country to aid +their cause; and they assert that the bank directors form a permanent +aristocratic body, whose influence must ultimately be felt in the +Government, and must affect those principles of equality upon which +society rests in America. + +The contest between the bank and its opponents is only an incident in +the great struggle which is going on in America between the provinces +and the central power; between the spirit of democratic independence +and the spirit of gradation and subordination. I do not mean that the +enemies of the bank are identically the same individuals who, on other +points, attack the Federal Government; but I assert that the attacks +directed against the bank of the United States originate in the same +propensities which militate against the Federal Government; and that +the very numerous opponents of the former afford a deplorable symptom +of the decreasing support of the latter. + +The Union has never displayed so much weakness as in the celebrated +question of the tariff. *a The wars of the French Revolution and of +1812 had created manufacturing establishments in the North of the +Union, by cutting off all free communication between America and +Europe. When peace was concluded, and the channel of intercourse +reopened by which the produce of Europe was transmitted to the New +World, the Americans thought fit to establish a system of import +duties, for the twofold purpose of protecting their incipient +manufactures and of paying off the amount of the debt contracted during +the war. The Southern States, which have no manufactures to encourage, +and which are exclusively agricultural, soon complained of this +measure. Such were the simple facts, and I do not pretend to examine in +this place whether their complaints were well founded or unjust. + +a +[ See principally for the details of this affair, the Legislative +Documents, 22d Congress, 2d Session, No. 30.] + + +As early as the year 1820, South Carolina declared, in a petition to +Congress, that the tariff was “unconstitutional, oppressive, and +unjust.” And the States of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, +and Mississippi subsequently remonstrated against it with more or less +vigor. But Congress, far from lending an ear to these complaints, +raised the scale of tariff duties in the years 1824 and 1828, and +recognized anew the principle on which it was founded. A doctrine was +then proclaimed, or rather revived, in the South, which took the name +of Nullification. + +I have shown in the proper place that the object of the Federal +Constitution was not to form a league, but to create a national +government. The Americans of the United States form a sole and +undivided people, in all the cases which are specified by that +Constitution; and upon these points the will of the nation is +expressed, as it is in all constitutional nations, by the voice of the +majority. When the majority has pronounced its decision, it is the duty +of the minority to submit. Such is the sound legal doctrine, and the +only one which agrees with the text of the Constitution, and the known +intention of those who framed it. + +The partisans of Nullification in the South maintain, on the contrary, +that the intention of the Americans in uniting was not to reduce +themselves to the condition of one and the same people; that they meant +to constitute a league of independent States; and that each State, +consequently retains its entire sovereignty, if not de facto, at least +de jure; and has the right of putting its own construction upon the +laws of Congress, and of suspending their execution within the limits +of its own territory, if they are held to be unconstitutional and +unjust. + +The entire doctrine of Nullification is comprised in a sentence uttered +by Vice-President Calhoun, the head of that party in the South, before +the Senate of the United States, in the year 1833: “The Constitution is +a compact to which the States were parties in their sovereign capacity; +now, whenever a compact is entered into by parties which acknowledge no +tribunal above their authority to decide in the last resort, each of +them has a right to judge for itself in relation to the nature, extent, +and obligations of the instrument.” It is evident that a similar +doctrine destroys the very basis of the Federal Constitution, and brings +back all the evils of the old confederation, from which the Americans +were supposed to have had a safe deliverance. + +When South Carolina perceived that Congress turned a deaf ear to its +remonstrances, it threatened to apply the doctrine of nullification to +the federal tariff bill. Congress persisted in its former system; and +at length the storm broke out. In the course of 1832 the citizens of +South Carolina, *b named a national Convention, to consult upon the +extraordinary measures which they were called upon to take; and on +November 24th of the same year this Convention promulgated a law, under +the form of a decree, which annulled the federal law of the tariff, +forbade the levy of the imposts which that law commands, and refused to +recognize the appeal which might be made to the federal courts of law. +*c This decree was only to be put in execution in the ensuing month of +February, and it was intimated, that if Congress modified the tariff +before that period, South Carolina might be induced to proceed no +further with her menaces; and a vague desire was afterwards expressed +of submitting the question to an extraordinary assembly of all the +confederate States. + +b +[ That is to say, the majority of the people; for the opposite party, +called the Union party, always formed a very strong and active +minority. Carolina may contain about 47,000 electors; 30,000 were in +favor of nullification, and 17,000 opposed to it.] + + +c +[ This decree was preceded by a report of the committee by which it was +framed, containing the explanation of the motives and object of the +law. The following passage occurs in it, p. 34:—“When the rights +reserved by the Constitution to the different States are deliberately +violated, it is the duty and the right of those States to interfere, in +order to check the progress of the evil; to resist usurpation, and to +maintain, within their respective limits, those powers and privileges +which belong to them as independent sovereign States. If they were +destitute of this right, they would not be sovereign. South Carolina +declares that she acknowledges no tribunal upon earth above her +authority. She has indeed entered into a solemn compact of union with +the other States; but she demands, and will exercise, the right of +putting her own construction upon it; and when this compact is violated +by her sister States, and by the Government which they have created, +she is determined to avail herself of the unquestionable right of +judging what is the extent of the infraction, and what are the measures +best fitted to obtain justice.”] + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part IX + + +In the meantime South Carolina armed her militia, and prepared for war. +But Congress, which had slighted its suppliant subjects, listened to +their complaints as soon as they were found to have taken up arms. *d A +law was passed, by which the tariff duties were to be progressively +reduced for ten years, until they were brought so low as not to exceed +the amount of supplies necessary to the Government. *e Thus Congress +completely abandoned the principle of the tariff; and substituted a +mere fiscal impost to a system of protective duties. *f The Government +of the Union, in order to conceal its defeat, had recourse to an +expedient which is very much in vogue with feeble governments. It +yielded the point de facto, but it remained inflexible upon the +principles in question; and whilst Congress was altering the tariff +law, it passed another bill, by which the President was invested with +extraordinary powers, enabling him to overcome by force a resistance +which was then no longer to be apprehended. + +d +[ Congress was finally decided to take this step by the conduct of the +powerful State of Virginia, whose legislature offered to serve as +mediator between the Union and South Carolina. Hitherto the latter +State had appeared to be entirely abandoned, even by the States which +had joined in her remonstrances.] + + +e +[ This law was passed on March 2, 1833.] + + +f +[ This bill was brought in by Mr. Clay, and it passed in four days +through both Houses of Congress by an immense majority.] + + +But South Carolina did not consent to leave the Union in the enjoyment +of these scanty trophies of success: the same national Convention which +had annulled the tariff bill, met again, and accepted the proffered +concession; but at the same time it declared its unabated perseverance +in the doctrine of Nullification: and to prove what it said, it +annulled the law investing the President with extraordinary powers, +although it was very certain that the clauses of that law would never +be carried into effect. + +Almost all the controversies of which I have been speaking have taken +place under the Presidency of General Jackson; and it cannot be denied +that in the question of the tariff he has supported the claims of the +Union with vigor and with skill. I am, however, of opinion that the +conduct of the individual who now represents the Federal Government may +be reckoned as one of the dangers which threaten its continuance. + +Some persons in Europe have formed an opinion of the possible influence +of General Jackson upon the affairs of his country, which appears +highly extravagant to those who have seen more of the subject. We have +been told that General Jackson has won sundry battles, that he is an +energetic man, prone by nature and by habit to the use of force, +covetous of power, and a despot by taste. All this may perhaps be true; +but the inferences which have been drawn from these truths are +exceedingly erroneous. It has been imagined that General Jackson is +bent on establishing a dictatorship in America, on introducing a +military spirit, and on giving a degree of influence to the central +authority which cannot but be dangerous to provincial liberties. But in +America the time for similar undertakings, and the age for men of this +kind, is not yet come: if General Jackson had entertained a hope of +exercising his authority in this manner, he would infallibly have +forfeited his political station, and compromised his life; accordingly +he has not been so imprudent as to make any such attempt. + +Far from wishing to extend the federal power, the President belongs to +the party which is desirous of limiting that power to the bare and +precise letter of the Constitution, and which never puts a construction +upon that act favorable to the Government of the Union; far from +standing forth as the champion of centralization, General Jackson is +the agent of all the jealousies of the States; and he was placed in the +lofty station he occupies by the passions of the people which are most +opposed to the central Government. It is by perpetually flattering +these passions that he maintains his station and his popularity. +General Jackson is the slave of the majority: he yields to its wishes, +its propensities, and its demands; say rather, that he anticipates and +forestalls them. + +Whenever the governments of the States come into collision with that of +the Union, the President is generally the first to question his own +rights: he almost always outstrips the legislature; and when the extent +of the federal power is controverted, he takes part, as it were, +against himself; he conceals his official interests, and extinguishes +his own natural inclinations. Not indeed that he is naturally weak or +hostile to the Union; for when the majority decided against the claims +of the partisans of nullification, he put himself at its head, asserted +the doctrines which the nation held distinctly and energetically, and +was the first to recommend forcible measures; but General Jackson +appears to me, if I may use the American expressions, to be a +Federalist by taste, and a Republican by calculation. + +General Jackson stoops to gain the favor of the majority, but when he +feels that his popularity is secure, he overthrows all obstacles in the +pursuit of the objects which the community approves, or of those which +it does not look upon with a jealous eye. He is supported by a power +with which his predecessors were unacquainted; and he tramples on his +personal enemies whenever they cross his path with a facility which no +former President ever enjoyed; he takes upon himself the responsibility +of measures which no one before him would have ventured to attempt: he +even treats the national representatives with disdain approaching to +insult; he puts his veto upon the laws of Congress, and frequently +neglects to reply to that powerful body. He is a favorite who sometimes +treats his master roughly. The power of General Jackson perpetually +increases; but that of the President declines; in his hands the Federal +Government is strong, but it will pass enfeebled into the hands of his +successor. + +I am strangely mistaken if the Federal Government of the United States +be not constantly losing strength, retiring gradually from public +affairs, and narrowing its circle of action more and more. It is +naturally feeble, but it now abandons even its pretensions to strength. +On the other hand, I thought that I remarked a more lively sense of +independence, and a more decided attachment to provincial government in +the States. The Union is to subsist, but to subsist as a shadow; it is +to be strong in certain cases, and weak in all others; in time of +warfare, it is to be able to concentrate all the forces of the nation +and all the resources of the country in its hands; and in time of peace +its existence is to be scarcely perceptible: as if this alternate +debility and vigor were natural or possible. + +I do not foresee anything for the present which may be able to check +this general impulse of public opinion; the causes in which it +originated do not cease to operate with the same effect. The change +will therefore go on, and it may be predicted that, unless some +extraordinary event occurs, the Government of the Union will grow +weaker and weaker every day. + +I think, however, that the period is still remote at which the federal +power will be entirely extinguished by its inability to protect itself +and to maintain peace in the country. The Union is sanctioned by the +manners and desires of the people; its results are palpable, its +benefits visible. When it is perceived that the weakness of the Federal +Government compromises the existence of the Union, I do not doubt that +a reaction will take place with a view to increase its strength. + +The Government of the United States is, of all the federal governments +which have hitherto been established, the one which is most naturally +destined to act. As long as it is only indirectly assailed by the +interpretation of its laws, and as long as its substance is not +seriously altered, a change of opinion, an internal crisis, or a war, +may restore all the vigor which it requires. The point which I have +been most anxious to put in a clear light is simply this: Many people, +especially in France, imagine that a change in opinion is going on in +the United States, which is favorable to a centralization of power in +the hands of the President and the Congress. I hold that a contrary +tendency may distinctly be observed. So far is the Federal Government +from acquiring strength, and from threatening the sovereignty of the +States, as it grows older, that I maintain it to be growing weaker and +weaker, and that the sovereignty of the Union alone is in danger. Such +are the facts which the present time discloses. The future conceals the +final result of this tendency, and the events which may check, retard, +or accelerate the changes I have described; but I do not affect to be +able to remove the veil which hides them from our sight. + +Of The Republican Institutions Of The United States, And What Their +Chances Of Duration Are + +The Union is accidental—The Republican institutions have more prospect +of permanence—A republic for the present the natural state of the +Anglo-Americans—Reason of this—In order to destroy it, all the laws +must be changed at the same time, and a great alteration take place in +manners—Difficulties experienced by the Americans in creating an +aristocracy. + +The dismemberment of the Union, by the introduction of war into the +heart of those States which are now confederate, with standing armies, +a dictatorship, and a heavy taxation, might, eventually, compromise the +fate of the republican institutions. But we ought not to confound the +future prospects of the republic with those of the Union. The Union is +an accident, which will only last as long as circumstances are +favorable to its existence; but a republican form of government seems +to me to be the natural state of the Americans; which nothing but the +continued action of hostile causes, always acting in the same +direction, could change into a monarchy. The Union exists principally +in the law which formed it; one revolution, one change in public +opinion, might destroy it forever; but the republic has a much deeper +foundation to rest upon. + +What is understood by a republican government in the United States is +the slow and quiet action of society upon itself. It is a regular state +of things really founded upon the enlightened will of the people. It is +a conciliatory government under which resolutions are allowed time to +ripen; and in which they are deliberately discussed, and executed with +mature judgment. The republicans in the United States set a high value +upon morality, respect religious belief, and acknowledge the existence +of rights. They profess to think that a people ought to be moral, +religious, and temperate, in proportion as it is free. What is called +the republic in the United States, is the tranquil rule of the +majority, which, after having had time to examine itself, and to give +proof of its existence, is the common source of all the powers of the +State. But the power of the majority is not of itself unlimited. In the +moral world humanity, justice, and reason enjoy an undisputed +supremacy; in the political world vested rights are treated with no +less deference. The majority recognizes these two barriers; and if it +now and then overstep them, it is because, like individuals, it has +passions, and, like them, it is prone to do what is wrong, whilst it +discerns what is right. + +But the demagogues of Europe have made strange discoveries. A republic +is not, according to them, the rule of the majority, as has hitherto +been thought, but the rule of those who are strenuous partisans of the +majority. It is not the people who preponderates in this kind of +government, but those who are best versed in the good qualities of the +people. A happy distinction, which allows men to act in the name of +nations without consulting them, and to claim their gratitude whilst +their rights are spurned. A republican government, moreover, is the +only one which claims the right of doing whatever it chooses, and +despising what men have hitherto respected, from the highest moral +obligations to the vulgar rules of common-sense. It had been supposed, +until our time, that despotism was odious, under whatever form it +appeared. But it is a discovery of modern days that there are such +things as legitimate tyranny and holy injustice, provided they are +exercised in the name of the people. + +The ideas which the Americans have adopted respecting the republican +form of government, render it easy for them to live under it, and +insure its duration. If, in their country, this form be often +practically bad, at least it is theoretically good; and, in the end, +the people always acts in conformity to it. + +It was impossible at the foundation of the States, and it would still +be difficult, to establish a central administration in America. The +inhabitants are dispersed over too great a space, and separated by too +many natural obstacles, for one man to undertake to direct the details +of their existence. America is therefore pre-eminently the country of +provincial and municipal government. To this cause, which was plainly +felt by all the Europeans of the New World, the Anglo-Americans added +several others peculiar to themselves. + +At the time of the settlement of the North American colonies, municipal +liberty had already penetrated into the laws as well as the manners of +the English; and the emigrants adopted it, not only as a necessary +thing, but as a benefit which they knew how to appreciate. We have +already seen the manner in which the colonies were founded: every +province, and almost every district, was peopled separately by men who +were strangers to each other, or who associated with very different +purposes. The English settlers in the United States, therefore, early +perceived that they were divided into a great number of small and +distinct communities which belonged to no common centre; and that it +was needful for each of these little communities to take care of its +own affairs, since there did not appear to be any central authority +which was naturally bound and easily enabled to provide for them. Thus, +the nature of the country, the manner in which the British colonies +were founded, the habits of the first emigrants, in short everything, +united to promote, in an extraordinary degree, municipal and provincial +liberties. + +In the United States, therefore, the mass of the institutions of the +country is essentially republican; and in order permanently to destroy +the laws which form the basis of the republic, it would be necessary to +abolish all the laws at once. At the present day it would be even more +difficult for a party to succeed in founding a monarchy in the United +States than for a set of men to proclaim that France should +henceforward be a republic. Royalty would not find a system of +legislation prepared for it beforehand; and a monarchy would then +exist, really surrounded by republican institutions. The monarchical +principle would likewise have great difficulty in penetrating into the +manners of the Americans. + +In the United States, the sovereignty of the people is not an isolated +doctrine bearing no relation to the prevailing manners and ideas of the +people: it may, on the contrary, be regarded as the last link of a +chain of opinions which binds the whole Anglo-American world. That +Providence has given to every human being the degree of reason +necessary to direct himself in the affairs which interest him +exclusively—such is the grand maxim upon which civil and political +society rests in the United States. The father of a family applies it +to his children; the master to his servants; the township to its +officers; the province to its townships; the State to its provinces; +the Union to the States; and when extended to the nation, it becomes +the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people. + +Thus, in the United States, the fundamental principle of the republic +is the same which governs the greater part of human actions; republican +notions insinuate themselves into all the ideas, opinions, and habits +of the Americans, whilst they are formerly recognized by the +legislation: and before this legislation can be altered the whole +community must undergo very serious changes. In the United States, even +the religion of most of the citizens is republican, since it submits +the truths of the other world to private judgment: as in politics the +care of its temporal interests is abandoned to the good sense of the +people. Thus every man is allowed freely to take that road which he +thinks will lead him to heaven; just as the law permits every citizen +to have the right of choosing his government. + +It is evident that nothing but a long series of events, all having the +same tendency, can substitute for this combination of laws, opinions, +and manners, a mass of opposite opinions, manners, and laws. + +If republican principles are to perish in America, they can only yield +after a laborious social process, often interrupted, and as often +resumed; they will have many apparent revivals, and will not become +totally extinct until an entirely new people shall have succeeded to +that which now exists. Now, it must be admitted that there is no +symptom or presage of the approach of such a revolution. There is +nothing more striking to a person newly arrived in the United States, +than the kind of tumultuous agitation in which he finds political +society. The laws are incessantly changing, and at first sight it seems +impossible that a people so variable in its desires should avoid +adopting, within a short space of time, a completely new form of +government. Such apprehensions are, however, premature; the instability +which affects political institutions is of two kinds, which ought not +to be confounded: the first, which modifies secondary laws, is not +incompatible with a very settled state of society; the other shakes the +very foundations of the Constitution, and attacks the fundamental +principles of legislation; this species of instability is always +followed by troubles and revolutions, and the nation which suffers +under it is in a state of violent transition. + +Experience shows that these two kinds of legislative instability have +no necessary connection; for they have been found united or separate, +according to times and circumstances. The first is common in the United +States, but not the second: the Americans often change their laws, but +the foundation of the Constitution is respected. + +In our days the republican principle rules in America, as the +monarchical principle did in France under Louis XIV. The French of that +period were not only friends of the monarchy, but they thought it +impossible to put anything in its place; they received it as we receive +the rays of the sun and the return of the seasons. Amongst them the +royal power had neither advocates nor opponents. In like manner does +the republican government exist in America, without contention or +opposition; without proofs and arguments, by a tacit agreement, a sort +of consensus universalis. It is, however, my opinion that by changing +their administrative forms as often as they do, the inhabitants of the +United States compromise the future stability of their government. + +It may be apprehended that men, perpetually thwarted in their designs +by the mutability of the legislation, will learn to look upon +republican institutions as an inconvenient form of society; the evil +resulting from the instability of the secondary enactments might then +raise a doubt as to the nature of the fundamental principles of the +Constitution, and indirectly bring about a revolution; but this epoch +is still very remote. + +It may, however, be foreseen even now, that when the Americans lose +their republican institutions they will speedily arrive at a despotic +government, without a long interval of limited monarchy. Montesquieu +remarked, that nothing is more absolute than the authority of a prince +who immediately succeeds a republic, since the powers which had +fearlessly been intrusted to an elected magistrate are then transferred +to a hereditary sovereign. This is true in general, but it is more +peculiarly applicable to a democratic republic. In the United States, +the magistrates are not elected by a particular class of citizens, but +by the majority of the nation; they are the immediate representatives +of the passions of the multitude; and as they are wholly dependent upon +its pleasure, they excite neither hatred nor fear: hence, as I have +already shown, very little care has been taken to limit their +influence, and they are left in possession of a vast deal of arbitrary +power. This state of things has engendered habits which would outlive +itself; the American magistrate would retain his power, but he would +cease to be responsible for the exercise of it; and it is impossible to +say what bounds could then be set to tyranny. + +Some of our European politicians expect to see an aristocracy arise in +America, and they already predict the exact period at which it will be +able to assume the reins of government. I have previously observed, and +I repeat my assertion, that the present tendency of American society +appears to me to become more and more democratic. Nevertheless, I do +not assert that the Americans will not, at some future time, restrict +the circle of political rights in their country, or confiscate those +rights to the advantage of a single individual; but I cannot imagine +that they will ever bestow the exclusive exercise of them upon a +privileged class of citizens, or, in other words, that they will ever +found an aristocracy. + +An aristocratic body is composed of a certain number of citizens who, +without being very far removed from the mass of the people, are, +nevertheless, permanently stationed above it: a body which it is easy +to touch and difficult to strike; with which the people are in daily +contact, but with which they can never combine. Nothing can be imagined +more contrary to nature and to the secret propensities of the human +heart than a subjection of this kind; and men who are left to follow +their own bent will always prefer the arbitrary power of a king to the +regular administration of an aristocracy. Aristocratic institutions +cannot subsist without laying down the inequality of men as a +fundamental principle, as a part and parcel of the legislation, +affecting the condition of the human family as much as it affects that +of society; but these are things so repugnant to natural equity that +they can only be extorted from men by constraint. + +I do not think a single people can be quoted, since human society began +to exist, which has, by its own free will and by its own exertions, +created an aristocracy within its own bosom. All the aristocracies of +the Middle Ages were founded by military conquest; the conqueror was +the noble, the vanquished became the serf. Inequality was then imposed +by force; and after it had been introduced into the manners of the +country it maintained its own authority, and was sanctioned by the +legislation. Communities have existed which were aristocratic from +their earliest origin, owing to circumstances anterior to that event, +and which became more democratic in each succeeding age. Such was the +destiny of the Romans, and of the barbarians after them. But a people, +having taken its rise in civilization and democracy, which should +gradually establish an inequality of conditions, until it arrived at +inviolable privileges and exclusive castes, would be a novelty in the +world; and nothing intimates that America is likely to furnish so +singular an example. + +Reflection On The Causes Of The Commercial Prosperity Of The Of The +United States + +The Americans destined by Nature to be a great maritime people—Extent +of their coasts—Depth of their ports—Size of their rivers—The +commercial superiority of the Anglo-Americans less attributable, +however, to physical circumstances than to moral and intellectual +causes—Reason of this opinion—Future destiny of the Anglo-Americans as +a commercial nation—The dissolution of the Union would not check the +maritime vigor of the States—Reason of this—Anglo-Americans will +naturally supply the wants of the inhabitants of South America—They +will become, like the English, the factors of a great portion of the +world. + +The coast of the United States, from the Bay of Fundy to the Sabine +River in the Gulf of Mexico, is more than two thousand miles in extent. +These shores form an unbroken line, and they are all subject to the +same government. No nation in the world possesses vaster, deeper, or +more secure ports for shipping than the Americans. + +The inhabitants of the United States constitute a great civilized +people, which fortune has placed in the midst of an uncultivated +country at a distance of three thousand miles from the central point of +civilization. America consequently stands in daily need of European +trade. The Americans will, no doubt, ultimately succeed in producing or +manufacturing at home most of the articles which they require; but the +two continents can never be independent of each other, so numerous are +the natural ties which exist between their wants, their ideas, their +habits, and their manners. + +The Union produces peculiar commodities which are now become necessary +to us, but which cannot be cultivated, or can only be raised at an +enormous expense, upon the soil of Europe. The Americans only consume a +small portion of this produce, and they are willing to sell us the +rest. Europe is therefore the market of America, as America is the +market of Europe; and maritime commerce is no less necessary to enable +the inhabitants of the United States to transport their raw materials +to the ports of Europe, than it is to enable us to supply them with our +manufactured produce. The United States were therefore necessarily +reduced to the alternative of increasing the business of other maritime +nations to a great extent, if they had themselves declined to enter +into commerce, as the Spaniards of Mexico have hitherto done; or, in +the second place, of becoming one of the first trading powers of the +globe. + +The Anglo-Americans have always displayed a very decided taste for the +sea. The Declaration of Independence broke the commercial restrictions +which united them to England, and gave a fresh and powerful stimulus to +their maritime genius. Ever since that time, the shipping of the Union +has increased in almost the same rapid proportion as the number of its +inhabitants. The Americans themselves now transport to their own shores +nine-tenths of the European produce which they consume. *g And they +also bring three-quarters of the exports of the New World to the +European consumer. *h The ships of the United States fill the docks of +Havre and of Liverpool; whilst the number of English and French vessels +which are to be seen at New York is comparatively small. *i + +g +[ The total value of goods imported during the year which ended on +September 30, 1832, was $101,129,266. The value of the cargoes of +foreign vessels did not amount to $10,731,039, or about one-tenth of +the entire sum.] + + +h +[ The value of goods exported during the same year amounted to +$87,176,943; the value of goods exported by foreign vessels amounted to +$21,036,183, or about one quarter of the whole sum. (Williams’s +“Register,” 1833, p. 398.)] + + +i +[ The tonnage of the vessels which entered all the ports of the Union +in the years 1829, 1830, and 1831, amounted to 3,307,719 tons, of which +544,571 tons were foreign vessels; they stood, therefore, to the +American vessels in a ratio of about 16 to 100. (“National Calendar,” +1833, p. 304.) The tonnage of the English vessels which entered the +ports of London, Liverpool, and Hull, in the years 1820, 1826, and +1831, amounted to 443,800 tons. The foreign vessels which entered the +same ports during the same years amounted to 159,431 tons. The ratio +between them was, therefore, about 36 to 100. (“Companion to the +Almanac,” 1834, p. 169.) In the year 1832 the ratio between the foreign +and British ships which entered the ports of Great Britain was 29 to +100. [These statements relate to a condition of affairs which has +ceased to exist; the Civil War and the heavy taxation of the United +States entirely altered the trade and navigation of the country.]] + + +Thus, not only does the American merchant face the competition of his +own countrymen, but he even supports that of foreign nations in their +own ports with success. This is readily explained by the fact that the +vessels of the United States can cross the seas at a cheaper rate than +any other vessels in the world. As long as the mercantile shipping of +the United States preserves this superiority, it will not only retain +what it has acquired, but it will constantly increase in prosperity. + + + + + Chapter XVIII: Future Condition Of Three Races—Part X + + +It is difficult to say for what reason the Americans can trade at a +lower rate than other nations; and one is at first led to attribute +this circumstance to the physical or natural advantages which are +within their reach; but this supposition is erroneous. The American +vessels cost almost as much to build as our own; *j they are not better +built, and they generally last for a shorter time. The pay of the +American sailor is more considerable than the pay on board European +ships; which is proved by the great number of Europeans who are to be +met with in the merchant vessels of the United States. But I am of +opinion that the true cause of their superiority must not be sought for +in physical advantages, but that it is wholly attributable to their +moral and intellectual qualities. + +j +[ Materials are, generally speaking, less expensive in America than in +Europe, but the price of labor is much higher.] + + +The following comparison will illustrate my meaning. During the +campaigns of the Revolution the French introduced a new system of +tactics into the art of war, which perplexed the oldest generals, and +very nearly destroyed the most ancient monarchies in Europe. They +undertook (what had never before been attempted) to make shift without +a number of things which had always been held to be indispensable in +warfare; they required novel exertions on the part of their troops +which no civilized nations had ever thought of; they achieved great +actions in an incredibly short space of time; and they risked human +life without hesitation to obtain the object in view. The French had +less money and fewer men than their enemies; their resources were +infinitely inferior; nevertheless they were constantly victorious, +until their adversaries chose to imitate their example. + +The Americans have introduced a similar system into their commercial +speculations; and they do for cheapness what the French did for +conquest. The European sailor navigates with prudence; he only sets +sail when the weather is favorable; if an unforseen accident befalls +him, he puts into port; at night he furls a portion of his canvas; and +when the whitening billows intimate the vicinity of land, he checks his +way, and takes an observation of the sun. But the American neglects +these precautions and braves these dangers. He weighs anchor in the +midst of tempestuous gales; by night and by day he spreads his sheets +to the wind; he repairs as he goes along such damage as his vessel may +have sustained from the storm; and when he at last approaches the term +of his voyage, he darts onward to the shore as if he already descried a +port. The Americans are often shipwrecked, but no trader crosses the +seas so rapidly. And as they perform the same distance in a shorter +time, they can perform it at a cheaper rate. + +The European touches several times at different ports in the course of +a long voyage; he loses a good deal of precious time in making the +harbor, or in waiting for a favorable wind to leave it; and he pays +daily dues to be allowed to remain there. The American starts from +Boston to go to purchase tea in China; he arrives at Canton, stays +there a few days, and then returns. In less than two years he has +sailed as far as the entire circumference of the globe, and he has seen +land but once. It is true that during a voyage of eight or ten months +he has drunk brackish water and lived upon salt meat; that he has been +in a continual contest with the sea, with disease, and with a tedious +existence; but upon his return he can sell a pound of his tea for a +half-penny less than the English merchant, and his purpose is +accomplished. + +I cannot better explain my meaning than by saying that the Americans +affect a sort of heroism in their manner of trading. But the European +merchant will always find it very difficult to imitate his American +competitor, who, in adopting the system which I have just described, +follows not only a calculation of his gain, but an impulse of his +nature. + +The inhabitants of the United States are subject to all the wants and +all the desires which result from an advanced stage of civilization; +but as they are not surrounded by a community admirably adapted, like +that of Europe, to satisfy their wants, they are often obliged to +procure for themselves the various articles which education and habit +have rendered necessaries. In America it sometimes happens that the +same individual tills his field, builds his dwelling, contrives his +tools, makes his shoes, and weaves the coarse stuff of which his dress +is composed. This circumstance is prejudicial to the excellence of the +work; but it powerfully contributes to awaken the intelligence of the +workman. Nothing tends to materialize man, and to deprive his work of +the faintest trace of mind, more than extreme division of labor. In a +country like America, where men devoted to special occupations are +rare, a long apprenticeship cannot be required from anyone who embraces +a profession. The Americans, therefore, change their means of gaining a +livelihood very readily; and they suit their occupations to the +exigencies of the moment, in the manner most profitable to themselves. +Men are to be met with who have successively been barristers, farmers, +merchants, ministers of the gospel, and physicians. If the American be +less perfect in each craft than the European, at least there is +scarcely any trade with which he is utterly unacquainted. His capacity +is more general, and the circle of his intelligence is enlarged. + +The inhabitants of the United States are never fettered by the axioms +of their profession; they escape from all the prejudices of their +present station; they are not more attached to one line of operation +than to another; they are not more prone to employ an old method than a +new one; they have no rooted habits, and they easily shake off the +influence which the habits of other nations might exercise upon their +minds from a conviction that their country is unlike any other, and +that its situation is without a precedent in the world. America is a +land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion, and every +movement seems an improvement. The idea of novelty is there +indissolubly connected with the idea of amelioration. No natural +boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and what is not yet +done is only what he has not yet attempted to do. + +This perpetual change which goes on in the United States, these +frequent vicissitudes of fortune, accompanied by such unforeseen +fluctuations in private and in public wealth, serve to keep the minds +of the citizens in a perpetual state of feverish agitation, which +admirably invigorates their exertions, and keeps them in a state of +excitement above the ordinary level of mankind. The whole life of an +American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a +battle. As the same causes are continually in operation throughout the +country, they ultimately impart an irresistible impulse to the national +character. The American, taken as a chance specimen of his countrymen, +must then be a man of singular warmth in his desires, enterprising, +fond of adventure, and, above all, of innovation. The same bent is +manifest in all that he does; he introduces it into his political laws, +his religious doctrines, his theories of social economy, and his +domestic occupations; he bears it with him in the depths of the +backwoods, as well as in the business of the city. It is this same +passion, applied to maritime commerce, which makes him the cheapest and +the quickest trader in the world. + +As long as the sailors of the United States retain these inspiriting +advantages, and the practical superiority which they derive from them, +they will not only continue to supply the wants of the producers and +consumers of their own country, but they will tend more and more to +become, like the English, the factors of all other peoples. *k This +prediction has already begun to be realized; we perceive that the +American traders are introducing themselves as intermediate agents in +the commerce of several European nations; *l and America will offer a +still wider field to their enterprise. + +k +[ It must not be supposed that English vessels are exclusively employed +in transporting foreign produce into England, or British produce to +foreign countries; at the present day the merchant shipping of England +may be regarded in the light of a vast system of public conveyances, +ready to serve all the producers of the world, and to open +communications between all peoples. The maritime genius of the +Americans prompts them to enter into competition with the English.] + + +l +[ Part of the commerce of the Mediterranean is already carried on by +American vessels.] + + +The great colonies which were founded in South America by the Spaniards +and the Portuguese have since become empires. Civil war and oppression +now lay waste those extensive regions. Population does not increase, +and the thinly scattered inhabitants are too much absorbed in the cares +of self-defense even to attempt any amelioration of their condition. +Such, however, will not always be the case. Europe has succeeded by her +own efforts in piercing the gloom of the Middle Ages; South America has +the same Christian laws and Christian manners as we have; she contains +all the germs of civilization which have grown amidst the nations of +Europe or their offsets, added to the advantages to be derived from our +example: why then should she always remain uncivilized? It is clear +that the question is simply one of time; at some future period, which +may be more or less remote, the inhabitants of South America will +constitute flourishing and enlightened nations. + +But when the Spaniards and Portuguese of South America begin to feel +the wants common to all civilized nations, they will still be unable to +satisfy those wants for themselves; as the youngest children of +civilization, they must perforce admit the superiority of their elder +brethren. They will be agriculturists long before they succeed in +manufactures or commerce, and they will require the mediation of +strangers to exchange their produce beyond seas for those articles for +which a demand will begin to be felt. + +It is unquestionable that the Americans of the North will one day +supply the wants of the Americans of the South. Nature has placed them +in contiguity, and has furnished the former with every means of knowing +and appreciating those demands, of establishing a permanent connection +with those States, and of gradually filling their markets. The +merchants of the United States could only forfeit these natural +advantages if he were very inferior to the merchant of Europe; to whom +he is, on the contrary, superior in several respects. The Americans of +the United States already exercise a very considerable moral influence +upon all the peoples of the New World. They are the source of +intelligence, and all the nations which inhabit the same continent are +already accustomed to consider them as the most enlightened, the most +powerful, and the most wealthy members of the great American family. +All eyes are therefore turned towards the Union; and the States of +which that body is composed are the models which the other communities +try to imitate to the best of their power; it is from the United States +that they borrow their political principles and their laws. + +The Americans of the United States stand in precisely the same position +with regard to the peoples of South America as their fathers, the +English, occupy with regard to the Italians, the Spaniards, the +Portuguese, and all those nations of Europe which receive their +articles of daily consumption from England, because they are less +advanced in civilization and trade. England is at this time the natural +emporium of almost all the nations which are within its reach; the +American Union will perform the same part in the other hemisphere; and +every community which is founded, or which prospers in the New World, +is founded and prospers to the advantage of the Anglo-Americans. + +If the Union were to be dissolved, the commerce of the States which now +compose it would undoubtedly be checked for a time; but this +consequence would be less perceptible than is generally supposed. It is +evident that, whatever may happen, the commercial States will remain +united. They are all contiguous to each other; they have identically +the same opinions, interests, and manners; and they are alone competent +to form a very great maritime power. Even if the South of the Union +were to become independent of the North, it would still require the +services of those States. I have already observed that the South is not +a commercial country, and nothing intimates that it is likely to become +so. The Americans of the South of the United States will therefore be +obliged, for a long time to come, to have recourse to strangers to +export their produce, and to supply them with the commodities which are +requisite to satisfy their wants. But the Northern States are +undoubtedly able to act as their intermediate agents cheaper than any +other merchants. They will therefore retain that employment, for +cheapness is the sovereign law of commerce. National claims and +national prejudices cannot resist the influence of cheapness. Nothing +can be more virulent than the hatred which exists between the Americans +of the United States and the English. But notwithstanding these +inimical feelings, the Americans derive the greater part of their +manufactured commodities from England, because England supplies them at +a cheaper rate than any other nation. Thus the increasing prosperity of +America turns, notwithstanding the grudges of the Americans, to the +advantage of British manufactures. + +Reason shows and experience proves that no commercial prosperity can be +durable if it cannot be united, in case of need, to naval force. This +truth is as well understood in the United States as it can be anywhere +else: the Americans are already able to make their flag respected; in a +few years they will be able to make it feared. I am convinced that the +dismemberment of the Union would not have the effect of diminishing the +naval power of the Americans, but that it would powerfully contribute +to increase it. At the present time the commercial States are connected +with others which have not the same interests, and which frequently +yield an unwilling consent to the increase of a maritime power by which +they are only indirectly benefited. If, on the contrary, the commercial +States of the Union formed one independent nation, commerce would +become the foremost of their national interests; they would +consequently be willing to make very great sacrifices to protect their +shipping, and nothing would prevent them from pursuing their designs +upon this point. + +Nations, as well as men, almost always betray the most prominent +features of their future destiny in their earliest years. When I +contemplate the ardor with which the Anglo-Americans prosecute +commercial enterprise, the advantages which befriend them, and the +success of their undertakings, I cannot refrain from believing that +they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They +are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the world. + + + + + Conclusion + + +I have now nearly reached the close of my inquiry; hitherto, in +speaking of the future destiny of the United States, I have endeavored +to divide my subject into distinct portions, in order to study each of +them with more attention. My present object is to embrace the whole +from one single point; the remarks I shall make will be less detailed, +but they will be more sure. I shall perceive each object less +distinctly, but I shall descry the principal facts with more certainty. +A traveller who has just left the walls of an immense city, climbs the +neighboring hill; as he goes father off he loses sight of the men whom +he has so recently quitted; their dwellings are confused in a dense +mass; he can no longer distinguish the public squares, and he can +scarcely trace out the great thoroughfares; but his eye has less +difficulty in following the boundaries of the city, and for the first +time he sees the shape of the vast whole. Such is the future destiny of +the British race in North America to my eye; the details of the +stupendous picture are overhung with shade, but I conceive a clear idea +of the entire subject. + +The territory now occupied or possessed by the United States of America +forms about one-twentieth part of the habitable earth. But extensive as +these confines are, it must not be supposed that the Anglo-American +race will always remain within them; indeed, it has already far +overstepped them. + +There was once a time at which we also might have created a great +French nation in the American wilds, to counterbalance the influence of +the English upon the destinies of the New World. France formerly +possessed a territory in North America, scarcely less extensive than +the whole of Europe. The three greatest rivers of that continent then +flowed within her dominions. The Indian tribes which dwelt between the +mouth of the St. Lawrence and the delta of the Mississippi were +unaccustomed to any other tongue but ours; and all the European +settlements scattered over that immense region recalled the traditions +of our country. Louisbourg, Montmorency, Duquesne, St. Louis, +Vincennes, New Orleans (for such were the names they bore) are words +dear to France and familiar to our ears. + +But a concourse of circumstances, which it would be tedious to +enumerate, *m have deprived us of this magnificent inheritance. +Wherever the French settlers were numerically weak and partially +established, they have disappeared: those who remain are collected on a +small extent of country, and are now subject to other laws. The 400,000 +French inhabitants of Lower Canada constitute, at the present time, the +remnant of an old nation lost in the midst of a new people. A foreign +population is increasing around them unceasingly and on all sides, +which already penetrates amongst the ancient masters of the country, +predominates in their cities and corrupts their language. This +population is identical with that of the United States; it is therefore +with truth that I asserted that the British race is not confined within +the frontiers of the Union, since it already extends to the northeast. + +m +[ The foremost of these circumstances is, that nations which are +accustomed to free institutions and municipal government are better +able than any others to found prosperous colonies. The habit of +thinking and governing for oneself is indispensable in a new country, +where success necessarily depends, in a great measure, upon the +individual exertions of the settlers.] + + +To the northwest nothing is to be met with but a few insignificant +Russian settlements; but to the southwest, Mexico presents a barrier to +the Anglo-Americans. Thus, the Spaniards and the Anglo-Americans are, +properly speaking, the only two races which divide the possession of +the New World. The limits of separation between them have been settled +by a treaty; but although the conditions of that treaty are exceedingly +favorable to the Anglo-Americans, I do not doubt that they will shortly +infringe this arrangement. Vast provinces, extending beyond the +frontiers of the Union towards Mexico, are still destitute of +inhabitants. The natives of the United States will forestall the +rightful occupants of these solitary regions. They will take possession +of the soil, and establish social institutions, so that when the legal +owner arrives at length, he will find the wilderness under cultivation, +and strangers quietly settled in the midst of his inheritance. *n + +n +[ [This was speedily accomplished, and ere long both Texas and +California formed part of the United States. The Russian settlements +were acquired by purchase.]] + + +The lands of the New World belong to the first occupant, and they are +the natural reward of the swiftest pioneer. Even the countries which +are already peopled will have some difficulty in securing themselves +from this invasion. I have already alluded to what is taking place in +the province of Texas. The inhabitants of the United States are +perpetually migrating to Texas, where they purchase land; and although +they conform to the laws of the country, they are gradually founding +the empire of their own language and their own manners. The province of +Texas is still part of the Mexican dominions, but it will soon contain +no Mexicans; the same thing has occurred whenever the Anglo-Americans +have come into contact with populations of a different origin. + +It cannot be denied that the British race has acquired an amazing +preponderance over all the other European races in the New World; and +that it is very superior to them in civilization, in industry, and in +power. As long as it is only surrounded by desert or thinly peopled +countries, as long as it encounters no dense populations upon its +route, through which it cannot work its way, it will assuredly continue +to spread. The lines marked out by treaties will not stop it; but it +will everywhere transgress these imaginary barriers. + +The geographical position of the British race in the New World is +peculiarly favorable to its rapid increase. Above its northern +frontiers the icy regions of the Pole extend; and a few degrees below +its southern confines lies the burning climate of the Equator. The +Anglo-Americans are, therefore, placed in the most temperate and +habitable zone of the continent. + +It is generally supposed that the prodigious increase of population in +the United States is posterior to their Declaration of Independence. +But this is an error: the population increased as rapidly under the +colonial system as it does at the present day; that is to say, it +doubled in about twenty-two years. But this proportion which is now +applied to millions, was then applied to thousands of inhabitants; and +the same fact which was scarcely noticeable a century ago, is now +evident to every observer. + +The British subjects in Canada, who are dependent on a king, augment +and spread almost as rapidly as the British settlers of the United +States, who live under a republican government. During the war of +independence, which lasted eight years, the population continued to +increase without intermission in the same ratio. Although powerful +Indian nations allied with the English existed at that time upon the +western frontiers, the emigration westward was never checked. Whilst +the enemy laid waste the shores of the Atlantic, Kentucky, the western +parts of Pennsylvania, and the States of Vermont and of Maine were +filling with inhabitants. Nor did the unsettled state of the +Constitution, which succeeded the war, prevent the increase of the +population, or stop its progress across the wilds. Thus, the difference +of laws, the various conditions of peace and war, of order and of +anarchy, have exercised no perceptible influence upon the gradual +development of the Anglo-Americans. This may be readily understood; for +the fact is, that no causes are sufficiently general to exercise a +simultaneous influence over the whole of so extensive a territory. One +portion of the country always offers a sure retreat from the calamities +which afflict another part; and however great may be the evil, the +remedy which is at hand is greater still. + +It must not, then, be imagined that the impulse of the British race in +the New World can be arrested. The dismemberment of the Union, and the +hostilities which might ensure, the abolition of republican +institutions, and the tyrannical government which might succeed it, may +retard this impulse, but they cannot prevent it from ultimately +fulfilling the destinies to which that race is reserved. No power upon +earth can close upon the emigrants that fertile wilderness which offers +resources to all industry, and a refuge from all want. Future events, +of whatever nature they may be, will not deprive the Americans of their +climate or of their inland seas, of their great rivers or of their +exuberant soil. Nor will bad laws, revolutions, and anarchy be able to +obliterate that love of prosperity and that spirit of enterprise which +seem to be the distinctive characteristics of their race, or to +extinguish that knowledge which guides them on their way. + +Thus, in the midst of the uncertain future, one event at least is sure. +At a period which may be said to be near (for we are speaking of the +life of a nation), the Anglo-Americans will alone cover the immense +space contained between the polar regions and the tropics, extending +from the coasts of the Atlantic to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The +territory which will probably be occupied by the Anglo-Americans at +some future time, may be computed to equal three-quarters of Europe in +extent. *o The climate of the Union is upon the whole preferable to +that of Europe, and its natural advantages are not less great; it is +therefore evident that its population will at some future time be +proportionate to our own. Europe, divided as it is between so many +different nations, and torn as it has been by incessant wars and the +barbarous manners of the Middle Ages, has notwithstanding attained a +population of 410 inhabitants to the square league. *p What cause can +prevent the United States from having as numerous a population in time? + +o +[ The United States already extend over a territory equal to one-half +of Europe. The area of Europe is 500,000 square leagues, and its +population 205,000,000 of inhabitants. (“Malte Brun,” liv. 114. vol. +vi. p. 4.) + + +[This computation is given in French leagues, which were in use when +the author wrote. Twenty years later, in 1850, the superficial area of +the United States had been extended to 3,306,865 square miles of +territory, which is about the area of Europe.]] + +p +[ See “Malte Brun,” liv. 116, vol. vi. p. 92.] + + +Many ages must elapse before the divers offsets of the British race in +America cease to present the same homogeneous characteristics: and the +time cannot be foreseen at which a permanent inequality of conditions +will be established in the New World. Whatever differences may arise, +from peace or from war, from freedom or oppression, from prosperity or +want, between the destinies of the different descendants of the great +Anglo-American family, they will at least preserve an analogous social +condition, and they will hold in common the customs and the opinions to +which that social condition has given birth. + +In the Middle Ages, the tie of religion was sufficiently powerful to +imbue all the different populations of Europe with the same +civilization. The British of the New World have a thousand other +reciprocal ties; and they live at a time when the tendency to equality +is general amongst mankind. The Middle Ages were a period when +everything was broken up; when each people, each province, each city, +and each family, had a strong tendency to maintain its distinct +individuality. At the present time an opposite tendency seems to +prevail, and the nations seem to be advancing to unity. Our means of +intellectual intercourse unite the most remote parts of the earth; and +it is impossible for men to remain strangers to each other, or to be +ignorant of the events which are taking place in any corner of the +globe. The consequence is that there is less difference, at the present +day, between the Europeans and their descendants in the New World, than +there was between certain towns in the thirteenth century which were +only separated by a river. If this tendency to assimilation brings +foreign nations closer to each other, it must a fortiori prevent the +descendants of the same people from becoming aliens to each other. + +The time will therefore come when one hundred and fifty millions of men +will be living in North America, *q equal in condition, the progeny of +one race, owing their origin to the same cause, and preserving the same +civilization, the same language, the same religion, the same habits, +the same manners, and imbued with the same opinions, propagated under +the same forms. The rest is uncertain, but this is certain; and it is a +fact new to the world—a fact fraught with such portentous consequences +as to baffle the efforts even of the imagination. + +q +[ This would be a population proportionate to that of Europe, taken at +a mean rate of 410 inhabitants to the square league.] + + +There are, at the present time, two great nations in the world which +seem to tend towards the same end, although they started from different +points: I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have +grown up unnoticed; and whilst the attention of mankind was directed +elsewhere, they have suddenly assumed a most prominent place amongst +the nations; and the world learned their existence and their greatness +at almost the same time. + +All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and +only to be charged with the maintenance of their power; but these are +still in the act of growth; *r all the others are stopped, or continue +to advance with extreme difficulty; these are proceeding with ease and +with celerity along a path to which the human eye can assign no term. +The American struggles against the natural obstacles which oppose him; +the adversaries of the Russian are men; the former combats the +wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its +weapons and its arts: the conquests of the one are therefore gained by +the ploughshare; those of the other by the sword. The Anglo-American +relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free +scope to the unguided exertions and common-sense of the citizens; the +Russian centres all the authority of society in a single arm: the +principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter servitude. +Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; +yet each of them seems to be marked out by the will of Heaven to sway +the destinies of half the globe. + +r +[ Russia is the country in the Old World in which population increases +most rapidly in proportion.] + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 815 *** |