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diff --git a/8690.txt b/8690.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d45ae98 --- /dev/null +++ b/8690.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21365 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Institutions and Their Influence, by +Alexis de Tocqueville et al. + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Institutions and Their Influence + +Author: Alexis de Tocqueville et al. + +Commentator: John C. Spencer + + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8690] +This file was first posted on August 1, 2003 +Last Updated: May 31, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS *** + + + + +Produced by Lee Dawei, David King, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + +AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE. + +By Alexis De Tocqueville. + +With Notes, by Hon. John C. Spencer. + + + + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, + +BY A.S. BARNES & CO., + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the + +Southern District of New York. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + +The American publishers of M. De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," +have been frequently solicited to furnish the work in a form adapted +to seminaries of learning, and at a price which would secure its more +general circulation, and enable trustees of School District Libraries, +and other libraries, to place it among their collections. Desirous to +attain these objects, they have consulted several gentlemen, in whose +judgment they confided, and particularly the editor of the American +editions, to ascertain whether the work was capable of abridgment or +condensation, so as to bring the expense of its publication within the +necessary limits. They are advised that the nature of the work renders +it impossible to condense it by omitting any remarks or illustrations of +the author upon any subject discussed by him, even if common justice to +him did not forbid any such attempt; and that the only mode of reducing +its bulk, is to exclude wholly such subjects as are deemed not to be +essential. + +It will be recollected that the first volume was originally published +separately, and was complete in itself. It treated of the influence +of democracy upon the political institutions of the United States, +and exhibited views of the nature of our government, and of their +complicated machinery, so new, so striking, and so just, as to excite +the admiration and even the wonder of our countrymen. It was universally +admitted to be the best, if not the first systematic and philosophic +view of the great principles of our constitutions which has been +presented to the world. As a treatise upon the spirit of our +governments, it was full and finished, and was deemed worthy of being +introduced as a text-book in some of our Seminaries of Learning. +The publication of the first volume alone would therefore seem to be +sufficient to accomplish in the main the objects of the publishers above +stated. + +And upon a careful re-examination of the second volume, this impression +is confirmed. It is entirely independent of the first volume, and is +in no way essential to a full understanding of the principles and views +contained in that volume. It discusses the effects of the democratic +principle upon the tastes, feelings, habits, and manners of the +Americans; and although deeply interesting and valuable, yet the +observations of the author on these subjects are better calculated for +foreign countries than for our own citizens. As he wrote for Europe +they were necessary to his plan. They follow naturally and properly the +profound views which had already been presented, and which they carry +out and illustrate. But they furnish no new developments of those views, +nor any facts that would be new to us. + +The publishers were therefore advised that the printing of the first +volume complete and entire, was the only mode of attaining the object +they had in view. They have accordingly determined to adopt that course, +intending, if the public sentiment should require it, hereafter to print +the second volume in the same style, so that both may be had at the same +moderate price. + +A few notes, in addition to those contained in the former editions, have +been made by the American editor, which upon a reperusal of the volume +seemed useful if not necessary: and some statistical results of the +census of 1840 have been added, in connection with similar results given +by the author from returns previous to that year. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. + +The following work of M. DE TOCQUEVILLE has attracted great attention +throughout Europe, where it is universally regarded as a sound, +philosophical, impartial, and remarkably clear and distinct view of our +political institutions, and of our manners, opinions, and habits, as +influencing or influenced by those institutions. Writers, reviewers, and +statesmen of all parties, have united in the highest commendations of +its ability and integrity. The people, described by a work of such a +character, should not be the only one in Christendom unacquainted with +its contents. At least, so thought many of our most distinguished men, +who have urged the publishers of this edition to reprint the work, and +present it to the American public. They have done so in the hope of +promoting among their countrymen a more thorough knowledge of their +frames of government, and a more just appreciation of the great +principles on which they are founded. + +But it seemed to them that a reprint in America of the views of an +author so well entitled to regard and confidence, without any correction +of the few errors or mistakes that might be found, would be in effect +to give authenticity to the whole work, and that foreign readers, +especially, would consider silence, under such circumstances, as strong +evidence of the accuracy of its statements. The preface to the English +edition, too, was not adapted to this country, having been written, as +it would seem, in reference to the political questions which agitate +Great Britain. The publishers, therefore, applied to the writer of this, +to furnish them with a short preface, and such notes upon the text as +might appear necessary to correct any erroneous impressions. Having had +the honor of a personal acquaintance with M. DE TOCQUEVILLE while he was +in this country; having discussed with him many of the topics treated +of in this book; having entered deeply into the feelings and sentiments +which guided and impelled him in his task, and having formed a high +admiration of his character and of this production, the writer felt +under some obligation to aid in procuring for one whom he ventures +to call his friend, a hearing from those who were the subjects of his +observations. These circumstances furnish to his own mind an apology for +undertaking what no one seemed willing to attempt, notwithstanding +his want of practice in literary composition, and notwithstanding +the impediments of professional avocations, constantly recurring, and +interrupting that strict and continued examination of the work, which +became necessary, as well to detect any errors of the author, as any +misunderstanding or misrepresentation of his meaning by his translator. +If the same circumstances will atone in the least for the imperfections +of what the editor has contributed to this edition, and will serve to +mitigate the severity of judgment upon those contributions, it is all he +can hope or ask. + +The NOTES are confined, with very few exceptions, to the correction of +what appeared to be misapprehensions of the author in regard to some +matters of fact, or some principles of law, and to explaining his +meaning where the translator had misconceived it. For the latter purpose +the original was consulted; and it affords great pleasure to bear +witness to the general fidelity with which Mr. REEVE has transferred +the author's ideas from French into English. He has not been a literal +translator, and this has been the cause of the very few errors which +have been discovered: but he has been more and better: he has caught the +spirit of M. DE TOCQUEVILLE, has understood the sentiment he meant to +express, and has clothed it in the language which M. DE TOCQUEVILLE +would have himself used, had he possessed equal facility in writing the +English language. + +Being confined to the objects before mentioned, the reader will not find +any comments on the theoretical views of our author. He has discussed +many subjects on which very different opinions are entertained in the +United States; but with an ability, a candor, and an evident devotion +to the cause of truth, which will commend his views to those who most +radically dissent from them. Indeed, readers of the most discordant +opinions will find that he frequently agrees with both sides, and as +frequently differs from them. As an instance, his remarks on slavery +will not be found to coincide throughout with the opinions either of +abolitionists or of slaveholders: but they will be found to present a +masterly view of a most perplexing and interesting subject, which seems +to cover the whole ground, and to lead to the melancholy conclusion of +the utter impotency of human effort to eradicate this acknowledged evil. +But on this, and on the various topics of the deepest interest which are +discussed in this work, it was thought that the American readers would +be fully competent to form their own opinions, and to detect any errors +of the author, if such there are, without any attempt of the present +editor to enlighten them. At all events, it is to be hoped that +the citizens of the United States will patiently read, and candidly +consider, the views of this accomplished foreigner, however hostile they +may be to their own preconceived opinions or prejudices. He says: "There +are certain truths which Americans can only learn from strangers, or +from experience." Let us, then, at least listen to one who admires us +and our institutions, and whose complaints, when he makes any, are, that +we have not perfected our own glorious plans, and that there are some +things yet to be amended. We shall thus furnish a practical proof, that +public opinion in this country is not so intolerant as the author may be +understood to represent it. However mistaken he may be, his manly appeal +to our understandings and to our consciences, should at least be heard. +"If ever," he says, "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 voice to condemn me; and, in the second place, that very many of +them will acquit me at the bottom of their consciences." He is writing +on that very sore subject, the tyranny of public opinion in the United +States. + +Fully to comprehend the scope of the present work, the author's motive +and object in preparing it should be distinctly kept in view. He has +written, not for America, but for France. "It was not, then, merely to +satisfy a legitimate curiosity," he says, "that I have examined America: +my wish has been to find instruction, by which we might ourselves +profit."--"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 hope or fear from its progress." He thinks that +the principle of democracy has sprung into new life throughout Europe, +and particularly in France, and that it is advancing: with a firm and +steady march to the control of all civilized governments. In his own +country, he had seen a recent attempt to repress its energies within due +bounds, and to prevent the consequences of its excesses. And it seems +to be a main object with him, to ascertain whether these bounds can be +relied upon; whether the dikes and embankments of human contrivance +can keep within any appointed channel this mighty and majestic stream. +Giving the fullest confidence to his declaration, that his book "is +written to favor no particular views and with no design of serving or +attacking any party," it is yet evident that his mind has been very open +to receive impressions unfavorable to the admission into France of the +unbounded and unlimited democracy which reigns in these United States. +A knowledge of this inclination of his mind will necessarily induce some +caution in his readers, while perusing those parts of the work which +treat of the effects of our democracy upon the stability of our +government and its administration. While the views of the author, +respecting the application of the democratic principle, in the extent +that it exists with us, to the institutions of France, or to any of +the European nations, are of the utmost importance to the people and +statesmen of those countries, they are scarcely less entitled to the +attention of Americans. He has exhibited, with admirable skill, the +causes and circumstances which prepared our forefathers, gradually, for +the enjoyment of free institutions, and which enable them to sustain, +without abusing, the utmost liberty that was ever enjoyed by any people. +In tracing these causes, in examining how far they continue to influence +our conduct, manners, and opinions, and in searching for the means of +preventing their decay or destruction, the intelligent American reader +will find no better guide than M. DE TOCQUEVILLE. + +Fresh from the scenes of the "three days" revolution in France, the +author came among us to observe, carefully and critically, the operation +of the new principle on which the happiness of his country, and, as he +seems to believe, the destinies of the civilized world, depend. Filled +with the love of liberty, but remembering the atrocities which, in its +name, had been committed under former dynasties at home, he sought to +discover the means by which it was regulated in America, and reconciled +with social order. By his laborious investigations, and minute +observations of the history of the settlement of the country, and of its +progress through the colonial state to independence, he found the object +of his inquiry in the manners, habits, and opinions, of a people who had +been gradually prepared, by a long course of peculiar circumstances, and +by their local position, for self-government; and he has explained, with +a pencil of light, the mystery that has baffled Europeans and perplexed +Americans. He exhibits us, in our present condition, a new, and to +Europeans, a strange people. His views of our political institutions are +more general, comprehensive, and philosophic than have been presented by +any writer, domestic or foreign. He has traced them from their source, +democracy--the power of the people--and has steadily pursued this +foundation-principle in all its forms and modifications: in the frame of +our governments, in their administration by the different executives, in +our legislation, in the arrangement of our judiciary, in our manners, +in religion, in the freedom and licentiousness of the press, in the +influence of public opinion, and in various subtle recesses, where its +existence was scarcely suspected. In all these, he analyzes and dissects +the tendencies of democracy; heartily applauds where he can, and +faithfully and independently gives warning of dangers that he foresees. +No one can read the result of his observations without better and +clearer perceptions of the structure of out governments, of the great +pillars on which they rest, and of the dangers to which they are +exposed: nor without a more profound and more intelligent admiration +of the harmony and beauty of their formation, and of the safeguards +provided for preserving and transmitting them to a distant posterity. +The more that general and indefinite notions of our own liberty, +greatness, happiness, &c., are made to give place to precise and +accurate knowledge of the true merits of our institutions, the peculiar +objects they are calculated to attain or promote, and the means provided +for that purpose, the better will every citizen be enabled to discharge +his great political duty of guarding those means against the approach +of corruption, and of sustaining them against the violence of party +commotions. No foreigner has ever exhibited such a deep, clear, and +correct insight of the machinery of our complicated systems of federal +and state governments. The most intelligent Europeans are confounded +with our _imperium in imperio_; and their constant wonder is, that these +systems are not continually jostling each other. M. DE TOCQUEVILLE has +clearly perceived, and traced correctly and distinctly, the orbits +in which they move, and has described, or rather defined, our federal +government, with an accurate precision, unsurpassed even by an American +pen. There is no citizen of this country who will not derive instruction +from our author's account of our national government, or, at least, who +will not find his own ideas systematised, and rendered more fixed and +precise, by the perusal of that account. + +Among other subjects discussed by the author, that of the _political +influence_ of the institution of trial by jury, is one of the most +curious and interesting. He has certainly presented it in a light +entirely new, and as important as it is new. It may be that he has +exaggerated its influence as "a gratuitous public school;" but if he +has, the error will be readily forgiven. + +His views of religion, as connected with patriotism, in other words, +with the democratic principle, which he steadily keeps in view, are +conceived in the noblest spirit of philanthropy, and cannot fail to +confirm the principles already so thoroughly and universally entertained +by the American people. And no one can read his observations on the +union of "church and state," without a feeling of deep gratitude to the +founders of our government, for saving us from such a prolific source of +evil. + +These allusions to topics that have interested the writer, are not +intended as an enumeration of the various subjects which will arrest the +attention of the American reader. They have been mentioned rather with a +view of exciting an appetite for the whole feast, than as exhibiting the +choice dainties which cover the board. + +It remains only to observe, that in this edition the constitutions of +the United States and of the state of New York, which had been published +at large in the original and in the English edition, have been omitted, +as they are documents to which every American reader has access. The +map which the author annexed to his work, and which has been hitherto +omitted, is now for the first time inserted in the American edition, to +which has been added the census of 1840. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + PREFACE BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR + Introduction + + CHAPTER I. + Exterior form of North America + + CHAPTER II. + Origin of the Anglo-Americans, and its Importance in Relation to their + future Condition + Reasons of certain Anomalies which the Laws and Customs of the + Anglo-Americans present + + CHAPTER III. + Social Condition of the Anglo-Americans + The striking Characteristic of the social Condition of the + Anglo-Americans is its essential Democracy + Political Consequences of the social Condition of the Anglo-Americans + + CHAPTER IV. + The Principle of the Sovereignty of the People in America + + CHAPTER V. + Necessity of examining the Condition of the States before that of the + Union at large + The American System of Townships and municipal Bodies + Limits of the Townships + Authorities of the Township in New England + Existence of the Township + Public Spirit of the Townships of New England + The Counties of New England + Administration in New England + General Remarks on the Administration of the United States + Of the State + Legislative Power of the State + The executive Power of the State + Political Effects of the System of local Administration in the + United States + + CHAPTER VI. + Judicial Power in the United States, and its Influence on Political + Society + Other Powers granted to the American Judges + + CHAPTER VII. + Political Jurisdiction in the United States + + CHAPTER VIII. + The federal Constitution + History of the federal Constitution + Summary of the federal Constitution + Prerogative of the federal Government + Federal Powers + Legislative Powers + A farther Difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives + The executive Power + Differences between the Position of the President of the United States + and that of a constitutional King of France. + Accidental Causes which may increase the Influence of the executive + Government + Why the President of the United States does not require the Majority of + the two Houses in Order to carry on the Government + Election of the President + Mode of Election + Crisis of the Election + Re-Election of the President + Federal Courts + Means of determining the Jurisdiction of the federal Courts + Different Cases of Jurisdiction + Procedure of the federal Courts + High Rank of the supreme Courts among the great Powers of the State + In what Respects the federal Constitution is superior to that of the + States + Characteristics which distinguish the federal Constitution of the United + States of America from all other federal Constitutions + Advantages of the federal System in General, and its special Utility in + America + Why the federal System is not adapted to all Peoples, and how the + Anglo-Americans were enabled to adopt it + + CHAPTER IX. + Why the People may strictly be said to govern in the United States + + CHAPTER X. + Parties in the United States + Remains of the aristocratic Party in the United States + + CHAPTER XI. + Liberty of the Press in the United States + + CHAPTER XII. + Political Associations in the United States + + CHAPTER XIII. + Government of the Democracy in America + Universal Suffrage + Choice of the People, and instinctive Preferences of the American + Democracy + Causes which may partly correct the Tendencies of the Democracy + Influence which the American Democracy has exercised on the Laws + relating to Elections + Public Officers under the control of the Democracy in America + Arbitrary Power of Magistrates under the Rule of the American Democracy + Instability of the Administration in the United States + Charges levied by the State under the rule of the American Democracy + Tendencies of the American Democracy as regards the Salaries of public + Officers + Difficulties of distinguishing the Causes which contribute to the + Economy of the American Government + Whether the Expenditure of the United States can be compared to that of + France + Corruption and vices of the Rulers in a Democracy, and consequent + Effects upon public Morality + Efforts of which a Democracy is capable + Self-control of the American Democracy + Conduct of foreign Affairs, by the American Democracy + + CHAPTER XIV. + What the real Advantages are which American Society derives from the + Government of the Democracy + General Tendency of the Laws under the Rule of the American Democracy, + and Habits of those who apply them + Public Spirit in the United States + Notion of Rights in the United States + Respect for the Law in the United States + Activity which pervades all the Branches of the Body politic in the + United States; Influence which it exercises upon Society + + CHAPTER XV. + Unlimited Power of the Majority in the United States, and its + Consequences + How the unlimited Power of the Majority increases in America, the + Instability of Legislation inherent in Democracy + Tyranny of the Majority + Effects of the unlimited Power of the Majority upon the arbitrary + Authority of the American public Officers + Power exercised by the Majority in America upon public Opinion + Effects of the Tyranny of the Majority upon the national Character of + the Americans + The greatest Dangers of the American Republics proceed from the + unlimited Power of the Majority + + CHAPTER XVI. + Causes which Mitigate the Tyranny of the Majority in the United States + Absence of central Administration + The Profession of the Law in the United States serves to Counterpoise + the Democracy + Trial by Jury in the United States considered as a political Institution + + CHAPTER XVII. + Principal Causes which tend to maintain the democratic Republic in the + United States + Accidental or providential Causes which contribute to the Maintenance of + the democratic Republic in the United States + Influence of the Laws upon the Maintenance of the democratic Republic in + the United States + Influence of Manners upon the Maintenance of the democratic Republic in + the United States + Religion considered as a political Institution, which powerfully + Contributes to the Maintenance of the democratic Republic among the + Americans + Indirect Influence of religious Opinions upon political Society in the + United States + Principal Causes which render Religion powerful in America + How the Instruction, the Habits, and the practical Experience of the + Americans, promote the Success of their democratic Institutions + 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 + Whether Laws and Manners are sufficient to maintain democratic + Institutions in other Countries beside America + Importance of what precedes with respect to the State of Europe + + CHAPTER XVIII. + The present and probable future Condition of the three Races which + Inhabit the Territory of the United States + The present and probable future Condition of the Indian Tribes which + Inhabit the Territory possessed by the Union + Situation of the black Population in the United States, and Dangers with + which its Presence threatens the Whites + What are the Chances in favor of the Duration of the American Union, and + what Dangers threaten it + Of the republican Institutions of the United States, and what their + Chances of Duration are + Reflections on the Causes of the commercial Prosperity of the United + States + + Conclusion + + Appendix + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Among 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, 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 +advancing 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 among 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 among 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 villain 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 unfrequently 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. + +While 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 the 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 toward the universal level. The taste for +luxury, the love of war, the sway of fashion, 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 germe 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 civilisation and knowledge; and literature +became an arsenal, where the poorest and 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 communes introduced an +element of democratic liberty into the bosom of feudal monarchy; the +invention of firearms equalized the villain 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 discover 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 fingers. + +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 descried upon the shore we have left, while the current sweeps us +along, and drives us backward toward 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 exigences, 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 +have 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 +toward his flock; and without acknowledging the poor as their equals, +they watched over the destiny of those whose welfare Providence had +intrusted 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, but 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 any one 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 power which they believe to be +illegal, and by obedience to a rule which they consider to be usurped +and oppressive. + +On one side were wealth, strength, and leisure, accompanied by the +refinement of luxury, the elegance of taste, the pleasures of wit, and +the religion of art. On the other were 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 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 +the 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 forward; 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 melioration, 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 have 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 to 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; +having destroyed an aristocracy, 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 control over 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 beholding. + +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 among 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 farther; 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, while 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 civilisation 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 materialise +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 civilisation, 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, while men without +patriotism and without principles, are the apostles of civilisation 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 would be strangely mistaken, and on reading this book, he +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 among +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. + +It was my intention to depict, in a second part, the influence which the +equality of conditions and the rule of democracy exercise on the civil +society, the habits, the ideas, and the manners of the Americans; +I begin, however, to feel less ardor for the accomplishment of this +project, since the excellent work of my friend and travelling companion +M. de Beaumont has been given to the world.[1] 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.[2] I have cited my authorities in the notes, and any one +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 fireside of his host, +which the latter would perhaps conceal even 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 any one 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 consistency 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 design +of serving or attacking any party: I have undertaken not to see +differently, but to look farther than parties, and while they are busied +for the morrow, I have turned my thoughts to the future. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[1] This work is entitled, Marie, ou l'Esclavage aux Etats-Unis. + +[2] Legislative and administrative documents have been furnished me with +a degree of politeness which I shall always remember with gratitude. +Among the American functionaries who thus favored my inquiries I am +proud to name Mr. Edward Livingston, then Secretary of State and late +American minister at Paris. During my stay at the session of Congress, +Mr. Livingston was kind enough to furnish me with the greater part +of the documents I possess relative to the federal government. Mr. +Livingston is one of those rare individuals whom one loves, respects, +and admires, from their writings, and to whom one is happy to incur the +debt of gratitude on further acquaintance. + + + + +AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +EXTERIOR FORM OF NORTH AMERICA. + + +North America divided into two vast regions, one inclining toward the +Pole, the other toward 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. + +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 amid 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 toward 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 toward the pole, the other toward the equator. + +The territory comprehended in the first regions descends toward 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 toward +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 Allegany 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.[3] 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 Alleganies, while +the other rises in an uninterrupted course toward 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 the river +St. Louis. The Indians, in their pompous language, have named it the +Father of Waters, or the Mississippi. + +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,[4] +which empties itself into the polar seas. The course of the Mississippi +is at first devious: it winds several times toward the north, whence it +rose; and, at length, after having been delayed in lakes and marshes, it +flows slowly onward 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.[5] 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; among 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 1000 miles in length, viz., the +Illinois, the St. Peter's, the St. Francis, and the Moingona; besides a +countless number of rivulets which unite from all parts their tributary +streams. + +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 granitic 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, afterward carried away portions of the rocks themselves; +and these, dashed and bruised against the neighboring cliffs, were left +scattered like wrecks at their feet.[6] + +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. + +On the eastern side of the Alleganies, between the base of these +mountains and the Atlantic ocean, 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. This 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 there; while in the backward +States the true elements of the great people, to whom the future control +of the continent belongs, are secretly springing up. + +When the Europeans first landed on the shores of the Antilles, 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.[7] 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 in the harmony of a world teeming with life and +motion.[8] + +Underneath this brilliant exterior death was concealed. The air of these +climates had so enervating an influence that man, completely absorbed by +the present enjoyment, was rendered regardless of the future. + +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 girded round by a belt of granite +rocks, or by wide plains 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 forests, +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 moss 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 germes 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:[9] 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 cheek-bones very prominent. The languages +spoken by the North American tribes were various as far as regarded +their words, but they were subject to the same grammatical rules. Those +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.[10] + +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 that is +usually joined with ignorance and rudeness among nations which, after +advancing to civilisation, 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 are +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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] + +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 a 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 afterward so +completely disappeared from the earth, that the remembrance of their +very name is effaced: their languages are lost; their glory is vanished +like a sound without an echo; but perhaps there is not one which has +not left behind it a 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 seeing the completion of it. +They seemed to have been placed by Providence amid 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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[3] Darby's "View of the United States." + +[4] Mackenzie's river. + +[5] Warden's "Description of the United States." + +[6] See Appendix A. + +[7] 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 the 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. + +[8] See Appendix B. + +[9] 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, +Moguls, 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." + +[10] See Appendix C. + +[11] 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. + +[12] 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, and of +the matter-of-fact age in which he lived. + +[13] See Appendix D. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS AND ITS IMPORTANCE, IN RELATION TO THEIR +FUTURE CONDITION. + + +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 the 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. + +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 germe 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 his 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 beholds; 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 primary 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 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 along 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 turned their +attention to contemplate 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 study +the natural and tranquil growth of society, and where the influence +exercised on the future condition of states by their origin is clearly +distinguishable. + +At the period when the people 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 civilisation 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 farther 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 germe 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 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 the first emigrations, the parish system, that fruitful germe +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 even 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 reflecting, became argumentative and austere. General +information had been increased by intellectual debate, and the mind +had received a deeper cultivation. While 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 +entirely 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 behold 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 has 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[14] were seekers +of gold, adventurers without resources and without character, whose +turbulent and restless spirits endangered the infant colony,[15] and +rendered its progress uncertain. The artisans and agriculturists arrived +afterward; 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.[16] No lofty conceptions, no intellectual system directed the +foundation of these new settlements. The colony was scarcely established +when slavery was introduced,[17] 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 afterward 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 mariners and the social condition of the +southern states. + +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 British colonies, more generally denominated the states of +New England.[18] 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 embued the whole confederation. They now extend +their influence beyond its limits over the whole American world. The +civilisation 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. + +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, at the +present day, the criminal courts of England supply 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 +adventurers than all we can say of them. Nathaniel Morton,[19] +the historian of the first years of the settlement, thus opens his +subject:-- + +"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 beginning of this plantation in New +England, to commit to writing his gracious dispensations on that +behalf; having so many inducements thereunto, not only 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 the seas, appears to the reader as the +germe 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, 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 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 among 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 loath 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." + +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.[20] + +"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 +toward 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 succor; 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 hue; 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 their first +care was to constitute a society, by passing the following act:[21]-- + +"IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN! We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal +subjects of our dread sovereign lord King James, &c., &c., having +undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, +and the honor 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 politic, 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," &c.[22] + +This happened in 1620, and from that time forward the emigration went +on. The religious and political passions which ravished 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 while 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 dreamed of, started in full size and panoply from the midst of an +ancient feudal society. + +The English government was not dissatisfied with an emigration which +removed the elements of fresh discord and of future revolutions. On the +contrary, everything was done to encourage it, and little attention +was paid to the destiny 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 toward 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;[23] this is the colonial system adopted +by the other countries of Europe. Sometimes grants of certain tracts +were made by the crown to an individual or to a company,[24] 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 adopted only in +New England.[25] + +In 1628,[26] 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,[27] 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 head 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 afterward, under Charles II., that their existence was legally +recognised by a royal charter. + +This frequently renders 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 +perpetually 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.[28] +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. + +Among these documents we shall notice as especially characteristic, the +code of laws promulgated by the little state of Connecticut in 1650.[29] + +The legislators of Connecticut[30] begin with the penal laws, and, +strange to say, they borrow their provisions from the text of holy writ. + +"Whoever 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,[31] +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 transferred 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 toward the guilty. + +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 they did 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,[32] on the misdemeanants; and if the records of the old +courts of New Haven may be believed, prosecutions of this kind were +not infrequent. We find a sentence bearing date the first of May, 1660, +inflicting a fine and a reprimand on a young woman who was accused of +using improper language, and of allowing herself to be kissed.[33] The +code of 1650 abounds in preventive measures. It punishes idleness and +drunkenness with severity.[34] Innkeepers are forbidden to furnish more +than a certain quantity of liquor to each customer; and simple lying, +whenever it may be injurious,[35] 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,[36] and goes so far as to visit +with severe punishment,[37] and even with death, the Christians who +chose to worship God according to a ritual differing from his own.[38] +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.[39] 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.[40] + +These errors are no doubt discreditable to the 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 recognised 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,[41] +when we recollect that this people enjoyed an almost perfect equality of +fortune, and a still greater uniformity of capacity.[42] In Connecticut, +at this period, all the executive functionaries were elected, including +the governor of the state.[43] 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.[44] + +In the laws of Connecticut, as well as in those of New England, we find +the germe 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 always +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 +around 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 +recognised 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.[45] In the townships 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. + +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 toward 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;[46] strict measures were taken for the maintenance of +roads, and surveyors were appointed to attend to them;[47] registers +were established in every parish, in which the results of public +deliberations, and the births, deaths, and marriages of the citizens +were entered;[48] clerks were directed to keep these registers;[49] +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.[50] The law enters into a thousand useful provisions for +a number of social wants which are at present very inadequately felt in +France. + +But it is by the attention it pays to public education that the original +character of American civilisation 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."[51] 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 cases +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 men to +civil freedom. + +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 precedent was produced off-hand +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 amid general acclamations the following fine +definition of liberty:[52]-- + +"Nor would I have you to mistake in the point of your own liberty. There +is a liberty of corrupt nature, which is affected 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_;' +it is 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 civilisation 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 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 +acquirements of wealth, moral enjoyment, and the comforts as well as the +liberties of the world, was 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 a 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 besides 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 as well as the surest pledge of freedom.[53] + + * * * * * + +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 it was +not in their power to found a state of things originating solely in +themselves; no man can entirely shake off the influence of the past, and +the settlers, unintentionally or involuntarily, mingled habits 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 carefully to distinguish what is of puritanical from 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 general +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 or 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.[54] 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,[55] 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 reflection. + +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.[56] + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[14] The charter granted by the crown of England, in 1609, stipulated, +among 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. + +[15] 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. + +[16] It was not till some time later that a certain number of rich +English capitalists came to fix themselves in the colony. + +[17] Slavery was introduced about the year 1620, by a Dutch vessel, +which landed twenty negroes on the banks of the river James. See +Chalmer. + +[18] 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. + +[19] "New England's Memorial," p. 13. Boston, 1826. See also +"Hutchinson's History," vol. ii., p. 440 + +[20] 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 that 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? + +[21] "New England Memorial," p. 37. + +[22] 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 submitted to the approval of all +the interested parties. See "Pitkin's History," pp 42, 47. + +[23] This was the case in the state of New York. + +[24] Maryland, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, were in this +situation. See Pitkin's History, vol. i., pp. 11-31. + +[25] 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 Hazard, Philadelphia, 1792, for a +great number of documents relating to the commencement of the colonies, +which are valuable from their contents and their authenticity; among +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. + +[26] See Pitkin's History, p. 35. See the History of the Colony of +Massachusetts Bay, by Hutchinson, vol. i., p. 9. + +[27] See Pitkin's History, pp. 42, 47. + +[28] 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. + +[29] Code of 1650, p. 28. Hartford, 1830. + +[30] 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. + +[31] 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. + +[32] Code of 1650, p. 48. It seems sometimes to have happened that +the judge superadded these punishments to each other, as is seen in a +sentence pronounced in 1643 (New Haven Antiquities, p. 114), by which +Margaret Bedford, convicted of loose conduct, was condemned to be +whipped, and afterward to marry Nicolas Jemmings her accomplice. + +[33] New Haven Antiquities, p. 104. See also Hutchinson's History for +several causes equally extraordinary. + +[34] Code of 1650, pp. 50, 57. + +[35] Ibid, p. 64. + +[36] Ibid, p. 44. + +[37] This was not peculiar to Connecticut. See for instance the law +which, on the 13th of September, 1644, banished the ana-baptists from +the state of Massachusetts. (Historical Collection of State Papers, vol. +i., p. 538.) See also the law against the quakers, passed on the 14th +of October, 1656. "Whereas," says the preamble, "an accursed race of +heretics called quakers has sprung up," &c. 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.) + +[38] 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. + +[39] Code of 1650, p. 96. + +[40] New England's Memorial, p. 316. See Appendix E. + +[41] Constitution of 1638, p. 17. + +[42] 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. + +[43] Pitkin's History, p. 47. + +[44] Constitution of 1638, p. 12. + +[45] Code of 1650, p 80. + +[46] Code of 1650, p. 78. + +[47] Code of 1750, p. 94. + +[48] Ibid, p. 86. + +[49] See Hutchinson's History, vol. i. p. 455. + +[50] Ibid, p. 40. + +[51] Code of 1650, p. 90. + +[52] 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 forward he was always re-elected governor of the state. See +Marshall, vol. i., p. 166. + +[53] See Appendix F. + +[54] Crimes no doubt exist for which bail is inadmissible, but they are +few in number. + +[55] See Blackstone; and Delolme, book i., chap. x. + +[56] The author is not quite accurate in this statement. A person +accused of crime is, in the first instance, arrested by virtue of a +warrant issued by the magistrate, upon a complaint granted upon proof of +a crime having been committed by the person charged. He is then brought +before the magistrate, the complainant examined in his presence, other +evidence adduced, and he is heard in explanation or defence. If the +magistrate is satisfied that a crime has been committed, and that the +accused is guilty, the latter is, then, and then only, required to give +security for his appearance at the proper court to take his trial, if an +indictment shall be found against him by a Grand Jury of twenty-three +of his fellow-citizens. In the event of his inability or refusal to give +the security he is incarcerated, so as to secure his appearance at a +trial. + +In France, after the preliminary examination, the accused, unless +absolutely discharged, is in all cases incarcerated, to secure his +presence at the trial. It is the relaxation of this practice in England +and the United States, in order to attain the ends of justice at the +least possible inconvenience to the accused, by accepting what is +deemed an adequate pledge for his appearance, which our author considers +hostile to the poor man and favorable to the rich. And yet it is very +obvious, that such is not its design or tendency. Good character, and +probable innocence, ordinarily obtain for the accused man the required +security. And if they do not, how can complaint be justly made that +others are not treated with unnecessary severity, and punished in +anticipation, because some are prevented by circumstances from availing +themselves of a benign provision so favorable to humanity, and to that +innocence which our law presumes, until guilt is proved? To secure the +persons of suspected criminals, that they may abide the sentence of the +law, is indispensable to all jurisprudence. And instead of reproof +or aristocratic tendency, our system deserves credit for having +ameliorated, as far as possible, the condition of persons accused. +That this amelioration cannot be made in all instances, flows from the +necessity of the case. + +It would be a mistake to suppose, as the author seems to have done, +that the forfeiture of the security given, exonerates the accused from +punishment. He may be again arrested and detained in prison, as security +would not ordinarily be received from a person who had given such +evidence of his guilt as would be derived from his attempt to escape. +And the difficulty of escape is rendered so great by our constitutional +provisions for the delivery, by the different states, of fugitives +from justice, and by our treaties with England and France for the same +purpose, that the instances of successful evasion are few and rare. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS. + + +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 IS 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 germe +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 +invariable transmission from father to son. + +This was the state of things to the east of the Hudson: to the southwest +of that river, and in the direction of the Floridas, the case was +different. In most of the states situated to the southwest 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 +southwest 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.[57] 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, while 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 +unknown. + +Through their means man acquires a kind of preternatural power over +the future lot of his fellow-creatures. When the legislator has once +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, toward 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 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 among 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 a +family to consist of two children (and in a country peopled as France +is, the average number is not above three), these children, sharing +among 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 the 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 befriend them, may indeed entertain the +hope of being as wealthy as their father, but not that of possessing the +same property as he did; their riches must necessarily be composed of +elements different from his. + +Now, from the moment when you divest the land-owner 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.[58] The calculations of gain, therefore, which +decided the rich man to sell his domain, will still more powerfully +influence him against buying small estates to unite them into a large +one. + +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 the 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.[59] + +Most certainly is it not for us, Frenchmen of the nineteenth century, +who daily behold 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.[60] The first 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 +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 have 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. + +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 a 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 overcharged, still gives a +very imperfect idea of what is taking place in the new states of +the west and southwest. 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 their 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. + +It is not only the fortunes of men which are equal in America; even +their acquirements partake in some degree of the same uniformity. I do +not believe 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 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 afterward, 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. + +[This paragraph does not fairly render the meaning of the author. The +original French is as follows:-- + +"En Amerique il y a peu de riches; presque tous les Americains ont +donc besoin d'exercer une profession. Or, toute profession exige an +apprentissage. Les Americains ne peuvent donc donner a la culture +generale de l'intelligence que les premieres annees de la vie: a quinze +ans ils entrent dans une carriere: ainsi leur education finit le plus +souvent a l'epoque ou la notre commence." + +What is meant by the remark; that "at fifteen they enter upon a career, +and thus their education is very often finished at the epoch when ours +commences," is not clearly perceived. Our professional men enter upon +their course of preparation for their respective professions, wholly +between eighteen and twenty-one years of age. Apprentices to trades +are bound out, ordinarily, at fourteen, but what general education they +receive is after that period. Previously, they have acquired the mere +elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic. But it is supposed there +is nothing peculiar to America, in the age at which apprenticeship +commences. In England, they commence at the same age, and it is believed +that the same thing occurs throughout Europe. It is feared that the +author has not here expressed himself with his usual clearness and +precision.--_American Editor_.] + +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 the 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 middling 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 for ever 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 have 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 aggression of power. No one among them being strong enough +to engage singly 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 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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[57] I understand by the law of descent all those laws whose principal +object it 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 a 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. + +[58] 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. + +[59] 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 land-owner, 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. + +[60] See Appendix G. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE IN AMERICA. + +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. + +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 recognised, 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 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 recognised +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 the +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 the 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 limit the exercise of social authority within 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 dependant 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, 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 scarcely 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 +became 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 interest; 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,[61] 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 farther electoral rights are extended, the more is felt 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 met with +who would venture to conceive, or, still more, 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.[62] + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[61] See the amendments made to the constitution of Maryland in 1801 and +1809. + +[62] See Appendix H. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +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 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 these 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 clew 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 foci of action, which may not inaptly be +compared to the different nervous centres which convey motion to the +human body. The township is in the lowest 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.[63] + +Why the Author begins the Examination of the Political Institutions with +the Township.--Its Existence in all Nations.--Difficulty of Establishing +and Preserving Independence.--Its Importance.--Why the Author has +selected the Township System of New England as the main Object of his +Inquiry. + +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 eludes the exertions of man; 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. +Municipal institutions 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 organisations of the counties and townships of the United +States rest, 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 +farther 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;[64] so that, on the one hand, the interests of the +inhabitants are not likely to conflict, and, on the other, men capable +of conducting its affairs are always to be found among its citizens. + + * * * * * + +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 exigences 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 township, 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 anything that exceeds the simple and +ordinary executive business of the state.[65] + +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 farther on; but the large proportion of +administrative power is vested in the hands of a small number of +individuals called "the selectmen."[66] + +The general laws of the state impose a certain number of obligations on +the selectmen, which may they fulfil without the authorization of +the body they govern, 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 the 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 recognised 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 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. + +The selectmen alone have the right of calling a town-meeting; but they +may be requested to do so: if the 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.[67] + +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 municipal +magistrates, who are intrusted 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 farther subdivided; and among 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.[68] + +There are nineteen principal offices in a township. Every inhabitant +is constrained, on pain of being fined, to undertake these different +functions; which, however, are almost all paid, in order that the poor +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 these +Doctrines in the Townships of America.--The Township of New England is +Sovereign in that which concerns itself alone; subject to the State +in all other matters.--Bond of Township and the State.--In France the +Government lends its Agents 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 recognised, 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 recognise 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 seem, on the contrary, to have +surrendered 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 among 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, prosecute or are indicted, 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 +organised 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 assessed 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 would give to it a real importance, even if its extent and +population did not ensure it. + +It is to be remembered that the affections of men are generally turned +only where there is strength. 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 strong and free 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; every +one agrees that there is no surer guarantee of order and tranquillity, +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 county 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 corporation 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 infrequent. 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 of 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 counties 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 connexion, no common traditional or natural sympathy; their +object is simply to facilitate the administration of public affairs. + +The extent of the township was too small to contain a system of judicial +institutions; each county has, however, a court of justice,[69] 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[70] of his council.[71] 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 only drawn up by its officers, and is voted by the legislature.[72] +There is no assembly which directly or indirectly represents the county; +it has, therefore, properly speaking, no political existence. + +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; but this distinct existence +could only be fictitiously introduced into the county, where its utility +had not been felt. 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 among the town +Officers.--No trace of an administrative Hierarchy 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 a European traveller in the United States +than the absence of what we term 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 people 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 portion 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 paralysing +its efforts, but in distributing the exercise of its privileges among +various hands, and in multiplying functionaries, to each of whom the +degree of power necessary for him to perform his duty is intrusted. +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 +deliberate taste for freedom, 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 discerned. + +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 intrusted.[73] Beside the general laws, the state sometimes +passes general police regulations; but more commonly the townships and +town officers, conjointly with the 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.[74] Lastly, these municipal magistrates provide of their +own accord and without any delegated powers, for those unforeseen +emergencies which frequently occur in society.[75] + +It results, from what we have said, that in the state of Massachusetts +the administrative authority is almost entirely restricted to the +township,[76] 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 dignities +is to be found. It sometimes happens that the county officers alter a +decision of the townships, or town magistrates,[77] but in general +the authorities of the county have no right to interfere with the +authorities of the township,[78] except in such matters as concern the +county. + +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.[79] 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 reprimand +their faults. There is no point which serves as a centre to the radii of +the administration. + +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 intrusted 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 pre-supposes 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 elective 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 counter-balance 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 +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 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[80] appoints a certain number of justices of the peace +in every county, whose functions last seven years.[81] He farther +designates three individuals from among 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 intrusted +with administrative functions in conjunction with elected officers;[82] +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[83] of public officers.[84] 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 intrusted to any of them in +particular.[85] + +In all that concerns county business, the duties of the court +of sessions are therefore 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,[86] or as a guarantee to +the community over which it presides. But when the administration of the +township is brought before it, it almost always acts as a judicial body, +and in some few cases as an administrative assembly. + +The first difficulty is to procure the obedience of an authority so +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.[87] The fine is levied on each of +the inhabitants; and the sheriff of the county, who is an 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 the influence is at the same time fortified by +that irresistible power with which men have invested the formalities of +law. + +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.[88] 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: + +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 to town elections, they may be condemned to +pay a fine;[89] 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 administrative 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 subordinate 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 for 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. + +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.[90] + +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. + +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,[91] 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 +officers of inspection and of prosecution as well as all the other +functions of the administration. Grand-jurors are bound by the law to +apprize the court to which they belong of all the misdemeanors which +may have been committed in their county.[92] There are certain great +offences which are officially prosecuted by the state;[93] 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 especial appeal is made +by American legislation to the private interest of the citizen,[94] 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 might 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;[95] and to ensure 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. + + * * * * * + +GENERAL REMARKS ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +Difference of the States of the Union in their Systems of +Administration.--Activity and Perfection of the local Authorities +decreases towards the South.--Power of the Magistrates 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 promised 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 in New England. The +more we descend toward 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 debates less numerous. The power of the elected magistrate is +augmented, and that of the elector diminished, while the public spirit +of the local communities is less awakened and less influential.[96] + +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. + +We have seen that in Massachusetts the principal part of the 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 town 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[97] 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.[98] 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. + +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 farther 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 every one is the best judge +of what concerns himself alone, and the person most able 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 among 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. The 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,[99] 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 +cognisance of the ordinary tribunals. + +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 centralised 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 of control +over the secondary bodies.[100] At other times they constitute a court +of appeal for the decision of affairs.[101] 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.[102] The same tendency is faintly +observable in some other states;[103] but in general the prominent +feature of the administration in the United States is its excessive +local independence. + + * * * * * + +OF THE STATE. + +I have described the townships and the administration: it now remains +for me to speak of the state and 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.[104] 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 afterward to pass judgment upon what I now +describe. + + * * * * * + +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;[105] 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.[106] 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. + +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, while 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. + + * * * * * + +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 suspensive veto, 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.[107] 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 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 revoke.[108] + +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 +on the majority who returned him. + + * * * * * + +POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION IN THE UNITED +STATES. + +Necessary Distinction between the general Centralisation of +Government and the Centralisation of the local Administration.--Local +Administration not centralized in the United States; great general +Centralisation of the Government.--Some bad Consequences resulting +to the United States from the local Administration.--Administrative +Advantages attending the 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. + +Centralisation is become a word of general and daily use, without any +precise meaning being attached to it. Nevertheless, there exist two +distinct kinds of centralisation, 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 +in the same persons, it constitutes a central government. The power of +directing partial or local interests, when brought together, in like +manner constitutes what may be termed a central administration. + +Upon some points these two kinds of centralisation 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 centralisation. 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 the union of power subdue them by force, but +it affects them in the ordinary habits of life, and influences each +individual, first separately, and then collectively. + +These two kinds of centralisation 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 being 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 centralisation 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 +centralisation 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 people. + +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 +centralisation 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 has never been 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 centralisation 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 among 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 have even produced some disadvantageous +consequences in America. But in the United States the centralisation +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 +monarchies 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 numerous district assemblies and county courts have in general been +avoided, 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 its 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. 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. In general +it is desirable that in what ever 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. + +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.[109] As +the state has no administrative functionaries of its own, stationed on +different parts 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 them at first to imagine that society is +in a state of anarchy; nor do they perceive their mistake till they have +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. + +The partisans of centralisation in Europe 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 centralisation, 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. + +Centralisation succeeds more easily, indeed, in subjecting the external +actions of men to a certain uniformity, which at last 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. +Centralisation imparts without difficulty an admirable regularity to +the routine of business; rules 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;[110] 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 while 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 co-operated, 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. + +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 civilisation. 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 a 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,[111] 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. + +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 protects the tranquillity of my pleasures, and +constantly averts all danger from my path, without my care or my +concern, if the same authority is the absolute mistress of my liberty +and of my life, and if it so monopolises 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 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 conquest; 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 the vague reminiscence of its by-gone fame, +suffices to give them the impulse of self-preservation. + +Nor can the prodigious exertions made by certain people in the defence +of a country, in which they may almost be said to have lived as aliens, +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, and +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 +sultans 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, 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 absolute governments. 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 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 his success, to which he conceives +himself to have contributed; and he rejoices in the general prosperity +by which he profits. The feeling he entertains toward 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 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 effect. + +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.[112] In America, the means which the authorities have at +their disposal for the discovery of crimes and the arrest of criminals +are few. A state police does not exist, and passports are unknown. The +criminal police of the United States cannot be compared with 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 saw 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, while 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. + +I believe that provincial institutions are useful to all nations, but +nowhere do they appear to me to be more indispensable than among 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, among 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 an indiscriminate hatred; and its tendency was at once to +republicanism and to centralisation. 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 of the revolution?[113] 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. + +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 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 among +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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[63] It is by this periphrasis that I attempt to render the French +expressions "_Commune_" and "_Systeme Communal_." I am not aware that +any English word precisely corresponds to the general term of the +original. In France every association of human dwellings forms a +_commune_, and every commune is governed by a _maire_ and a _conseil +municipal_. In other words, the _mancipium_ or municipal privilege, +which belongs in England to chartered corporations alone, is alike +extended to every commune into which the cantons and departments of +France were divided at the revolution. Thence the different application +of the expression, which is general in one country and restricted in the +other. In America, the counties of the northern states are divided into +townships, those of the southern into parishes; besides which, municipal +bodies, bearing the name of corporations, exist in the cities. I shall +apply these several expressions to render the term _commune_. The term +"parish," now commonly used in England, belongs exclusively to the +ecclesiastical division; it denotes the limits over which a +_parson's_ (_personae ecclesiae_ or perhaps _parochianus_) rights +extend.--_Translator's Note_. + +[64] 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. + +[65] 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 a sanction of a law. See the +act of 22d February, 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's Register_. + +[66] 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 the 20th February, 1786, vol. i, p. 219; 24th February, 1796, +vol. i., p. 488, 7th March, 1801, vol. ii., p. 45; 16th June, 1795, vol. +i., p. 475; 12th March, 1808, vol. ii., p. 186; 28th February, 1787, +vol. i., p. 302; 22d June, 1797, vol. i., p. 539. + +[67] See laws of Massachusetts, vol. i., p. 150 Act of the 25th March, +1786. + +[68] 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. + +[69] See the act of 14th February, 1821. Laws of Massachusetts, vol i., +p. 551. + +[70] See the act of 20th February, 1819. Laws of Massachusetts, vol ii., +p. 494. + +[71] The council of the governor is an elective body. + +[72] See the act of 2d November, 1791. Laws of Massachusetts, vol i., p. +61. + +[73] 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 a Sunday; the +_tything-men_, who are town-officers, are especially 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 24th February, 1796; _Ib_., vol. i., p. 488. + +[74] Thus, for instance, the selectmen authorise 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 7th June, 1735; +Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i., p. 193. + +[75] The selectmen take measures for the security of the public in case +of contagious disease, conjointly with the justices of the peace. See +the act of 22d June, 1797; vol. i., p. 539. + +[76] 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 28th Feb., 1787; vol. i., p. 297. + +[77] 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 the act of +12th March, 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 the act of 23d March, 1786; vol. i., p. 254. + +[78] In Massachusetts the county-magistrates are frequently called upon +to investigate the acts of the town-magistrates; but it will be shown +farther on that this investigation is a consequence, not of their +administrative, but of their judicial power. + +[79] 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 the +act of 10th March, 1827; vol. iii., p. 183. + +[80] 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. + +[81] See the constitution of Massachusetts, chap ii., Sec. 1; chap iii., Sec. +3. + +[82] 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 22d June, 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. + +[83] I say the greater number because certain administrative +misdemeanors are brought before the 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 the act of 10th March, 1827; laws of +Massachusetts, vol. iii., p. 190. Or when a township neglects to provide +the necessary war-stores. Act of 21st February, 1822; Id. vol. ii., p. +570. + +[84] In their individual capacity, the justices of the peace take a part +in the business of the counties and townships. The more important +acts of the municipal government are rarely decided upon without the +co-operation of one of their body. + +[85] These affairs may be brought under the following heads: 1. The +erection of prisons and courts of justice. 2. The county budget, which +is afterward voted by the state. 3. The assessment of the taxes so +voted. 4. Grants of certain patents. 5. The laying down and repairs of +the county roads. + +[86] Thus, when a road is under consideration, almost all difficulties +are disposed of by the aid of the jury. + +[87] See the act of the 20th February, 1786; laws of Massachusetts, vol. +1., p. 217. + +[88] 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 the act of 5th March, 1787; laws of Massachusetts, vol. +1., p. 305. + +[89] Laws of Massachusetts, vol. 2., p. 45. + +[90] 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, 20th February, 1787. + +[91] I say the court of sessions, because in common courts there is a +magistrate who exercises some of the functions of a public prosecutor. + +[92] 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. + +[93] If, for instance, the treasurer of the county holds back his +account. Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i., p. 406. + +[94] 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. + +[95] 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 two to five hundred dollars. +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 the fine shall belong to the +plaintiff. See the act of 6th March, 1810; vol. ii., p. 236. The same +clause is frequently to be met with in the laws of Massachusetts. Not +only are private individuals thus incited to prosecute 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. + +[96] For details, see 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 +25th February, 1834, relating to townships, p. 412; beside the peculiar +dispositions relating to divers town officers, such as township's +clerks, trustees, overseers of the poor, fence-viewers, appraisers of +property, township's treasurer, constables, supervisors of highways. + +[97] The author means the state legislature. The congress has no control +over the expenditure of the counties or of the states. + +[98] See the Revised Statutes of the state of New York, part i., chap. +xi., vol. i., p. 410. _Idem_, chap, xii., p. 366: also in the acts +of the state of Ohio, an act relating to county commissioners, 26th +February, 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. + +[99] 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, &c. + +[100] 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 +lieutenant-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., +"Public Instruction," Revised Statutes, vol i., p. 455. + +The school commissioners are obliged to send an annual report to the +superintendent of the state. _Idem_, p. 448. + +A similar report is annually made to the same person on the number and +condition of the poor. _Idem_, p. 631. + +[101] 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 centralisation 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. + +[102] Thus the district-attorney is directed to recover all fines, +unless such a right has been specially awarded to another magistrate. +Revised Statutes, vol. i., p. 383. + +[103] Several traces of centralisation 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. + +[104] See the constitution of New York. + +[105] In Massachusetts the Senate is not invested with any +administrative functions. + +[106] As in the state of New York. + +[107] 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. + +[108] In some of the states the Justices of the peace are not nominated +by the governor. + +[109] 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 county, +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 accidental cognizance of the offences they are meant to +repress. + +[This note seems to have been written without reference to the provision +existing, it is believed in every state of the Union, by which a local +officer is appointed in each county, to conduct all public prosecutions +at the expense of the state. And in each county, a grand-jury is +assembled three or four times at least in every year, to which all who +are aggrieved have free access, and where every complaint, particularly +those against public officers, which has the least color of truth, is +sure to be heard and investigated. + +Such an agent as the author suggests would soon come to be considered a +public informer, the most odious of all characters in the United States; +and he would lose all efficiency and strength. With the provision above +mentioned, there is little danger that a citizen, oppressed by a public +officer, would find any difficulty in becoming his own informer, +and inducing a rigid inquiry into the alleged misconduct.--_American +Editor_.] + +[110] 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. + +[111] 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 centralisation, 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 in 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 keeps 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. + +[112] See Appendix I. + +[113] See Appendix K. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +JUDICIAL POWER IN THE UNITED STATES, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL +SOCIETY. + + +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. + +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 on 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 adopted +by the Americans. The judicial organization of the United States is +the institution which the 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 +by 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 a 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 represent 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 the 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.[114] + +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.[115] + +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 reason 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; 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 sanction. The persons +to whose interest 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 +be 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, the 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 every day. 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 parties, and he cannot +refuse to decide it without abdicating the duties of his post. He +performs his functions as a citizen by fulfilling the strict 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 precise 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 efficacy which in some cases might 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 have ever been devised against the tyranny of +political assemblies. + + * * * * * + +OTHER POWERS GRANTED TO THE AMERICAN JUDGES. + +In the United States all the Citizens have the Right of indicting the +public Functionaries before the ordinary Tribunals.--How they use this +Right.--Art. 75 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 have 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 careful +not to furnish these grounds of complaint, when they are afraid of being +prosecuted. + +This does not depend upon the republican form of the 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 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 had 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 annulled by the authority +of the crown. Despotism then displayed itself openly, and obedience was +extorted by force. We have then retrograded from the point which our +forefathers had reached, since we allow things to pass under the color +of justice and the sanction of the law, which violence alone could +impose upon them. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[114] See Appendix L. + +[115] See Appendix M. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +POLITICAL JURISDICTION IN THE UNITED STATES. + + +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. + +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 may be neglected, and that his authority +may 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 +society. 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 in their laws; and it is curious to examine the different +use which these three great nations have made of the principle. In +England and in France the house of lords and the chambre des pairs +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, while in +France the deputies can only employ this mode of prosecution against the +ministers of the crown. + +In both countries the upper house 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, while 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 a 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 therefore 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 favor is +the first of authorities, and where the strength of many a leader 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 +judgment, 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 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 judicial investigation. 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, while the military, +whose crimes are nevertheless more formidable, are exempt from that +tribunal. In the civil service none of the American functionaries can +be said to be removeable; the places which some of them occupy are +inalienable, and the others derive their rights from a power which +cannot be abrogated. 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 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 before-hand submitted +to its authority upon accepting office are exposed to its severity. 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 iv., of the constitution of the +United States runs thus: "The president, vice-president, and all the +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,[116] "shall be impeached for misconduct or +mal-administration." The constitution of Virginia declares that all +the civil officers who shall have offended against the state by +mal-administration, 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.[117] 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 consequences of the penalty he is to +undergo, and that in America they constitute the penalty itself. The +result 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 liberty, may +appear to be the fair issue of the struggle. But this sentence, which 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 act directly +upon the governed, but it renders the majority more absolute over those +who govern; it does not confer an unbounded authority on the legislator +which can only 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 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.[118] + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[116] Chapter I., sect. ii., Sec. 8. + +[117] See the constitutions of Illinois, Maine, Connecticut, and +Georgia. + +[118] See Appendix N. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. + + +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 the partial sovereignty which has been conceded to the Union, +and to cast a rapid glance over the federal constitution.[119] + + * * * * * + +HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. + +Origin of the first Union.--Its Weakness.--Congress appeals to the +constituent Authority.--Interval of two Years between the Appeal and the +Promulgation of the new Constitution. + +The thirteen colonies which simultaneously threw off the yoke of +England toward the end of the last century, possessed, 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.[120] 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, saw the outrages +offered to its flag by the great nations of Europe, while 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.[121] + +If America ever approached (for however brief a time) that lofty +pinnacle of glory to which the proud 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 war to the wars of the French revolution, or the efforts of the +Americans to those of the French, who, when they were attacked by the +whole of Europe, without credit and without allies, were still capable +of opposing a twentieth part of their population to their foes, and +of bearing the torch of revolution beyond their frontiers while 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 had 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;[122] 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.[123] 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. + + * * * * * + +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, +while the entire nation, represented by the Union, should continue to +form a compact body, and to provide for the exigencies of the people. It +was as impossible to determine beforehand, with any degree of accuracy, +the share of authority which each of the 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 penetrated into all the details of +social life. The attributes of the federal government were, therefore, +carefully enumerated, and all that was not included among 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.[124] + +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,[125] which was destined, among other +functions, to maintain the balance of power which had been established +by the constitution between the two rival governments.[126] + + * * * * * + +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 the 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 therefore granted to the Union.[127] The +necessity of a national government was less imperiously felt in the +conduct of the internal affairs 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 communication between the different +parts of the country.[128] 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[129] in a few predetermined cases, in which an indiscreet abuse +of their independence might compromise the security of the Union at +large. Thus, while 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.[130] 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.[131] + +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 centralisation 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, 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 +customhouse 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; and 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. + +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 constitution 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 +each 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 states, instead of a +majority of the inhabitants of the Union, was to give the law; for every +state, the small as well as the great, then retained the character of +an independent power, and entered the Union upon a footing of perfect +equality. If, on the contrary, the inhabitants of the United States were +to be considered as belonging to one and the same nation, it was natural +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. 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.[132] 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, +while 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. + +The 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 interest of +independence for the separate states, and the interest of union for +the whole people, were the only two conflicting interests which existed +among 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 wants, 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 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 FARTHER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF +REPRESENTATIVES. + +The Senate named by the provincial Legislature--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 definitively approved by the same +body.[133] + + * * * * * + +THE EXECUTIVE POWER.[134] + +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 representatives 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 fulfill 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 re-elected; 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 +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, while 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. + + * * * * * + +DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE POSITION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES +AND THAT OF A CONSTITUTIONAL KING OF FRANCE. + +Executive Power in the United 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 +successors 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, while 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. + +The first 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 almost 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 jealous scrutiny. He may make, but he +cannot conclude a treaty; he may designate, but he cannot appoint, a +public officer.[135] The king of France is absolute in the sphere of the +executive power. + +The president of the United States is responsible for his actions; but +the person of the king is declared inviolable by the French charter. + +Nevertheless, the supremacy of public opinion is no less above the head +of 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 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, while 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. Among 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[136] 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.[137] + +[Those who are desirous of tracing the question respecting the power +of the president to remove every executive officer of the government +without the sanction of the senate, will find some light upon it by +referring to 5th Marshall's Life of Washington, p. 196: 5 Sergeant and +Rawle's Reports (Pennsylvania), 451: Elliot's Debates on the Federal +Constitution, vol iv., p. 355, contains the debate in the House of +Representatives, June 16, 1799, when the question was first mooted: +Report of a committee of the senate in 1822, in Niles's Register of 29th +August in that year. It is certainly very extraordinary that such a vast +power, and one so extensively affecting the whole administration of the +government, should rest on such slight foundations, as an _inference_ +from an act of congress, providing that when the secretary of the +treasury should be removed by the president, his assistant should +discharge the duties of the office. How congress could confer the +power, even by a direct act, is not perceived. It must be a necessary +implication from the words of the constitution, or it does not exist. +It has been repeatedly denied in and out of congress, and must be +considered, as yet, an unsettled question.--_American Editor_.] + + * * * * * + +ACCIDENTAL CAUSES WHICH MAY INCREASE THE INFLUENCE OF THE EXECUTIVE. + +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 power 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 vigor. If the existence of +the Union were perpetually threatened, and its chief interest were in +daily connexion 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, for that reason, 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 much greater. + + * * * * * + +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 power of 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 where he is independent +of it 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 denies. + +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 are not solely +attributable to the elective system in general, but to the fact that the +elected magistrate was the head of a powerful monarchy. 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 among 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 +farther from the designs of the republicans of Europe than this course: +as many of them only owe their hatred of tyranny to the sufferings which +they have personally undergone, the extent of the executive power does +not excite their hostility, and they only attack its origin without +perceiving how nearly the two things are connected. + +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 +among 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 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. + +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 +removeable 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 ministers 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; and 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. + +Beside 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, beside +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 the +social condition of the United States, we are struck by the admirable +harmony of the gifts of fortune and the efforts of man. That 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 complete 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. The +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 intrusted to the 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 represented 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,[138] 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 intrusted 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.[139] 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 the president; but +with the condition that it must fix upon one of the three candidates who +have the highest numbers.[140] + +Thus it is only in case of an event which cannot often happen, and which +can never be foreseen, that the election is intrusted 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 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[141] which are not inherent in the elective system. + +In the forty 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. John Quincy +Adams was chosen. + + * * * * * + +CRISIS 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 +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. Moreover, political parties in the United States, as +well as elsewhere, are led to rally around 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 forth 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 +elected, 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 several 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 has nearly broken its banks, +sinks to its usual level; but who can refrain from astonishment at the +causes of the storm? + + * * * * * + +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, especially 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 lists, the cares of government dwindle into +second-rate importance, and the success of his election is his first +concern. All laws and negotiations are then 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 governments still more extensive and pernicious. +It tends to degrade the political morality of the people, and to +substitute adroitness for patriotism. + +In America it exercises a still more fatal influence on the sources of +national existence. Every government seems to be afflicted by some evil +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 +consequences should long appear to be imperceptible. 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 invested 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. + +[The question of the propriety of leaving the president re-eligible, +is one of that class which probably must for ever remain undecided. The +author himself, at page 125, gives a strong reason for re-eligibility, +"so that the chance of a prolonged administration may inspire him with +hopeful undertakings for the public good, and with the means of carrying +them into execution,"--considerations of great weight. There is an +important fact bearing upon this question, which should be stated in +connexion with it. President Washington established the practice of +declining a third election, and every one of his successors, either from +a sense of its propriety or from apprehensions of the force of public +opinion, has followed the example. So that it has become as much a +part of the constitution, that no citizen can be a third time elected +president, as if it were expressed in that instrument in words. This may +perhaps be considered a fair adjustment of objections on either side. +Those against a continued and perpetual re-eligibility are certainly +met: while the arguments in favor of an opportunity to prolong an +administration under circumstances that may justify it, are allowed +their due weight. One effect of this practical interpolation of the +constitution unquestionably is, to increase the chances of a president's +being once re-elected; as men will be more disposed to acquiesce in a +measure that thus practically excludes the individual from ever again +entering the field of competition.--_American Editor_] + + * * * * * + +FEDERAL COURTS.[142] + +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. Judicial institutions exercise +a great influence on the condition of the Anglo-Americans, and they +occupy a prominent place among what are properly 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 on +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 prolix 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 of 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 it 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 opposed +to formidable opposition.[143] 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 repel the attacks which might be directed +against them. The question then remained what tribunals were to exercise +these privileges; were they to be intrusted 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 state 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 ensure 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 intrust +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. + +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.[144] +It was easy to proclaim the principle of a federal judiciary, but +difficulties multiplied when the extent of its jurisdiction was to be +determined. + + * * * * * + +MEANS OF DETERMINING THE JURISDICTION OF THE FEDERAL COURTS. + +Difficulty of determining the Jurisdiction of separate courts of Justice +in Confederation.--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 connexion 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 jurisprudence 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.[145] + +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 appear 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 Tribunal.--Causes +relating to the Non-performance of Contracts tried by the federal +Courts.--Consequences 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 bases 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 I 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 involved 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.[146] + +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.[147] 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. + +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 intentions 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.[148] 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 farther 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 to +the Union, the natural consequence is that it should come within the +jurisdiction of a federal court. + +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 interest 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 the 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. + +[The remark of the author, that 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, which is more strongly expressed +in the original, is erroneous and calculated to mislead on a point +of some importance. By the grant of power to the courts of the United +States to decide certain cases, the powers of the state courts are not +suspended, but are exercised concurrently, subject to an appeal to the +courts of the United States. But if the decision of the state court +is _in favor_ of the right, title, or privilege claimed under the +constitution, a treaty, or under a law of congress, no appeal lies +to the federal courts. The appeal is given only when the decision _is +against_ the claimant under the treaty or law. See 3d Cranch, 268. 1 +Wheaton, 304.--_American Editor._] + +Thus the jurisdiction of the general 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.[149] 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.[150] + +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 obligations of contracts, +which may thus furnish an easy pretext for the aggressions of the +central authority. + +[The fears of the author respecting the danger to the independence of +the states of that provision of the constitution, which gives to the +federal courts the authority of deciding when a state law impairs the +obligation of a contract, are deemed quite unfounded. The citizens of +every state have a deep interest in preserving the obligation of the +contracts entered into by them in other states: indeed without such a +controlling power, "commerce among several states" could not exist. +The existence of this common arbiter is of the last importance to the +continuance of the Union itself, for if there were no peaceable means +of enforcing the obligations of contracts, independent of all state +authority, the states themselves would inevitably come in collision in +their efforts to protect their respective citizens from the consequences +of the legislation of another state. + +M. De Tocqueville's observation, that the rights with which the clause +in question invests the federal government "are not clearly appreciable +or accurately defined," proceeds upon a mistaken view of the clause +itself. It relates to the _obligation_ of a contract, and forbids any +act by which that obligation is impaired. To American lawyers, this +seems to be as precise and definite as any rule can be made by human +language. The distinction between the _right_ to the fruits of a +contract, and the time, tribunal, and manner, in which that right is to +be enforced, seems very palpable. At all events, since the decision +of the supreme court of the United States in those cases in which this +clause has been discussed, no difficulty is found, practically, in +understanding the exact limits of the prohibition. + +The next observation of the author, that "there are vast numbers of +political laws which influence the obligations of contracts, which +may thus furnish an easy pretext for the aggressions of the central +authority," is rather obscure. Is it intended that political laws may +be passed by the central authority, influencing the obligation of a +contract, and thus the contracts themselves be destroyed? The answer +to this would be, that the question would not arise under the clause +forbidding laws impairing the obligation of contracts, for that clause +applies only to the states and not to the federal government. + +If it be intended, that the states may find it necessary to pass +political laws, which affect contracts, and that under the pretence of +vindicating the obligation of contracts, the central authority may make +aggressions on the states and annul their political laws:--the answer +is, that the motive to the adoption of the clause was to reach laws of +every description, political as well as all others, and that it was the +abuse by the states of what may be called political laws, viz.: acts +confiscating demands of foreign creditors, that gave rise to the +prohibition. The settled doctrine now is, that states may pass laws in +respect to the making of contracts, may prescribe what contracts shall +be made, and how, but that they cannot impair any that are already made. + +The writer of this note is unwilling to dismiss the subject, without +remarking upon what he must think a fundamental error of the author, +which is exhibited in the passage commented on, as well as in other +passages:--and that is, in supposing the judiciary of the United States, +and particularly the supreme court, to be a part of the _political_ +federal government, and as the ready instrument to execute its designs +upon the state authorities. Although the judges are in form commissioned +by the United States, yet, in fact, they are appointed by the delegates +of the state, in the senate of the United States, concurrently with, and +acting upon, the nomination of the president. If the legislature of each +state in the Union were to elect a judge of the supreme court, he would +not be less a political officer of the United States than he now is. +In truth, the judiciary have no political duties to perform; they are +arbiters chosen by the federal and state governments, jointly, and when +appointed, as independent of the one as of the other. They cannot be +removed without the consent of the states represented in the senate, and +they can be removed without the consent of the president, and against +his wishes. Such is the theory of the constitution. And it has been +felt practically, in the rejection by the senate of persons nominated +as judges, by a president of the same political party with a majority +of the senators. Two instances of this kind occurred during the +administration of Mr. Jefferson. + +If it be alleged that they are exposed to the influence of the executive +of the United States, by the expectation of offices in his gift, the +answer is, that judges of state courts are equally exposed to the same +influence--that all state officers, from the highest to the lowest, are +in the same predicament; and that this circumstance does not, therefore, +deprive them of the character of impartial and independent arbiters. + +These observations receive confirmation from every recent decision +of the supreme court of the United States, in which certain laws of +individual states have been sustained, in cases where, to say the least, +it was very questionable whether they did not infringe the provisions of +the constitution, and where a disposition to construe those previsions +broadly and extensively, would have found very plausible grounds to +indulge itself in annulling the state laws referred to. See the cases of +_City of New York vs. Miln_, 11th _Peters_, 103; _Briscoe vs. the Bank +of the Commonwealth of Kentucky_, ib., 257; _Charles River Bridge vs. +Warren Bridge_, ib., 420.--_American Ed._] + + * * * * * + +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 Prosecutions of private Individuals in the federal +Courts.--Indirect Prosecution in 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 +is 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 state; and a law so enacted may impair the +privileges of the Union, in which case a collision is unavoidable +between that body and the state which had 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.[151] + +It may be conceived that, in the case under consideration, the Union +might have sued 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 individuals 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, is 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.[152] This, 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. + +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 COURTS AMONG 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 successfully 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 among 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 invested 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 renders 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 +Consequences 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 +melioration 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 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. + +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, +while 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.[153] + +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 monopolise 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 constitution 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. + +[It is not universally correct, as supposed by the author, that the +state legislatures can deprive their governor of his salary at pleasure. +In the constitution of New York it is provided, that the governor "shall +receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased +nor diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected;" +and similar provisions are believed to exist in other states. Nor is the +remark strictly correct, that the federal constitution "provides for the +independence of the judges, by declaring that their salary shall not be +_altered_." The provision of the constitution is, that they shall, "at +stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not +be diminished during their continuance in office."--_American Editor_.] + +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 +people 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 it should execute its +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 have 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 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 other states in its +name,[154] or the federal government has been abandoned by its natural +supporters, anarchy has arisen between the confederates, and the Union +has lost all power of action.[155] + +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 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 with 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 afterward 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 of 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 farther +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 +among 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. + + * * * * * + +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 Civilisation.--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, +Melioration, 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 we 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 cradles 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 their 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 a republican government for a long series of years,[156] +and this had 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. + +All the passions which are most fatal to republican institutions spread +with an increasing territory, while 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 while 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 among 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 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; and 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 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 imaging 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 melioration. 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 melioration 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 afterward 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 into 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 +interests; 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. The 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 flag 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 +the Government common among 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 beside the Laws.--What these Causes +are among the Anglo-Americans.--Maine and Georgia, separated by a +Distance of a thousand Miles, more naturally united than Normandy and +Britany.--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, while 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 +render 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 farther 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 the +government. + +The most prominent evil of all federal systems is the very complex +nature of the means they employ. Two sovereignties are necessarily in +the 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 running 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 notion 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, numerous 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 long been 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.[157] But although they +had borrowed the letter of the law, they were unable to create or +to introduce the spirit and the sense which gave 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. + +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 the 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 +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 the 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. + +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.[158] + +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 +sovereignties less probable, destroyed the causes 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 affects only 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 the superiority of a power which is interwoven with every +circumstance that renders the love of one's native country instinctive +to the human heart. + +Since legislators are unable to obviate such dangerous collisions +as occur between the two sovereignties which co-exist 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 dependance 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 people 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 interest. A certain uniformity of +civilisation 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 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 civilisation; 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 civilisation of Maine and that of Georgia is +slighter than the difference between the habits of Normandy and those of +Britany. 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 Britany, +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 struggle 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 the +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 defect 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 cases 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 +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.[159] + +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 among +nations. As for the powers of Europe, they are too distant to be +formidable.[160] + +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 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 centralised. 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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[119] See the constitution of the United States. + +[120] 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 "Commentary on the Constitution of the +United States," pp. 85-115. + +[121] Congress made this declaration on the 21st of February, 1787. + +[122] It consisted of fifty-five members: Washington, Madison, Hamilton, +and the two Morrises, were among the number. + +[123] 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. + +[124] 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 +of bankruptcy, which, however, it neglects to do. Each state is then +at liberty to make a law for itself. This point, however, has been +established by discussion in the law-courts, and may be said to belong +more properly to jurisprudence. + +[125] The action of this court is indirect, as we shall hereafter show. + +[126] 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. + +[127] See constitution, sect. 8. Federalist, Nos. 41 and 42. Kent's +Commentaries, vol. i., p. 207. Story, pp. 358-382; 409-426. + +[128] 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. + +[129] Even in these cases its interference is indirect. The Union +interferes by means of the tribunals, as will be hereafter shown. + +[130] Federal Constitution, sect. 10, art. 1. + +[131] Constitution, sect. 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. + +[132] 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 +upon. 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 (14th April, 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 1822, fixes the proportion at one for 48,000. The population +represented is composed of all the freemen and of three-fifths of the +slaves. + +[133] See the Federalist, Nos. 52-66, inclusive. Story, pp. 199-314 +Constitution of the United States, sections 2 and 3. + +[134] See the Federalist, Nos. 67-77. Constitution of the United States, +a. t. 2. Story, pp. 115; 515-780. Kent's Commentaries, p. 255. + +[135] 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. + +[136] The sums annually paid by the state to these officers amount to +200,000,000 francs (eight millions sterling). + +[137] 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. + +[138] As many as it sends members to congress. The number of electors at +the election of 1833 was 288. (See the National Calendar, 1833.) + +[139] 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. + +[140] 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. + +[141] Jefferson, in 1801, was not elected until the thirty-sixth time of +balloting. + +[142] See chapter 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 Federalist, 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 the 24th September, +1789, in the collection of the laws of the United States, by Story, vol. +i., p. 53. + +[143] 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 commanding to +the federal executive, and very prudently reserved the right of +non-compliance to themselves. + +[144] 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. 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 24th September, 1789, +laws of the United States, by Story, vol. i., p. 53. + +[145] 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., pp. 350, 370, _et +seq._; Story's Commentaries, p. 646; and "The Organic Law of the United +States," vol. i., p. 35 + +[146] 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. This +question was most elaborately considered in the case of _Chisholme_ 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, Sec. 1677. + +[147] As, for instance, all cases of piracy. + +[148] 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. + +[149] It is perfectly clear, says Mr. Story (Commentaries, p. 503, or in +the large edition, Sec. 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 ensures, 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. + +[150] A remarkable instance of this is given by Mr. Story (p. 508, or in +the large edition, Sec. 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, sect. 10), and that the amendatory +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." + +[151] See chapter vi., on judicial power in America. + +[152] See Kent's Commentaries, vol. i., p. 387. + +[153] 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 purpose 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 intrust the managements 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 +would 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 at the peril of their displeasure." + +[154] 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 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. + +[155] Such has always been the situation of the Swiss confederation, +which would have perished ages ago but for the mutual jealousies of its +neighbors. + +[156] I do not speak of a confederation of small republics, but of a +great consolidated republic. + +[157] See the Mexican constitution of 1824. + +[158] 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 name 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, while the other competitor was ordered to retain +possession by the tribunals of the state of Ohio? + +[The difficulty supposed by the author in this note is imaginary. The +question of title to the lands in the case put, must depend upon the +constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States; and a decision in +the state court adverse to the claim or title set up under those laws, +must, by the very words of the constitution and of the judiciary act, +be subject to review by the supreme court of the United States, whose +decision is final. + +The remarks in the text of this page upon the relative weakness of +the government of the Union, are equally applicable to any form of +republican or democratic government, and are not peculiar to a federal +system. Under the circumstances supposed by the author, of all the +citizens of a state, or a large majority of them, aggrieved at the +same time and in the same manner, by the operation of any law, the same +difficulty would arise in executing the laws of the state as those of +the Union. Indeed, such instances of the total inefficacy of state +laws are not wanting. The fact is, that all republics depend on the +willingness of the people to execute the laws. If they will not enforce +them, there is, so far, an end to the government, for it possesses no +power adequate to the control of the physical power of the people. + +Not only in theory, but in fact, a republican government must be +administered by the people themselves. They, and they alone, must +execute the laws. And hence, the first principles in such governments, +that on which all others depend, and without which no other can exist, +is and must be, obedience to the existing laws at all times and under +all circumstances. It is the vital condition of the social compact. +He who claims a dispensing power for himself, by which he suspends the +operation of the law in his own case, is worse than a usurper, for +he not only tramples under foot the constitution of his country, +but violates the reciprocal pledge which he has given to his +fellow-citizens, and has received from them, that he will abide by the +laws constitutionally enacted; upon the strength of which pledge, his +own personal rights and acquisitions are protected by the rest of the +community.--_American Editor_.] + +[159] 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. + +[160] Appendix O. + + + + +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. This majority is principally composed +of peaceable 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. + + +Great Division 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 and democratic Character to +be met with in all Parties.--Struggle of General Jackson against the +Bank. + +A great division 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 off 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 toward 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 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 +person 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 insure 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 the 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 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. + +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 their country. But whether their theories were good or bad, they +had the defect 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 afterward 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. + +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 misery to serve as a 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 its 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 that 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 these two divisions which +have always existed in free communities. The deeper we penetrate into +the workings 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 tastes for exclusive Pleasures and for Luxury at +Home.--Their Simplicity Abroad.--Their affected Condescension toward the +People. + +It sometimes happens in a people among 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 a 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 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 mal-administration 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. + + +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. + +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 determine 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 can 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 permanent magistrates; 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 carcase 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 amid the passions of a listening +assembly, have more weight 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 +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 proposed 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 irreconcileably 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, +after 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 for ever 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 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 subtlety 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, among 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 skilfully 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 +centralisation: 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 centralisation exists in America. The United +States have no metropolis; the intelligence as well as the power of the +country is 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 the printers, no securities demanded from +editors, as in France, and no stamp duty as in France and 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 appear 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 neutralise the effect of public +journals is to multiply them indefinitely. I cannot conceive why a truth +which is so self-evident has not already 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 laws, 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 constantly 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 it 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 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.[161] + +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.[162] + +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 among 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 say 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 onward by the light it gives +him.[163] + +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 that 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 torch +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 +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, every one 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 interest 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 the aristocracy or the +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 farther +controversy. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[161] 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 mis-statement of facts. + +[162] See Appendix P. + +[163] 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. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. + + +Daily use which the Anglo-Americans make of the Right of +Association.--Three kinds of political Association.--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. + +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. Beside 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 the 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 associating 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 toward 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 afterward 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 in 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 the 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 afterward took up arms +in the same cause, sent sixty-three delegates. On the 1st October, 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 is declared: + +I. The 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 +has become preponderant, all the 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 those 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. + +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 to be 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 the 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 afterward 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 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 reply 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, toward +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. + + +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 +onward by a daily and irresistible impulse, toward 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 among different +populations which occupy very different positions in the scale of +society. I have had opportunities of observing its effects in different +localities, and among 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 talented Individuals are rarely placed +at the Head of Affairs.--Reasons 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 intrusts 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 talented 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 +when 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 the 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 +class of society; but it is not very favorably inclined toward 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. + +While 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 eulogium 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 +succeed 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 temples 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 the 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 urn +of an election. + +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 toward 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 southwestern 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 at 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, while 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 of 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 generous 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 among 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 +consequence 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, this 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 may 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 but +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 government."--(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 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 as yet produced, pointed out the same evils. + +"The instability of our laws," he said in a letter to Madison, "is +really a very serious inconvenience. I think 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 OF 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 +all 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 while 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 a prisoner, or derides a 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 +intrusted 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 that 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 a 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 +conditions 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[164] UNDER THE RULE OF AMERICAN +DEMOCRACY. + +For what Reason the arbitrary Power of Magistrates is greater in +absolute Monarchies and in democratic Republics that it is in limited +Monarchies.--Arbitrary Power of the Magistrates in New England. + +In two different kinds of government the magistrates 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. + +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 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.[165] In France the lives and liberties of the subjects +would be thought to be in danger, if a public officer of any kind +was intrusted 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.[166] 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. + +Nowhere has so much been left by the law to the arbitrary determination +of the magistrates 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 the +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. + +[The observations respecting the arbitrary powers of magistrates are +practically among the most erroneous in the work. The author seems to +have confounded the idea of magistrates being _independent_ with their +being arbitrary. Yet he had just before spoken of their dependance on +popular election as a reason why there was no apprehension of the abuse +of their authority. The independence, then, to which he alludes must +be an immunity from responsibility to any other department. But it is +a fundamental principle of our system, that all officers are liable to +criminal prosecution "whenever they act partially or oppressively from +a malicious or corrupt motive." See 15 Wendell's Reports, 278. That +our magistrates are independent when they do not act partially or +oppressively is very true, and, it is to be hoped, is equally true in +every form of government. There would seem, therefore, not to be such +a degree of independence as necessarily to produce arbitrariness. The +author supposes that magistrates are more arbitrary in a despotism +and in a democracy than in a limited monarchy. And yet, the limits of +independence and of responsibility existing in the United States are +borrowed from and identical with those established in England--the most +prominent instance of a limited monarchy. See the authorities referred +to in the case in Wendell's Reports, before quoted. Discretion in +the execution of various ministerial duties, and in the awarding of +punishment by judicial officers, is indispensable in every system of +government, from the utter impossibility of "laying down beforehand a +line of conduct" (as the author expresses it) in such cases. The very +instances of discretionary power to which he refers, and which he +considers _arbitrary_, exist in England. There, the persons from whom +juries are to be formed for the trial of causes, civil and criminal, +are selected by the sheriffs, who are appointed by the crown--a +power, certainly more liable to abuse in their hands, than in those of +selectmen or other town-officers, chosen annually by the people. +The other power referred to, that of posting the names of habitual +drunkards, and forbidding their being supplied with liquor, is but a +reiteration of the principles contained in the English statute of 32 +Geo. III., ch. 45, respecting idle and disorderly persons. Indeed it +may be said with great confidence, that there is not an instance of +discretionary power being vested in American magistrates which does not +find its prototype in the English laws. The whole argument of the author +on this point, therefore, would seem to fail.--_American Editor_.] + + * * * * * + +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 for ever, 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 among 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 farthest 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.[167] 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. + +[These remarks upon the "instability of administration" in America, +are partly correct, but partly erroneous. It is certainly true that +our public men are not educated to the business of government; even our +diplomatists are selected with very little reference to their experience +in that department. But the universal attention that is paid by the +intelligent, to the measures of government and to the discussions +to which they give rise, is in itself no slight preparation for +the ordinary duties of legislation. And, indeed, this the author +subsequently seems to admit. As to there being "no archives formed" +of public documents, the author is certainly mistaken. The journals +of congress, the journals of state legislatures, the public documents +transmitted to and originating in those bodies, are carefully preserved +and disseminated through the nation: and they furnish in themselves the +materials of a full and accurate history. Our great defect, doubtless, +is in the want of statistical information. Excepting the annual reports +of the state of our commerce, made by the secretary of the treasury, +under law, and excepting the census which is taken every ten years under +the authority of congress, and those taken by the states, we have no +official statistics. It is supposed that the author had this species of +information in his mind when he alluded to the general deficiency of our +archives.--_American Editor_.] + + * * * * * + +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 +Expenditures 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, while 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 possess +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 burthensome 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[168] 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. + +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 passions 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 is possessed of +some fortune, is in a still more favorable position than France. + +There are still farther causes which may increase the sum of public +expenditures 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 wellbeing 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 farther 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 meliorations. 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 engenders 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 wellbeing, 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 civilisation +spreads, and that the 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 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. + + * * * * * + +TENDENCIES OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AS REGARDS THE SALARIES OF PUBLIC +OFFICERS. + +In 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 +economise 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 appoint 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 toward 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;[169] 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 conceptions 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 two or three hundred +a year, is a very fortunate and enviable being.[170] 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, while the others are raised above it. The +former may therefore excite his interest, but the latter begins to +arouse his envy. + +This is very clearly seen in the United States, where the salaries seem +to decrease as the authority of those who receive them augments.[171] + +Under the rule of an aristocracy it frequently happens, on the contrary, +that while 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 see 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 the 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 toward 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.[172] 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 the aristocratic +countries, where the money of the state is expended to the profit of the +persons who are at the head of affairs. + + * * * * * + +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. + +There 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 in 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. + +Among 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 the nation, and which +eludes the strictest analysis by the diversity and 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 multitude 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 can 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 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 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.[173] + +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 designs would be counteracted by the neglect of those subordinate +officers whom it would be obliged to employ.[174] 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.[175] + +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 +the central government of the former country, and that the expenditure +must consequently be much smaller. If I contrast the budgets of the +departments to 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 finance; +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 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 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. + +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 of America. I will even add, that it would be dangerous to attempt +this comparison; for when statistics are not founded upon computations +which are strictly accurate, they mislead instead of guiding aright. The +mind is easily imposed upon by the false affectation of exactitude which +prevails even in the mis-statements of the science, and adopts with +confidence the errors which are apparelled 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 meliorate 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.[176] How, then, can the inhabitant of the Union be +called upon to contribute as largely as the inhabitant of France? +No parallel can be drawn between the finances of two countries so +differently situated. + +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 among 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. + + * * * * * + +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; while +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, while 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 prevents it +from spreading abroad. + +The people can never penetrate 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 +practise in his turn. + +In reality it is far less prejudicial to be a witness to the immorality +of the great, than to 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 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 +toward its Close.--Difficulty of establishing a 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 the 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, while it exercises +that moral influence which belongs to the decisions 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, at 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.[177] 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." + +The United States have not had any serious war to carry on 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. + +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 enlistments, that I do not +imagine that 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 engagement. 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. + +[The remark that "in America the use of conscription is unknown, and men +are induced to enlist by bounties," is not exactly correct. During the +last war with Great Britain, the state of New York, in October, 1814 +(see the laws of that session, p. 15), passed an act to raise troops for +the defence of the state, in which the whole body of the militia were +directed to be classed, and each class to furnish one soldier, so as to +make up the whole number of 12,000 directed to be raised. In case of the +refusal of a class to furnish a man, one was to be detached from them by +ballot, and was compelled to procure a substitute or serve personally. +The intervention of peace rendered proceedings under the act +unnecessary, and we have not, therefore, the light of experience to +form an opinion whether such a plan of raising a military force is +practicable. Other states passed similar laws. The system of classing +was borrowed from the practice of the revolution.--_American Editor_.] + +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 pleasure 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 in 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 +every one 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. + +Some one 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," I replied, "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, while 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 civilisation. 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 +cause 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 see 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 civilisation. + +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 phrensy. 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 intrusts the permanent +direction of the external interests of the nation to the president +and the senate;[178] 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. 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, +extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little +_political_ connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed +engagements, let them lie 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 patronising +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 toward another an +habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. +It is a slave to its animosity or 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, while 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 farther, and 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; while 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 among 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 a 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 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 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 +interests 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.[179] + +If the constitution and the favor of the public had not intrusted 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. + +Almost all the nations which have 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--beside 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 its perpetuity. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[164] 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. + +[165] See the act 27th February, 1813, General Collection of the Laws of +Massachusetts, vol. ii., p. 331. It should be added that the Jurors are +afterward drawn from these lists by lot. + +[166] See the act of 28th February, 1787, General Collection of the Laws +of Massachusetts, vol. i., p. 302. + +[167] 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. + +[168] The word _poor_ is used here, and throughout the remainder of this +chapter, in a relative and 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 be styled poor in comparison with their more affluent +countrymen. + +[169] 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 taste for economy. + +[170] The state of Ohio, which contains a million of inhabitants, gives +its governor a salary of only $1,200 (260_l_.) a year. + +[171] 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, to complete the comparison:-- + + + UNITED STATES. FRANCE. + _Treasury Department_. _Ministere des Finances_ + Messenger . . . $ 700 150l. Huissier, 3,500 fr. . . 60l. + Clerk with lowest salary Clerk with lowest salary, + . . . 1,000 217 1,000 to 1,300 fr. . 40 to 72 + Clerk with highest Clerk with highest salary + salary. . 1,600 347 3,200 to 3,600 fr. . 128 to 144 + Chief clerk . 2,000 434 Secretaire-general, 20,000 fr. 800 + Secretary of state . 6,000 1,300 The minister, 80,000 fr. . 3,200 + The President . . 25,000 5,400 The king, 12,000,000 fr. 480,000 + +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 lowest 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. + +[172] See the American budgets for the cost of indigent citizens and +gratuitous instruction. In 1831, 50,000_l_. were spent in the state of +New York for the maintenance of the poor; and at least 200,000_l_. were +devoted to gratuitous instruction. (Williams's New York Annual Register, +1832, pp. 205, 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. + +[173] 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, +Allegany, 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 72,330_l_., or nearly 3_s_. for each +inhabitant, and calculating that each of them contributed in the same +year about 10_s_. 2_d_. toward the Union, and about 3_s_. 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 +16_s_. 2_d_. 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. + +[174] 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 expenditures 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. + +[175] 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 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, beside 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 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 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 subjected 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. + +[176] See the details in the budget of the French minister of marine, +and for America, the National Calendar of 1833, p. 228. + +[177] 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 and obscure sacrifice which was made by +a whole people. + +[178] "The president," says the constitution, art. ii., sect. 2, Sec. 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. + +[179] 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 torrents 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." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +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 be obtained only 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, while 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 a 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 a 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 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 officers. It is easy to +perceive that the American democracy frequently errs in the choice of +the individuals to whom it intrusts 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 been sometimes +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 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 mistake; 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 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 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 +interests 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. + +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; while 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 acquire +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 mansion 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. +While the manners of a people are simple, and its faith unshaken, +while 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, while 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 intrench themselves within the dull precincts of a narrow egotism. +They are emancipated from prejudice, without having acknowledged +the empire of reason; they are animated neither by the instinctive +patriotism of monarchical subjects, nor by the thinking patriotism of +republican citizens; but they have stopped half-way 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 for ever. + +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 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 every one takes as +zealous an interest in the affairs of his township, his country, and +of the whole state, as if they were his own, because every one, 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 regard 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 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 a People.--Respect of Rights in the United +States.--Whence it arises. + +After the idea of virtue, I am acquainted with 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 also 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 purpose; 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 every one has property +of his own to defend, every one 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. While 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? + +The government of the 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 was 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 very 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 a 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. + + * * * * * + +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 every one 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 contribute +indirectly 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 farther adduced: +in the United States every one 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 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. Among 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, while the citizens whose interests +might be promoted by the infraction of them, are induced, by their +character and their station, to submit to the decisions of the +legislature, whatever they may be. Beside 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 here.--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, melioration 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, while 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 melioration 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 among 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; +while 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.[180] + +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 were addressing a meeting; and +if he should 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.[181] 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. + +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 meliorations 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 great 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 while it is yet in +its early growth; and others are ready with their vows of adoration for +this new duty 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 are 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 for +ever 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 men than genius; if your object be not to stimulate the virtues of +heroism, but to create habits of peace; if you had rather behold 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 condition +of men, and establishing democratic institutions. + +But if the time be past at which such a choice was possible, and if +some superhuman power impel us toward 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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[180] 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. + +[181] 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. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS +CONSEQUENCES. + +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.--Opinions as to its Infallibility.--Respect for its Rights, +how augmented in the United States. + +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.[182] + +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 passions 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 +intrusted. + +But while 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 completely 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 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 an equal rank among 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 while 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 rights 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 THE 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 vesting it +with unbounded Authority.--The same Effect is produced upon the +Administration.--In America social Melioration 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 in 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, while 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.[183] + +The omnipotence of the majority and the rapid as well as absolute manner +in which its decisions are executed in the United States, have not only +the effect of rendering the law unstable, but they exercise 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; while 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 meliorations 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 meliorate 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. While the new penitentiaries were being erected (and it was the +pleasure of the majority 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 +afterward 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. + + * * * * * + +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.[184] 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. + +I do not think 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-predominate 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 instructions: if to the executive +power, it is appointed by the majority and is 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.[185] + +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 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 magistrates. 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 cooperation 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; so 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 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 for ever, 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, while 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 civilisation 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 +political 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 incomparably worse than death." + +Absolute monarchies 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 +time; 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 exercise 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 +beneficent exercise is an accidental occurrence. + + * * * * * + +EFFECTS OF THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY UPON THE NATIONAL CHARACTER IN +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 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 lacquey. + +In free countries, where every one is more or less called upon to give +his opinions 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 great 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 he 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 constitute 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. + +[The author's views upon what he terms the tyranny of the majority, the +despotism of public opinion in the United States, have already excited +some remarks in this country, and will probably give occasion to more. +As stated in the preface to this edition, the editor does not conceive +himself called upon to discuss the speculative opinions of the +author and supposes he will best discharge his duty by confining his +observations to what he deems errors of fact or law. But in reference to +this particular subject, it seems due to the author to remark, that +he visited the United States at a particular time, when a successful +political chieftain had succeeded in establishing his party in power, as +it seemed, firmly and permanently; when the preponderance of that party +was immense, and when there seemed little prospect of any change. He may +have met with men, who sank under the astonishing popularity of General +Jackson, who despaired of the republic, and who therefore shrank from +the expression of their opinions. It must be confessed, however, that +the author is obnoxious to the charge which has been made, of the want +of perspicuity and distinctness in this part of his work. He does not +mean that the press was silent, for he has himself not only noticed, but +furnished proof of the great freedom, not to say licentiousness, with +which it assailed the character of the president, and the measures of +his administration. + +He does not mean to represent the opponents of the dominant party +as having thrown down their weapons of warfare, for his book shows +throughout his knowledge of the existence of an active and able party, +constantly opposing and harassing the administration. + +But, after a careful perusal of the chapters on this subject, the editor +is inclined to the opinion, that M. De Tocqueville intends to speak of +the _tyranny of the party_ in excluding from public employment all those +who do not adopt the _Shibboleth_ of the majority. The language at pp. +266, 267, which he puts in the mouth of a majority, and his observations +immediately preceding this note, seem to furnish the key to his meaning; +although it must be admitted that there are other passages to which a +wider construction may be given. Perhaps they may be reconciled by the +idea that the author considers the acts and opinions of the dominant +party as the just and true expression of public opinion. And hence, +when he speaks of the intolerance of public opinion, he means +the exclusiveness of the party, which, for the time being, may be +predominant. He had seen men of acknowledged competency removed from +office, or excluded from it, wholly on the ground of their entertaining +opinions hostile to those of the dominant party, or majority. And he had +seen this system extended to the very lowest officers of the government, +and applied by the electors in their choice of all officers of all +descriptions; and this he deemed persecution--tyranny--despotism. But he +surely is mistaken in representing the effect of this system of terror +as stifling all complaint, silencing all opposition, and inducing +"enemies and friends to yoke themselves alike to the triumphant car of +the majority." He mistook a temporary state of parties for a permanent +and ordinary result, and he was carried away by the immense majority +that then supported the administration, to the belief of a universal +acquiescence. Without intending here to speak of the merits or demerits +of those who represented that majority, it is proper to remark, that +the great change which has taken place since the period when the author +wrote, in the political condition of the very persons who he supposed +then wielded the terrors of disfranchisement against their opponents, in +itself furnishes a full and complete demonstration of the error of +his opinions respecting the "true independence of mind and freedom of +discussion" in America. For without such discussion to enlighten the +minds of the people, and without a stern independence of the rewards +and threats of those in power, the change alluded to could not have +occurred. + +There is reason to complain not only of the ambiguity, but of the style +of exaggeration which pervades all the remarks of the author on this +subject--so different from the well considered and nicely adjusted +language employed by him on all other topics. Thus, p. 262, he implies +that there is no means of redress afforded even by the judiciary, for a +wrong committed by the majority. His error is, _first_, in supposing the +jury to constitute the judicial power; _second_, overlooking what he has +himself elsewhere so well described, the independence of the judiciary, +and its means of controlling the action of a majority in a state or +in the federal government; and _thirdly_, in omitting the proper +consideration of the frequent changes of popular sentiment by which the +majority of yesterday becomes the minority of to-day, and its acts of +injustice are reversed. + +Certain it is that the instances which he cites at this page, do not +establish his position respecting the disposition of the majority. The +riot at Baltimore was, like other riots in England and in France, the +result of popular phrensy excited to madness by conduct of the +most provoking character. The majority in the state of Maryland and +throughout the United States, highly disapproved the acts of violence +committed on the occasion. The acquittal by a jury of those arraigned +for the murder of General Lingan, proves only that there was not +sufficient evidence to identify the accused, or that the jury was +governed by passion. It is not perceived how the majority of the people +are answerable for the verdicts rendered. The guilty have often been +erroneously acquitted in all countries, and in France particularly, +recent instances are not wanting of acquittals especially in +prosecutions for political offences, against clear and indisputable +testimony. And it was entirely fortuitous that the jury was composed of +men whose sympathies were with the rioters and murderers, if the +fact was so. It not unfrequently happens that a jury taken from lists +furnished years perhaps, and always a long time, before the trial, are +decidedly hostile to the temporary prevailing sentiments of their city, +county, or state. + +As in the other instance, if the inhabitant of Pennsylvania intended +to intimate to our author, that a colored voter would be in personal +jeopardy for venturing to appear at the polls to exercise his right, +it must be said in truth, that the incident was local and peculiar, and +contrary to what is annually seen throughout the states where colored +persons are permitted to vote, who exercise that privilege with as full +immunity from injury or oppression, as any white citizen. And, after +all, it is believed that the state of feeling intimated by the informant +of our author, is but an indication of dislike to a _caste_ degraded +by servitude and ignorance; and it is not perceived how it proves the +despotism of a majority over the freedom and independence of opinion. +If it be true, it proves a detestable tyranny over _acts_, over the +exercise of an acknowledged right. The apprehensions of a mob committing +violence deterred the colored voters from approaching the polls. Are +instances unknown in England or even in France, of peaceable subjects +being prevented by mobs or the fear of them, from the exercise of a +right, from the discharge of a duty? And are they evidences of the +despotism of a majority in those countries?--_American Editor._] + +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 for ever 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 are +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 noticed the anarchy of +domestic 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 +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[186] 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.[187] + +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 rights under the +popular form of government within such narrow limits, would be displayed +by such reiterated oppression 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 expressed himself in a letter to Madison:[188] "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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[182] 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 states are in reality the authorities which +direct society in America. + +[183] 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. + +[184] 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 toward another nation, it +cannot be denied that a party may do the same toward another party. + +[185] 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 phrensy 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 country?" + +"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 the 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?" + +[186] 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. + +[187] 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. + +[188] 15th March, 1789. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CAUSES WHICH MITIGATE THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES. + + + * * * * * + +ABSENCE OF CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION. + +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 would penetrate into the privacy of individual interest, 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 of 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 desire 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 +intrust 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 breakwaters, 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 absolute monarchies of Europe; or indeed than any which could be +found on this side 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 Lawyer.--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 intrusted 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 are 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 connexion +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 any 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 would 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 may 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 than it can find places to +content and to employ; 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 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 takes upon itself to deprive men of their +independence, they are not dissatisfied.[189] + +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 +intrusted 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 decisions of +their forefathers. In the mind of an English or an American lawyer, a +taste and a reverence for what is old are 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 produces precedents; +the latter reasons. A French observer is surprised to hear how often an +English or American lawyer quotes the opinions of others, and how little +he alludes to his own; while 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 remark that English and American lawyers found their opinions and +their decisions upon those of their forefathers, is calculated to excite +surprise in an American reader, who supposes that law, as a prescribed +rule of action, can only be ascertained in cases where the statutes are +silent, by reference to the decisions of courts. On the continent, and +particularly in France, as the writer of this note learned from the +conversation of M. De Tocqueville, the judicial tribunals do not +deem themselves bound by any precedents, or by any decisions of their +predecessors or of the appellate tribunals. They respect such decisions +as the opinions of distinguished men, and they pay no higher regard to +their own previous adjudications of any case. It is not easy to perceive +how the law can acquire any stability under such a system, or how any +individual can ascertain his rights, without a lawsuit. This note should +not be concluded without a single remark upon what the author calls an +implicit deference to the opinions of our forefathers, and abnegation of +our own opinions. The common law consists of principles founded on the +common sense of mankind, and adapted to the circumstances of man in +civilized society. When these principles are once settled by competent +authority, or rather _declared_ by such authority, they are supposed to +express the common sense and the common justice of the community; and +it requires but a moderate share of modesty for any one entertaining +a different view of them, to consider that the disinterested and +intelligent judges who have declared them, are more likely to be right +than he is. Perfection, even in the law, he does not consider attainable +by human beings, and the greatest approximation to it is all he expects +or desires. Besides, there are very few cases of positive and abstract +rule, where it is of any consequence which, of any two or more +modifications of it, should be adopted. The great point is, that there +should be _a rule_ by which conduct may be regulated. Thus, whether +in mercantile transactions notice of a default by a principal shall be +given to an endorser, or a guarantor, and when and how such notice shall +be given, are not so important in themselves, as it is that there +should be some rule to which merchants may adapt themselves and their +transactions. Statutes cannot or at least do not, prescribe the rules in +a large majority of cases. If then they are not drawn from the decision +of courts, they will not exist, and men will be wholly at a loss for +a guide in the most important transactions of business. Hence the +deference paid to legal decisions. But this is not implicit, as the +author supposes. The course of reasoning by which the courts have come +to their conclusions, is often assailed by the advocate and shown to be +fallacious, and the instances are not unfrequent of courts disregarding +prior decisions and overruling them when not fairly deducible from sound +reason. + +Again, the principles of the common law are flexible, and adapt +themselves to changes in society, and a well-known maxim in our system, +that when the reason of the law ceases, the law itself ceases, has +overthrown many an antiquated rule. Within these limits, it is conceived +that there is range enough for the exercise of all the reason of the +advocate and the judge, without unsettling everything and depriving the +conduct of human affairs of all guidance from human authority;--and the +talent of our lawyers and courts finds sufficient exercise in applying +the principles of one case to facts of another.--_American Editor_.] + +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 tastes and the ideas of the +aristocratic circles in which they move, with the aristocratic interest +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 to 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 of so great a crime. This spirit more especially appertains 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 tittle 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 literary men, 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 among 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,[190] +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. + +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. + + * * * * * + +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 +ensure 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.[191] + +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.[192] 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 civilisation, in all the climates of the earth, and under +every form of human government, cannot be contrary to the spirit of +justice.[193] + +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.[194] + +In England the jury is returned from the aristocratic portion of the +nation,[195] 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.[196] 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 direction, 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. + +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 arise 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 intrusted, 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 must worthy of the attention of the +legislator; and all that remains is merely accessary. + +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 sees 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; every one 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 civil jury, 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 more destructive passion. It teaches men +to practise 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, while 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 toward 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 judgment, 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 decisions of the judge; they, by the +authority of society which they represent, and he, by that of reason and +of law.[197] + +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 afterward 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.[198] +Upon these occasions they are, accidentally, placed in the position +which the French judges habitually occupy: but 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 character of the individuals who took a part in his +judgment. + +[The remark in the text, that "in some cases, and they are frequently +the most important ones, the American judges have the right of deciding +causes alone," and the author's note, that "the federal judges decide, +upon their own authority, almost all the questions most important to the +country," seem to require explanation in consequence of their connexion +with the context in which the author is speaking of the trial by jury. +They seem to imply that there are some cases which ought to be tried by +jury, that are decided by the judges. It is believed that the learned +author, although a distinguished advocate in France, never thoroughly +comprehended the grand divisions of our complicated system of law, in +civil cases. _First_, is the distinction between cases in equity and +those in which the rules of the common law govern.--Those in equity +are always decided by the judge or judges, who _may_, however, send +questions of fact to be tried in the common law courts by a jury. But as +a general rule this is entirely in the discretion of the equity judge. +_Second_, in cases at common law, there are questions of fact and +questions of law:--the former are invariably tried by a jury, the +latter, whether presented in the course of a jury trial, or by pleading, +in which the facts are admitted, are always decided by the judges. + +_Third_, cases of admiralty jurisdiction, and proceedings _in rem_ of an +analogous nature, are decided by the judges without the intervention +of a jury. The cases in this last class fall within the peculiar +jurisdiction of the federal courts, and, with this exception, the +federal judges do not decide upon their own authority any questions, +which, if presented in the state courts, would not also be decided by +the judges of those courts. The supreme court of the United States, from +the nature of its institution as almost wholly an appellant court, is +called on to decide merely questions of law, and in no case can that +court decide a question of fact, unless it arises in suits peculiar to +equity or admiralty jurisdiction. Indeed the author's original note is +more correct than the translation. It is as follows: "Les juges federaux +tranchent presque toujours seuls les questions qui touchent de plus pres +au _gouvernement_ du pays." And it is very true that the supreme court +of the United States, in particular, decides those questions which most +nearly affect the _government_ of the country, because those are the +very questions which arise upon the constitutionality of the laws +of congress and of the several states, the final and conclusive +determination of which is vested in that tribunal.--_American Editor_.] + +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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[189] This translation does not accurately convey the meaning of M. de +Tocqueville's expression. He says: "Ils craignent moins la tyrannie que +l'arbitraire, et pourvu que le legislateur se charge lui-meme d'enlever +aux hommes leur independance, ils sont a peu pres content." + +The more correct rendering would be: 'They fear tyranny less than +arbitrary sway, and provided it is the legislator himself who +undertakes to deprive men of their independence, they are almost +content.'--_Reviser_. + +[190] See chapter vi., p. 94, on the judicial power in the United +States. + +[191] 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 generally 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. + +[192] 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, ch. xxxviii.). + +[193] 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 among 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 new comers. The +ambition of the magistrates is therefore continually excited, and they +are naturally made dependant upon the will of the majority, or the +individual who fills up vacant appointments: the officers of the courts +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 is 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 obtaining 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 skilfull judge, than to judges, a majority of whom +are imperfectly acquainted with jurisprudence and with the laws. + +[I venture to remind the reader, lest this note should appear somewhat +redundant to an English eye, that the jury is an institution which has +only been naturalized in France within the present century; that it is +even now exclusively applied to those criminal causes which come before +the courts of assize, or to the prosecutions of the public press; and +that the judges and counsellors of the numerous local tribunals of +France--forming a body of many thousand judicial functionaries--try all +civil causes, appeals from criminal causes, and minor offences, without +the jury.--_Translator's Note_.] + +[194] 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. + +[195] In France, the qualification of the jurors is the same as the +electoral qualification, namely, the payment of 200 francs per annum in +direct taxes: they are chosen by lot. In England they are returned by +the sheriff; the qualifications of jurors were raised to 10_l_ per annum +in England, and 6_l_ in Wales, of freehold land or copyhold, by the +statute W. and M., c. 24: leaseholders for a time determinable upon life +or lives, of the clear yearly value of 20_l_ per annum over and above +the rent reserved, are qualified to serve on juries; and jurors in +the courts of Westminster and city of London must be householders, +and possessed of real and personal estates of the value of 100_l_. +The qualifications, however, prescribed in different statutes, +vary according to the object for which the jury is impannelled. See +Blackstone's Commentaries, b. iii., c. 23.--_Translator's Note_. + +[196] See Appendix Q. + +[197] See Appendix R. + +[198] The federal judges decide upon their own authority almost all the +questions most important to the country. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +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 voluntarily 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 part 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 among +them. + +The Americans have no neighbors, and consequently they have no great +wars, or financial crises, or inroads, or conquests 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 be the head of their government, is a +man of 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 who are thus carried away by the +illusions of glory, are 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 city,[199] 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. + +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 being acquainted with that system. + +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 among 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 settlers +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 Americans 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 disposition 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 civilisation, +but which occupied and cultivated the soil. To found their new states, +it was necessary to extirpate or to subdue a numerous population, until +civilisation 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, that 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 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 civilisation 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, while 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 country for the +transatlantic shores; and the American, who is born on that very coast, +plunges 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 toward 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. + +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 forward +in the same direction to meet and struggle on the same spot; but the +designs of Providence were not the same; then, every new comer 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 American +toward the west; but we can hardly 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 59 inhabitants to the square mile, the population has not +been increased by more than one quarter in forty years, while 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.[200] 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 80 inhabitants +to the square mile, which is much 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 right 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. + +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 state 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 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 toward 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 +onward by a passion more intense than the love of life. Before him lies +a boundless continent, and he urges onward 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 +meliorate it still more; fortune awaits them everywhere, but happiness +they cannot attain. The desire of prosperity has 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 those 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 shore of a lake, which was +embosomed with 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 at 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 an 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 +attachment 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 the 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, while +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 among 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 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 established 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 so 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 sentence beginning "I was poor, I become rich," &c, struck the +editor, on perusal, as obscure, if not contradictory. The original seems +more explicit, and justice to the author seems to require that it should +be presented to the reader. "J'etais pauvre, me voici riche; du moins, +si le bien-etre, en agissant sur ma conduite, laissait mon jugement en +liberte! Mais non, mes opinions sont en effet changees avec ma fortune, +et, dans l'evenement heureux dont je profite, j'ai reellement decouvert +la raison determinante qui jusque-la m'avait manque."--_American +Editor_.] + +The influence of prosperity acts still more freely upon the American +than upon strangers. The American has always seen the connexion 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. + + * * * * * + +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 use 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 AMONG 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 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. These 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 cause by +which it is occasioned may easily be discovered upon reflection. + +I think that the catholic religion has erroneously been looked upon as +the natural enemy of democracy. Among 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 the 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 compromises +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 make his place among 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 it 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 ensure 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 holds the same +language; their opinions are consonant to the laws, and the human +intellect flows onward 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, while 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 no 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 beheld 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 +slightest 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 women 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. While the European endeavors to forget his domestic troubles +by agitating society, the American derives from his own home that love +of order, which he afterward 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. Among +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 +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 minds 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 while the law permits the Americans to do what they please, +religion prevents them from conceiving, and forbids them to commit, what +is rash and 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, every one abandons him, and he +remains alone. + +While 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.[201] The newspapers related the fact without any +farther comment. + +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 +civilisation, 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, toward 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? + + * * * * * + +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, while +in America one of the freest and most enlightened nations in the world +fulfils all the outward duties of religion with 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 peaceable +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 fill no public appointments;[202] 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[203] 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. + +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 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 the 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 government appears 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 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, amid 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 in 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 object 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, while 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 among 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. + +Amid 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 know 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 connexion 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 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 all 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 is 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 principles of their legislation. The Americans have lawyers +and commentators, but no jurists; 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. + +[The remark that in America "there are very good workmen but very +few inventors," will excite surprise in this country. The inventive +character of Fulton he seems to admit, but would apparently deprive us +of the credit of his name, by the remark that he was obliged to proffer +his services to foreign nations for a long time. He might have added, +that those proffers were disregarded and neglected, and that it was +finally in his own country that he found the aid necessary to put in +execution his great project. If there be patronage extended by the +citizens of the United States to any one thing in preference to another, +it is to the results of inventive genius. Surely Franklin, Rittenhouse, +and Perkins, have been heard of by our author; and he must have heard +something of that wonderful invention, the cotton-gin of Whitney, and +of the machines for making cards to comb wool. The original machines of +Fulton for the application of steam have been constantly improving, so +that there is scarcely a vestige of them remaining. But to sum up the +whole in one word, can it be possible that our author did not visit the +patent office at Washington? Whatever may be said of the _utility_ of +nine-tenths of the inventions of which the descriptions and models are +there deposited, no one who has ever seen that depository, or who has +read a description of its contents, can doubt that they furnish the most +incontestible evidence of extraordinary inventive genius--a genius that +has excited the astonishment of other European travellers.--_American +Editor_.] + +The observer who is desirous of forming an opinion on the state of +instruction among 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 +indiscriminately 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 civilisation; their progress has been unequal; some +of them have improved apace, while others have loitered in their course, +and some have stopped, and are still sleeping upon the way. + +Such has not been the case in the United States. The Anglo-Americans +settled in a state of civilisation, upon that territory which their +descendants occupy; they had not to begin to learn, and it was +sufficient 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 among them; and they are alike unacquainted with +the virtues, the vices, the coarse habits, and the simple graces of an +early stage of civilisation. 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 log-house. Nothing can offer a more +miserable aspect than these isolated dwellings. The traveller who +approaches one of them toward night-fall, 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 back-woods, and who penetrates into the wilds of a 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.[204] I do not +think that so much intellectual intercourse takes place in the most +enlightened and populous districts of France.[205] 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 farther +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. + +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 school-boys, and +parliamentary forms are observed in the order of a feast. + + * * * * * + +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 subsist only among 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.[206] 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. + +It is true that the Anglo-Americans settled in the New World in a state +of social equality; the low-born and the noble were not to be found +among 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 transatlantic colonies were founded by men equal among +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. + +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 fortunes 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 while 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 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 me 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 these 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 durability which mark its acts, +while 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 +civilisation of their parents. Their passions are more intense; their +religious morality less authoritative; and their convictions are +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: while 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 BESIDE 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 a 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 beside the +Anglo-Americans, and as these peoples 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 among 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 infused with the opinions of the people, might +subsist in other countries beside 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 +among 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 among 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 of 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 to +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 +what it might become at the present time. + +If absolute power were re-established among 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 for ever 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 toward +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 occupied the throne, and +alternately displayed to the people the weakness of right, and the +harshness of 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 is himself +full of animosity and alarm; he finds that he is 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. + +While 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 afforded 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 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 that opinion; and when every +citizen--being equally weak, equally poor, and equally dependant--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. + +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 +be 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 toward 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 afterward 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 +among us in time, we shall sooner or later arrive at the unlimited +authority of a single despot. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[199] 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 an 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 succeed in creating an armed force, +which, while it remains under the control of the majority of the nation, +will be independent of the town population, and able to repress its +excesses. + +[200] In New England the estates are exceedingly small, but they are +rarely subjected to farther division. + +[201] 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 instance given by the author, of a person offered as a witness +having been rejected on the ground that he did not believe in the +existence of a God, seems to be adduced to prove either his assertion +that the Americans hold religion to be indispensable to the maintenance +of republican institutions--or his assertion, that if a man attacks all +the sects together, every one abandons him and he remains alone. But +it is questionable how far the fact quoted proves either of these +positions. The rule which prescribes as a qualification for a witness +the belief in a Supreme Being who will punish falsehood, without which +he is deemed wholly incompetent to testify, is established for the +protection of personal rights, and not to compel the adoption of any +system of religious belief. It came with all our fundamental principles +from England as a part of the common law which the colonists brought +with them. It is supposed to prevail in every country in Christendom, +whatever may be the form of its government; and the only doubt that +arises respecting its existence in France, is created by our author's +apparent surprise at finding such a rule in America.--_American +Editor_.] + +[202] Unless this term be applied to the functions which many of them +fill in the schools. Almost all education is intrusted to the clergy. + +[203] See the constitution of New York, art. 7, Sec. 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. 1, Sec. 23. Kentucky, art. 2, Sec. 26. Tennessee, art S, Sec. 1. +Louisiana, art. 2, Sec. 22. + +[204] 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 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 journied along by the light they +cast. From time to time we came to a hut in the midst of the forest, +which was a postoffice. 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. + +[205] In 1832, each inhabitant of Michigan paid a sum equivalent to 1 +franc, 22 centimes (French money) to the postoffice 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 department du +Nord, paid 1 fr. 4 cent, to the revenue of the French postoffice. (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 instruction and the commercial +activity of these districts are inferior to those of most of the +states in the Union; while the department du Nord, which contains +3,400 inhabitants per square league, is one of the most enlightened and +manufacturing parts of France. + +[206] 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. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +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 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 places 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, while 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 upward to the icy +regions of the north.[207] + +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 +among 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. + +Among 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 learned +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 the 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 their 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 utmost 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, or 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, civilisation has +little power over him. + +The negro makes a thousand fruitless efforts to insinuate himself among +men who repulse him; he conforms to the taste 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 civilisation, less perhaps from the hatred +which he entertains for it, than from a dread of resembling the +Europeans.[208] 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; while our well-digested plans are met by the +spontaneous instincts of savage life, who can wonder if he fails in this +unequal contest? + +The negro who earnestly desires to mingle his race with that of the +European, cannot effect it; 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 the 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; while 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 Civilisation.--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 Creek +and Cherokees.--Policy of the particular States toward these +Indians.--Policy of the federal Government. + +None of the Indian tribes which formerly inhabited the territory of New +England--the Narragansets, the Mohicans, the Pequots--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 seacoast; 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;[209] and as they give way or perish, an immense and +increasing people fills their place. There is no instance on 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. + +When the Indians were the sole inhabitants of the wilds whence they +have 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 skin of animals, whose flesh furnished them +with food. + +The Europeans introduced among the savages of North America firearms, +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.[210] While the wants of the natives +were thus increasing, their resources continued to diminish. 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.[211] Thousands of savages, wandering in the forest and destitute +of any fixed dwelling, did not disturb them; but as soon as the +continuous sounds of European labor are heard in the 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 Allegany; +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 the 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.[212] + +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,[213] 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 those 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. + +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 new-comers 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 deserts them; their very +families are obliterated; the names they bore in common are forgotten, +their language perishes, and all the 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, while 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 in 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 the 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 +among 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 despatches +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 land to us, and +go to live happily in those solitudes." After holding this language, +they spread before the eyes of the Indians fire-arms, woollen garments, +kegs of brandy, glass necklaces, bracelets of tinsel, ear-rings, and +looking-glasses.[214] 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.[215] + +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.[216] 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. + +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.[217] 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; while 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. + +It is easy to foresee that the Indians will never conform to +civilisation; or that it will be too late, whenever they may be inclined +to make the experiment. + +Civilisation is the result of 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 civilisation with the most difficulty, which habitually live +by the chase. Pastoral tribes, indeed, often change their place of +abode; but they follow in regular order in their migrations, and often +return again to their old stations, while the dwelling of the hunter +varies with that of the animals he pursues. + +Several attempts have been made to diffuse knowledge among the Indians, +without controlling their wandering propensities; by the Jesuits in +Canada, and by the puritans in New England;[218] but none of these +endeavors were crowned by any lasting success. Civilisation 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 +civilisation, 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 natural character. + +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.[219] + +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 ascendency, 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.[220] 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 among the Europeans who people its coasts, that the ancient +prejudices of Europe are still in existence. + +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 among +them the Cherokees and the Creeks,[221] 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 civilisation 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. + +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.[222] + +The growth of European habits has been remarkably accelerated among +these Indians by the mixed race which has sprung up[223]: Deriving +intelligence from the father's side, without entirely losing the savage +customs of the mother, the half-blood forms the natural link between +civilisation 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.[224] + +The success of the Cherokees proves that the Indians are capable of +civilisation, but it does not prove that they will succeed in it. The +difficulty which the Indians find in submitting to civilisation 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 civilisation by +degrees, and by their own efforts. Whenever they derived knowledge from +a foreign people, they stood toward it in the relation of conquerors, +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 Moguls, 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 becomes 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 may be owned) the most avaricious +nation on the globe, while 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 toward any +one; 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,[225] 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 civilisation can boast: and even this much he is not +sure to obtain. + +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 among 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, while 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 it 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 among 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 remote regions; +and he quits the plough, resumes his native arms, and returns to the +wilderness for ever.[226] The condition of the Creeks and Cherokees, +to which I have already alluded, sufficiently corroborates the truth of +this deplorable picture. + +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. While the savages +were engaged in the work of civilisation, 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.[227] + +Washington said in one of his messages to congress, "We are more +enlightened and 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 an independent people, and attempts have been made to subject +these children of the woods to Anglo-American magistrates, laws, and +customs.[228] Destitution had driven these unfortunate Indians to +civilisation, 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. + +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,[229] they are aware that these +tribes have not yet lost the traditions of savage life, and before +civilisation 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.[230] 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. + +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 33d and 37th 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, toward the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians +had already gone 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 the springing crops; they are of opinion that the work of +civilisation, once interrupted, will never be resumed; they fear that +those domestic habits which have been so recently contracted, may be +irrecoverably 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 civilisation 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.[231] +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. + +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.[232] + +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.[233] "By the will of our Father +in heaven, the governor of the whole world," said the Cherokees in their +petition to congress,[234] "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 the United States, +only a few are to be seen--a few whom a sweeping pestilence had 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? + +"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 their remains. 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 it is said gratuitously. +At what time have we made the forfeit? What great crime have we +committed, whereby we must for ever 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 which +followed that war? 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 last 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 blood-hounds, like wild beasts; +and they sacked the New World with no more temper or compassion than a +city taken by storm: but destruction must cease, and phrensy be stayed; +the remnant of the Indian population, which had escaped the massacre, +mixed with its conquerors and adopted their religion and manners.[235] +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. + +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.[236] It is impossible to destroy men +with more respect for the laws of humanity. + + * * * * * + +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 among the Moderns, than it was among 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 toward +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, while 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 United States, arises from the presence of a +black population upon its territory; and in contemplating the causes +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 amid 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 +afterward 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 among the moderns; +but the consequences of these evils were different. The slave, among the +ancients, belonged to the same race as his master, and he was often the +superior of the two in education[237] 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 +enfranchisement; 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 was abolished. There is a +natural prejudice which prompts men to despise whomsoever has been their +inferior, long after he has 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 among the ancients; for the freedman bore so entire +a resemblance to those born free, that it soon became impossible to +distinguish him from among them. + +The greatest difficulty in antiquity was that of altering the law; +among the moderns it is 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, among 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 among 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.[238] 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. + +It is difficult for us, who have had the good fortune to be born among +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 founded 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 course of events 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 nowise 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 among +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 pleasure, 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, because he fears lest they should be some day confounded +together. + +Among 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 while 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.[239] +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 toward the northern states, +and the negro population was always very limited in New England.[240] + +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 expense 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 civilisation, +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 toward the north, those of the north descended to the south; but in +the midst of all these causes, the same result recurred 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. + +But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilisation +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 which have 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.[241] + +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 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 primeval 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 are the reward of labor.[242] + +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 250,000 souls.[243] 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 civilisation of antiquity +and that of our own time. + +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; +while 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, while 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.[244] + +The influence of slavery extends still farther; 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, +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 that 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 toward the north; but it now retires again. Freedom, +which started from the north, now descends uninterruptedly toward the +south. Among 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.[245] + +No great change takes place in human institutions, without involving +among 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 that 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 every one 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 principles, which +is, the interest of the master. + +As slavery recedes, the black population follows its retrograde course, +and returns with it to 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 the 4th of July, 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 slaves (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 +an 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,[246] 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,[247] and the rest congregate in the +great towns, where they perform the meanest offices, and lead a wretched +and precarious existence. + +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 abolished 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 among 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; while 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 toward 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;[248] 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;[249] 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[250] to them than 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. + +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 meantime 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 toward 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 three hundred inhabitants; +in Massachusetts, one in one hundred; in New York, two in one hundred; +in Pennsylvania, three in the same number; in Maryland, thirty-four; +in Virginia, forty-two; and lastly, in South Carolina, fifty-five per +cent.[251] 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. + +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 while 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 +enfranchised 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. + +In the north, as I have already remarked, a two-fold 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 southward; 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 the 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 if 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, while 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 circles 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 members and its powers +are small, while 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.[252] I do not imagine that the +white and the 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.[253] + +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 lacqueys 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 among +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 for ever 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 India 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 accumulating 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 than 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.[254] In 1820, the society to +which I allude formed a settlement in Africa, upon the 7th degree +of north latitude, which bears the name of Liberia. The most recent +intelligence informs us that two thousand five hundred 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.[255] + +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 civilisation 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 two thousand +five hundred negroes to Africa; in the same space of time about seven +hundred thousand 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,[256] and to transport the negroes to Liberia, there +is little chance that the negro population of the United States would +change. + +In the South, however, this leaves two choices: either for the whites +to remain in communities with 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 interests; 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 while +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 meanwhile 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 phrensy. 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 consequences 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 +connexion, they must have believed that slavery would last for ever; +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 afterward informed him that those rights were precious and +inviolable. They affected to open their ranks to the slave, 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.[257] + +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 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 were 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 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. + + * * * * * + +WHAT ARE THE CHANCES IN FAVOR OF THE DURATION OF THE AMERICAN UNION, AND +WHAT DANGERS THREATEN IT. + +Reasons why 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 Improvement.--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 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. Among 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 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 +attained by a national or 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 prerogative inherent +in its nature, is invested with the right of regulating the affairs +which relate partly to the general and partly to the local interest, +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 right of determining the civil and political +competency of the citizens, of 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 government 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; while 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, while 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 claims with +boldness, and takes prompt and energetic steps to support it. In +the meanwhile 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 consideration 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 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.[258] + +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.[259] 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. + +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 +compact, 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 especially interested in the existence of the Union, as +has frequently been the case in the history of confederations. + +If it be supposed that among 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 among the states. + +If one of the confederated 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 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.[260] 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. + +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. + +[The remarks respecting the inability of the federal government to +retain within the Union any state that may choose "to withdraw its name +from the contract," ought not to pass through an American edition of +this work, without the expression of a dissent by the editor from the +opinion of the author. The laws of the United States must remain in +force in a revolted state, until repealed by congress; the customs and +postages must be collected; the courts of the United States must sit, +and must decide the causes submitted to them; as has been very happily +explained by the author, the courts act upon individuals. If their +judgments are resisted, the executive arm must interpose, and if the +state authorities aid in the resistance, the military power of the whole +Union must be invoked to overcome it. So long as the laws affecting +the citizens of such a state remain, and so long as there remain any +officers of a general government to enforce them, these results must +follow not only theoretically but actually. The author probably formed +the opinions which are the subject of these remarks, at the commencement +of the controversy with South Carolina respecting the tariff. And when +they were written and published, he had not learned the result of +that controversy, in which the supremacy of the Union and its laws +was triumphant. There was doubtless great reluctance in adopting the +necessary measures to collect the customs, and to bring every legal +question that could possibly arise out of the controversy, before the +judiciary of the United States, but they were finally adopted, and were +not the less successful for being the result of deliberation and of +necessity. Out of that controversy have arisen some advantages of a +permanent character, produced by the legislation which it required. +There were defects in the laws regulating the manner of bringing from +the state courts into those of the United States, a cause involving the +constitutionality of acts of congress or of the states, through which +the federal authority might be evaded. Those defects were remedied +by the legislation referred to; and it is now more emphatically and +universally true, than when the author wrote, that the acts of the +general government operate through the judiciary, upon individual +citizens, and not upon the states.--_American Editor._] + +Among 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 toward 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 Allegany 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 coasts 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 Alleganies 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. Beside which, the principal rivers that fall into the Atlantic +ocean, the Hudson, the Susquehannah, and the Potomac, take their rise +beyond the Alleganies, in an open district, which borders upon +the valley of the Mississippi. These streams quit this tract of +country,[261] 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 Alleganies 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 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,[262] 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 the 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. + +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 connexion 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 remoter part of a single valley; and all +the rivers which intersect their territory rise in the Rocky mountains +or in the Alleganies, and fall into the Mississippi, which bears them +onward to the gulf of Mexico. The western states are consequently +entirely cut off, by their position, from the traditions of Europe and +the civilisation 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. + +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 interest at stake may obliterate. Nor do I attach much +importance to the language of the Americans, when they manifest in their +daily conversation, 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 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[263] 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 interests, 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. + +The Anglo-Americans are not only united together by those 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, while 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 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 exerted 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 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 limits 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 +gaiety, 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, +while 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 obtaining 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 civilisation, 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. + +The states which gave their assent to the federal contract in 1790 were +thirteen in number; the Union now consists of twenty-four members. The +population which amounted to nearly four millions in 1790, had more than +tripled in the space of forty years; and in 1830 it amounted to nearly +thirteen millions.[264] Changes of such magnitude cannot take place +without some danger. + +A society of nations, as well as a society of individuals, derive 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 among them; that of morality +is still more powerless. The settlers who are constantly peopling the +valley of the Mississippi are, then, in every respect 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 learned to govern +themselves.[265] + +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 dependant upon their union. When, in 1790, the +most populous of the American republics did not contain 500,000 +inhabitants,[266] 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, two millions of inhabitants, +and covers an extent of territory equal in surface to a quarter of +France,[267] 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? + +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 a hundred +millions of inhabitants, and divided into forty states.[268] I admit +that these hundred millions 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 a hundred +millions of men, and forty distinct nations unequally strong, the +continuance of the federal government can only be a fortunate accident. + +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 twelve hundred 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 a mean +distance of seventeen miles along the whole of this vast boundary.[269] +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 onward. This gradual and +continuous progress of the European race toward the Rocky mountains, has +the solemnity of a providential event; it is like a deluge of men rising +unabatedly, and daily driven onward by the hand of God. + +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 four +millions.[270] 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.[271] + +All the states are borne onward at the same time in the path of +fortune, but of course they do not all increase and prosper in the same +proportion. In the north of the Union detached branches of the Allegany +chain, extending 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 among +these lagunes, 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[272] and +manufacture; the natural consequence of which is the more rapid increase +of population and of wealth within its borders. The states situated 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.[273] + +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 Alleganies. +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 valleys of the Mississippi will +preponderate in the federal assemblies. + +This constant gravitation of the federal power and influence toward +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.[274] 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.[275] During the same period the state of New York +advanced 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. + +It is difficult to imagine a durable union of a people which is rich and +strong, with one which is poor and weak, and 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 move 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 +two millions 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 mistrusts the justice and the reason of the +strong. The states which increase less rapidily 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 while 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 while 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; while the south, +which may be styled the garden of America, is rapidly declining."[276] +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 afterward 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.[277] But they believe themselves to be +impoverished because their wealth does not augment as rapidly as that of +their neighbors; and they think that their power is lost, because they +suddenly come into collision with a power greater than their own.[278] +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. + +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 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 any of the 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 sever the federal tie; and it is to this supposition that most +of the remarks which I have made apply: or the authority of the federal +government may be progressively intrenched 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; while 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 observed, 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,[279] 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.[280] And to these facilities of nature and +art may be added those restless cravings, that busymindedness, and love +of self, 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 thirteen millions of men who cover the +territory of the United States. + +But while 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 enlightened than the +men among 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 civilisation 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 monarchical +institutions; and the Union has not rendered the lesser states dependant +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. 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. + +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 among 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 among 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, while 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 forward, the government of the Union has invariably been +obliged to recede, as often as it has attempted to enter the lists with +the government 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 has 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, have 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.[281] + +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.[282] 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 treasury 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 +civilisation 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.[283] + +[The remark of the author, that "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" +requires considerable qualification. The instances which the author +cites, are those of _legislative_ interpretations, not those made by the +judiciary. It may be questioned whether any of those cited by him are +fair instances of _interpretation_. Although the then president and many +of his friends doubted or denied the power of congress over many of the +subjects mentioned by the author, yet the omission to exercise the +power thus questioned, did not proceed wholly from doubts of the +constitutional authority. It must be remembered that all these questions +affected local interests of the states or districts represented in +congress, and the author has elsewhere shown the tendency of the local +feeling to overcome all regard for the abstract interest of the Union. +Hence many members have voted on these questions without reference to +the constitutional question, and indeed without entertaining any doubt +of their power. These instances may afford proof that the federal power +is declining, as the author contends, but they do not prove any actual +interpretation of the constitution. And so numerous and various are the +circumstances to influence the decision of a legislative body like the +congress of the United States, that the people do not regard them +as sound and authoritative expositions of the true sense of the +constitution, except perhaps in those very few cases, where there has +been a constant and uninterrupted practice from the organization of the +government. The judiciary is looked to as the only authentic expounder +of the constitution, and until a law of congress has passed that +ordeal, its constitutionality is open to question: of which our history +furnishes many examples ... There are errors in some of the instances +given by our author, which would materially mislead, if not corrected. +That in relation to the Indians proceeds upon the assumption that the +United States claimed some rights over Indians or the territory occupied +by them, inconsistent with the claims of the states. But this is a +mistake. As to their lands, the United States never pretended to any +right in them, except such as was granted by the cessions of the states. +The principle universally acknowledged in the courts of the United +States and of the several states, is, that by the treaty with Great +Britain in which the independence of the colonies was acknowledged, +the states became severally and individually independent, and as such +succeeded to the rights of the crown of England to and over the lands +within the boundaries of the respective states. The right of the crown +in these lands was the absolute ownership, subject only to the rights +of occupancy by the Indians so long as they remained a tribe. This +right devolved to each state by the treaty which established their +independence, and the United States have never questioned it. See 6th +Cranch, 87; 8th Wheaton, 502, 884; 17th Johnson's Reports, 231. On +the other hand, the right of holding treaties with the Indians has +universally been conceded to the United States. The right of a state to +the lands occupied by the Indians, within the boundaries of such state, +does not in the least conflict with the right of holding treaties on +national subjects by the United States with those Indians. With respect +to Indians residing in any territory _without_ the boundaries of any +state, or on lands ceded to the United States, the case is different; +the United States are in such cases the proprietors of the soil, subject +to the Indian right of occupancy, and when that right is extinguished +the proprietorship becomes absolute. It will be seen, then, that +in relation to the Indians and their lands, no question could arise +respecting the interpretation of the constitution. The observation that +"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"--is a strange compound of error +and of truth. As above remarked, the Indian right of occupancy has ever +been recognized by the states, with the exception of the case referred +to by the author, in which Georgia claimed the right to possess certain +lands occupied by the Cherokees. This was anomalous, and grew out +of treaties and cessions, the details of which are too numerous and +complicated for the limits of a note. But in no other cases have the +states ever claimed the possession of lands occupied by Indians, without +having previously extinguished their right by purchase. + +As to the rights of sovereignty over the natives, the principle admitted +in the United States is that all persons within the territorial limits +of a state are and of necessity must be, subject to the jurisdiction of +its laws. While the Indian tribes were numerous, distinct, and separate +from the whites, and possessed a government of their own, the state +authorities, from considerations of policy, abstained from the exercise +of criminal jurisdiction for offences committed by the Indians among +themselves, although for offences against the whites they were subjected +to the operation of the state laws. But as these tribes diminished +in numbers, as those who remained among them became enervated by bad +habits, and ceased to exercise any effectual government, humanity +demanded that the power of the states should be interposed to protect +the miserable remnants from the violence and outrage of each other. The +first recorded instance of interposition in such a case was in 1821, +when an Indian of the Seneca tribe in the state of New York was tried +and convicted of murder on a squaw of the tribe. The courts declared +their competency to take cognizance of such offences, and the +legislature confirmed the declaration by a law.--Another instance of +what the author calls interpretation of the constitution against the +general government, is given by him in the proposed act of 1832, which +passed both houses of congress, but was vetoed by the president, by +which, as he says, "the greatest part of the revenue derived from the +sale of lands, was made over to the new western republics." But this act +was not founded on any doubt of the title of the United States to the +lands in question, or of its constitutional power over them, and cannot +be cited as any evidence of the interpretation of the constitution. An +error of fact in this statement ought to be corrected. The bill to which +the author refers, is doubtless that usually called Mr. Clay's land +bill. Instead of making over the greatest part of the revenue to the new +states, it appropriated twelve and a half per cent. to them, in addition +to five per cent. which had been originally granted for the purpose +of making roads. See Niles's Register, vol. 42, p. 355.--_American +Editor._] + +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 bank-notes 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.[284] + +The bank of the United States is nevertheless an 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 +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.[285] 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. + +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 or +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 contract 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 himself 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[286] named a national [state] convention, to consult upon the +extraordinary measures which they were called upon to take; and on the +24th November 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.[287] This decree was only to be put into 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 +farther with her menaces; and a vague desire was afterward expressed +of submitting the question to an extraordinary assembly of all the +confederate states. + +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.[288] +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.[289] Thus congress +completely abandoned the principle of the tariff; and substituted a mere +fiscal impost for a system of protective duties.[290] 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 while 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. + +But South Carolina did not consent to leave the Union in the enjoyment +of these scanty trophies of success: the same national [state] +convention which 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 wherever 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 of 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 be distinctly 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 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 last only so 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 for +ever; but the republic has a much deeper foundation to rest upon. + +What is understood by 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, while 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 taught, 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 best know what is for the good of the people. +A happy distinction, which allows men to act in the name of nations +without consulting them, and to claim their gratitude while 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 ensure +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 with 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 extra-ordinary 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 the 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, while they are formally 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 connexion; 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. Among 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 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 has been objected by an American review, that our author is mistaken +in charging our laws with instability, and in answer to the charge, the +permanence of our fundamental political institutions has been contrasted +with the revolutions in France. But the objection proceeds upon a +mistake of the author's meaning, which at this page is very clearly +expressed. He refers to the instability which modifies _secondary laws_, +and not to that which shakes the foundations of the constitution. The +distinction is equally sound and philosophic, and those in the least +acquainted with the history of our legislation, must bear witness to the +truth of the author's remarks. The frequent revisions of the statutes of +the states rendered necessary by the multitude, variety, and often +the contradiction of the enactments, furnish abundant evidence of this +instability.--_American Editor_.] + +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 an 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 things are 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 civilisation 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. + + * * * * * + +REFLECTIONS ON THE CAUSES OF THE COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY 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-Saxons 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 civilisation. 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.[291] And +they also bring three-quarters of the exports of the New World to the +European consumer.[292] The ships of the United States fill the docks of +Havre and of Liverpool; while the number of English and French vessels +which are to be seen at New York is comparatively small.[293] + +Thus, not only does the American merchant face competition in his own +country, 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. + +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[294]; 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. + +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 been before 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 unforeseen accident befalls him, he +puts into port; at night he furls a portion of his canvass; 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 the tedium of monotony; but, upon his +return, he can sell a pound of his tea for a halfpenny 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 civilisation; 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 materialise 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 any one 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 melioration. 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 depth of the backwoods, as well as in the business of +the city. It is the 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.[295] 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;[296] and America will offer a +still wider field to their enterprise. + +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-defence even to attempt any melioration 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 civilisation which have grown amid 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 +civilisation, 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 connexion with +those states, and of gradually filling their markets. The merchant 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 people 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 toward 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 civilisation 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 service 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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[207] See the map. [Transcriber's Note: Map of North America.] + +[208] 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 +European 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 northwestern 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 among 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." + +[209] In the thirteen original states, there are only 6,273 Indians +remaining. (See Legislative Documents, 20th congress, No. 117, p. 90.) + +[210] Messrs. Clarke and Cass, in their report to congress, the 4th +February, 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, &c., 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. + +[211] "Five years ago," says Volney in his Tableaux 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." + +[212] 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 of America +are rapidly decreasing, although the Europeans are at a considerable +distance from them. + +[213] "The Indians," says 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." + +[214] See in the legislative documents of congress (Doc. 117), the +narrative of what takes place on these occasions. This curious passage +is from the abovementioned report, made to congress by Messrs. Clarke +and Cass, in February, 1829. Mr. Cass is now 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." + +[215] On the 19th of May, 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 dollars. In 1818, the Quapaws yielded up 29,000,000 acres for +4,000 dollars. 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 24th, +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.) + +[216] This seems, indeed, to be the opinion of almost all the 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." + +[217] Among other warlike enterprises, there was one of the Wampanoags, +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. + +[218] See the "Histoire de la Nouvelle France," by Charlevoix, and the +work entitled "Lettres Edifiantes." + +[219] "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." + +[220] 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." + +[221] 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, 28th congress, No. 117, pp. 90-105.) + +[222] I brought back with me to France, one or two copies of this +singular publication. + +[223] 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. + +[224] 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 live and dress 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. + +[225] 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 than 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. Among 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 saw 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 to 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 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, vices, and, above all, +of the destitution in which he lived. + +[226] 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 upon 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 afterward 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 the 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 light, which exist +in European civilisation, produce results of such magnitude, the +consequences which must ensue from the collision of the most perfect +European civilisation with Indian savages may readily be conceived. + +[227] 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 farther 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 _exparte_ evidence of their several rights, +was of no validity whatever. + +[228] 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 dollars and 3 +year's imprisonment. When these laws were enforced upon the Choctaws who +inhabited that district, the tribes 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. + +[229] 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. + +[230] 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. + +[231] The fifth article of the treaty made with the Creeks in August, +1790, is in the following words: "The United States solemnly guaranty 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 guaranty 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. + +[232] 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, 23d March, 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 for +ever_." + +The secretary of war, in a letter written to the Cherokees, April 18th, +1829 (see the same work, page 6), declares to them that they cannot +expect to retain possession of the land, at the 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! + +[233] 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 20th, 1802." (See Story's Laws of the United +States.) 3d, "The report of Mr. Cass, secretary of war, relative to +Indian affairs, November 29th, 1823". + +[234] December 18th, 1829. + +[235] 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. + +[236] See among other documents, the report made by Mr. Bell in the name +of the committee on Indian affairs, Feb. 24th, 1830, in which it 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 able 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. + +[237] It is well known that several of the most distinguished authors +of antiquity, and among 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. + +[238] 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. + +[239] 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. + +[240] 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 Collections 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 afterward the laws, finally put an end to slavery. + +[241] 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. + +[242] 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 with arrive at New York, may be forwarded by water +to New Orleans across five hundred leagues of continent. + +[243] The exact numbers given by the census of 1830 were: Kentucky, +588,844; Ohio, 937,679. [In 1840 the census gave, Kentucky 779,828; Ohio +1,519,467.] + +[244] 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; 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 confederate 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. + +[245] 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, while 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. + +[246] 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. + +[247] 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 among the negroes who are still +slaves. (See Emmerson's Medical Statistics, p. 28.) + +[248] 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 necessarily be made to produce rice: but may +they not subsist without rice-grounds? + +[249] 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. + +[250] The Spanish government formerly caused a certain number of +peasants from the Azores 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. + +[251] 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, 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; 2,208,112 blacks. + +[By the census of 1840, the population of the two races was as follows: +States where slavery is abolished, 9,556,065 whites; 171,854 blacks. +Slave states, 4,633,153 whites; 2,581,688 blacks.] + +[252] 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." + +[253] 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. + +[254] This society assumed the name "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, April, 1833. + +[255] 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. + +[256] 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. + +[257] In the original, "Voulant la servitude, il se sont laisse +entrainer, malgre eux ou a leur insu, vers la liberte." + +"Desiring servitude, they have suffered themselves, involuntarily or +ignorantly, to be drawn toward liberty."--_Reviser_. + +[258] See the conduct of the northern states in the war of 1812. "During +that war," said 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." + +[259] 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. + +[260] 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. + +[261] See Darby's View of the United States, pp. 64, 79. + +[262] See Darby's View of the United States, p. 435. + +[In Carey & Lea's Geography of America, the United States are said to +form an area of 2,076,400 square miles.--_Translator's Note._] + +[The discrepancy between Darby's estimate of the area of the United +States given by the author, and that stated by the translator, is +not easily accounted for. In Bradford's comprehensive Atlas, a work +generally of great accuracy, it is said that "as claimed by this +country, the territory of the United States extends from 25 deg. to 54 deg. +north latitude, and from 65 deg. 49' to 125 deg. west longitude, over an area of +about 2,200,000 square miles."--_American Editor._] + +[263] 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. + +[264] Census of 1790........ 3,929,328. do 1830........12,856,165. + [do. 1840........17,068,666.] + +[265] 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. + +[266] Pennsylvania contained 431,373 inhabitants in 1790. + +[267] The area of the state of New York is about 46,000 square miles. +See Carey & Lea's American Geography, p. 142. + +[268] 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 give only +702 inhabitants to the square league: this would be far below the +mean population of France, which is 1,003 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 Maltebrun, vol. vi., +p. 92.) + +[269] See Legislative Documents, 20th congress, No. 117, p. 105. + +[270] 3,672,317; census 1830. + +[271] The distance of Jefferson, the capital of the state of Missouri, +to Washington, is 1,018 miles. (American Almanac, 1831, p. 40.) + +[272] 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 has three times as much shipping as the +four abovementioned states. Nevertheless the area of the state of +Massachusetts is only 7,335 square miles, and its population amounts +to 610,014 inhabitants; while 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 among the whites, and by preventing +them from meeting with as numerous a class of sailors as they require. +Sailors are generally 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. + +[273] Darby's view of the United States, p. 444. + +[274] It may be seen that in the course of the last ten years (1820-'30) +the population of one district, as for instance, the state of Delaware, +has increased in the proportion of 5 per cent.; while that of another, +as the territory of Michigan, has increased 250 per cent. Thus the +population of Virginia has augmented 13 per cent., and that of the +border state of Ohio 61 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. + +[275] It has just been said that in the course of the last term the +population of Virginia has increased 13 per cent.; and it is necessary +to explain how the number of representatives of 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 its 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 number, on the one hand, as the +new number 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 representatives of Virginia will +remain stationary; and if the increase of the Virginian population be +to that of the whole Union in a feebler ratio than the new number +of representatives of the Union to the old number, the number of the +representatives of Virginia must decrease. + +[276] See the report of its committees to the convention, which +proclaimed the nullification of the tariff in South Carolina. + +[277] The population of a country assuredly constitutes the first +element of its wealth. In the ten years (1820-'30) 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 15 per cent.; and that of Georgia 51-5 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.; of France at the rate of 7 +per cent.; and of Europe in general at the rate of 4-7 per cent. (See +Maltebrun, vol. vi., p. 95.) + +[278] 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. + +[279] 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 +report of the general post-office, 30th November, 1833.) The postage of +newspapers alone in the whole Union amounted to $254,796. + +[280] 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.) + +[281] 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. + +[282] The first act of cession 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. + +[283] It is true that the president refused his assent to this law; +but he completely adopted it in principle. See message of 8th December, +1833. + +[284] The present bank of the United States was established in 1816, +with a capital of 35,000,000 dollars; 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. + +[285] See principally for the details of this affair, the legislative +documents, 22d congress, 2d session, No 3. + +[286] 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. + +[287] 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." + +[288] Congress was finally decided to take this step by the conduct of +the powerful state of Virginia, whose legislature offered to serve as a +mediator between the Union and South Carolina. Hitherto the latter +state had appeared to be entirely abandoned even by the states which had +joined her in her remonstrances. + +[289] This law was passed on the 2d March, 1833. + +[290] This bill was brought in by Mr. Clay, and it passed in four days +through both houses of Congress, by an immense majority. + +[291] The total value of goods imported during the year which ended +on the 30th September, 1832, was 101,129,266 dollars. The value of the +cargoes of foreign vessels did not amount to 10,731,039 dollars, or +about one-tenth of the entire sum. + +[292] The value of goods exported during the same year amounted to +87,176,943 dollars; the value of goods exported by foreign vessels +amounted to 21,036,183 dollars, or about one quarter of the whole sum. +(Williams's Register, 1833, p. 398.) + +[293] 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. + +[294] Materials are, generally speaking, less expensive in America than +in Europe, but the price of labor is much higher. + +[295] 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. + +[296] Part of the commerce of the Mediterranean is already carried on by +American vessels. + + + + +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 farther 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 counter-balance 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 +tongue but ours; and all the European settlements scattered over that +immense region recalled the traditions of our country. Louisburg, +Montmorency, Duquesne, Saint-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,[297] 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 among 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. + +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 toward 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. + +The lands of the New World belong to the first occupants 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. + +[The prophetic accuracy of the author, in relation to the present actual +condition of Texas, exhibits the sound and clear perception with which +he surveyed our institutions and character.--_American Editor_.] + +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 civilisation, 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. While 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 ensue, 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.[298] 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.[299] What cause can +prevent the United States from having as numerous a population in time? + +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 +civilisation. 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 among 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,[300] equal in condition, the progeny of +one race, owing their origin to the same cause, and preserving the same +civilisation, 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. + +There are, at the present time, two great nations in the world, which +seem to tend toward 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 while the attention of mankind was directed +elsewhere, they have suddenly assumed a most prominent place among 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;[301] 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, civilisation 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. + + * * * * * + +Notes: + +[297] 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. + +[298] 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. (Maltebrun, liv. 114, vol., vi., +p. 4.) + +[299] See Maltebrun, liv. 116, vol. vi., p.92. + +[300] This would be a population proportionate to that of Europe, taken +at a mean rate of 410 inhabitants to the square league. + +[301] Russia is the country in the Old World in which population +increases most rapidly in proportion. + + + + +APPENDICES + + +APPENDIX A.--Page 17. + +For information concerning all the countries of the West which have +not been visited by Europeans, consult the account of two expeditions +undertaken at the expense of congress by Major Long. This traveller +particularly mentions, on the subject of the great American desert, that +a line may be drawn nearly parallel to the 20th degree of longitude[302] +(meridian of Washington), beginning from the Red river and ending at +the river Platte. From this imaginary line to the Rocky mountains, which +bound the valley of the Mississippi on the west, lie immense plains, +which are almost entirely covered with sand, incapable of cultivation, +or scattered over with masses of granite. In summer, these plains are +quite destitute of water, and nothing is to be seen on them but herds of +buffaloes and wild horses. Some hordes of Indians are also found there, +but in no great number. + +Major Long was told, that in travelling northward from the river Platte, +you find the same desert constantly on the left; but he was unable to +ascertain the truth of this report. (Long's Expedition, vol. ii., p. +361.) + +However worthy of confidence may be the narrative of Major Long, it +must be remembered that he only passed through the country of which he +speaks, without deviating widely from the line which he had traced out +for his journey. + +[302] The 20th degree of longitude according to the meridian of +Washington, agrees very nearly with the 97th degree on the meridian of +Greenwich. + + +APPENDIX B.--Page 18. + +South America, in the regions between the tropics, produces an +incredible profusion of climbing-plants, of which the Flora of the +Antilles alone presents us with forty different species. + +Among the most graceful of these shrubs is the passion-flower, which, +according to Descourtiz, grows with such luxuriance in the Antilles, as +to climb trees by means of the tendrils with which it is provided, and +form moving bowers of rich and elegant festoons, decorated with blue and +purple flowers, and fragrant with perfume. (Vol. i., p. 265.) + +The _mimosa scandens_ (acacia a grandes gousses) is a creeper of +enormous and rapid growth, which climbs from tree to tree, and sometimes +covers more than half a league. (Vol. iii., p. 227.) + + +APPENDIX C.--Page 20. + +The languages which are spoken by the Indians of America, from the Pole +to Cape Horn, are said to be all formed upon the same model, and subject +to the same grammatical rules; whence it may fairly be concluded that +all the Indian nations sprang from the same stock. + +Each tribe of the American continent speaks a different dialect; but +the number of languages, properly so called, is very small, a fact which +tends to prove that the nations of the New World had not a very remote +origin. + +Moreover, the languages of America have a great degree of regularity; +from which it seems probable that the tribes which employ them had not +undergone any great revolutions, or been incorporated, voluntarily, or +by constraint, with foreign nations. For it is generally the union of +several languages into one which produces grammatical irregularities. + +It is not long since the American languages, especially those of the +north, first attracted the serious attention of philologists, when the +discovery was made that this idiom of a barbarous people was the product +of a complicated system of ideas and very learned combinations. These +languages were found to be very rich, and great pains had been taken at +their formation to render them agreeable to the ear. + +The grammatical system of the Americans differs from all others in +several points, but especially in the following:-- + +Some nations in Europe, among others the Germans, have the power of +combining at pleasure different expressions, and thus giving a complex +sense to certain words. The Indians have given a most surprising +extension to this power, so as to arrive at the means of connecting a +great number of ideas with a single term. This will be easily understood +with the help of an example quoted by Mr. Duponceau, in the Memoirs of +the Philosophical Society of America. + +"A Delaware woman, playing with a cat or a young dog," says this writer, +"is heard to pronounce the word _kuligatschis_; which is thus composed; +_k_ is the sign of the second person, and signifies 'thou' or 'thy;' +_uli_ is a part of the word _wulit_, which signifies 'beautiful,' +'pretty;' _gat_ is another fragment of the word _wichgat_, which means +'paw;' and lastly, _schis_ is a diminutive giving the idea of smallness. +Thus in one word the Indian woman has expressed, 'Thy pretty little +paw.'" + +Take another example of the felicity with which the savages of America +have composed their words. A young man of Delaware is called _pilape_. +This word is formed from _pilsit_, chaste, innocent; and _lenape_, man; +viz., man in his purity and innocence. + +This facility of combining words is most remarkable in the strange +formation of their verbs. The most complex action is often expressed by +a single verb, which serves to convey all the shades of an idea by the +modification of its construction. + +Those who may wish to examine more in detail this subject, which I have +only glanced at superficially, should read:-- + +1. The correspondence of Mr. Duponceau and the Rev. Mr. Hecwelder +relative to the Indian languages; which is to be found in the first +volume of the Memoirs of the Philosophical Society of America, published +at Philadelphia, 1819, by Abraham Small, vol i., pp 356-464. + +2. The grammar of the Delaware or Lenape language by Geiberger, the +preface of Mr. Duponceau. All these are in the same collection, vol. +iii. + +3. An excellent account of these works, which is at the end of the 6th +volume of the American Encyclopaedia. + + +APPENDIX D.--Page 22. + +See in Charlevoix, vol i., p. 235, the history of the first war which +the French inhabitants of Canada carried on, in 1610, against the +Iroquois. The latter, armed with bows and arrows, offered a desperate +resistance to the French and their allies. Charlevoix is not a great +painter, yet he exhibits clearly enough, in this narrative, the contrast +between the European manners and those of savages, as well as the +different way in which the two races of men understood the sense of +honor. + +When the French, says he, seized upon the beaver-skins which covered the +Indians who had fallen, the Hurons, their allies, were greatly offended +at this proceeding; but without hesitation they set to work in their +usual manner, inflicting horrid cruelties upon the prisoners, and +devouring one of those who had been killed, which made the Frenchmen +shudder. The barbarians prided themselves upon a scrupulousness +which they were surprised at not finding in our nation; and could not +understand that there was less to reprehend in the stripping of dead +bodies, than in the devouring of their flesh like wild beasts. + +Charlevoix, in another place (vol. i., p. 230), thus describes the first +torture of which Champlain was an eyewitness, and the return of the +Hurons into their own village. + +"Having proceeded about eight leagues," says he, "our allies halted: and +having singled out one of their captives, they reproached him with all +the cruelties which he had practised upon the warriors of their nation +who had fallen into his hands, and told him that he might expect to +be treated in like manner; adding, that if he had any spirit, he would +prove it by singing. He immediately chanted forth his death-song, and +then his war-song, and all the songs he knew, 'but in a very mournful +strain,' says Champlain, who was not then aware that all savage music +has a melancholy character. The tortures which succeeded, accompanied by +all the horrors which we shall mention hereafter, terrified the French, +who made every effort to put a stop to them, but in vain. The following +night one of the Hurons having dreamed that they were pursued, the +retreat was changed to a real flight, and the savages never stopped +until they were out of the reach of danger." + +The moment they perceived the cabins of their own village, they cut +themselves long sticks, to which they fastened the scalps which had +fallen to their share, and carried them in triumph. At this sight, the +women swam to the canoes, where they received the bloody scalps from the +hands of their husbands, and tied them round their necks. + +The warriors offered one of these horrible trophies to Champlain; they +also presented him with some bows and arrows--the only spoils of the +Iroquois which they had ventured to seize--entreating him to show them +to the king of France. + +Champlain lived a whole winter quite alone among these barbarians, +without being under any alarm for his person or property. + + +APPENDIX E.--Page 36. + +Although the puritanical strictness which presided over the +establishment of the English colonies in America is now much relaxed, +remarkable traces of it are still found in their habits and their laws. +In 1792, at the very time when the anti-Christian republic of France +began its ephemeral existence, the legislative body of Massachusetts +promulgated the following law, to compel the citizens to observe the +sabbath. We give the preamble, and the principal articles of this law, +which is worthy of the reader's attention. + +"Whereas," says the legislator, "the observation of the Sunday is +an affair of public interest; inasmuch as it produces a necessary +suspension of labor, leads men to reflect upon the duties of life and +the errors to which human nature is liable, and provides for the public +and private worship of God the creator and governor of the universe, +and for the performance of such acts of charity as are the ornament and +comfort of Christian societies:-- + +"Whereas, irreligious or light-minded persons, forgetting the duties +which the sabbath imposes, and the benefits which these duties confer on +society, are known to profane its sanctity, by following their pleasures +or their affairs; this way of acting being contrary to their own +interest as Christians, and calculated to annoy those who do not follow +their example; being also of great injury to society at large, by +spreading a taste for dissipation and dissolute manners;-- + +"Be it enacted and ordained by the governor, council, and +representatives convened in general court of assembly, that all and +every person and persons shall, on that day, carefully apply themselves +to the duties of religion and piety; that no tradesman or laborer shall +exercise his ordinary calling, and that no game or recreation shall be +used on the Lord's day, upon pain of forfeiting ten shillings;-- + +"That no one shall travel on that day, or any part thereof, under pain +of forfeiting twenty shillings; that no vessel shall leave a harbor of +the colony; that no person shall keep outside the meetinghouse during +the time of public worship, or profane the time by playing or talking, +on penalty of five shillings. + +"Public-houses shall not entertain any other than strangers or lodgers, +under a penalty of five shillings for every person found drinking or +abiding therein. + +"Any person in health who, without sufficient reason, shall omit to +worship God in public during three months, shall be condemned to a fine +of ten shillings. + +"Any person guilty of misbehavior in a place of public worship shall be +fined from five to forty shillings. + +"These laws are to be enforced by the tithing-men of each township, who +have authority to visit public-houses on the Sunday. The innkeeper who +shall refuse them admittance shall be fined forty shillings for such +offence. + +"The tithing-men are to stop travellers, and to require of them their +reason for being on the road on Sunday: any one refusing to answer shall +be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five pounds sterling. If +the reason given by the traveller be not deemed by the tithing-men +sufficient, he may bring the traveller before the justice of the +peace of the district." (_Law of the 8th March, 1792: General Laws of +Massachusetts_, vol. i., p. 410.) + +On the 11th March, 1797, a new law increased the amount of fines, half +of which was to be given to the informer. (_Same collection_, vol. ii., +p. 525.) + +On the 16th February, 1816, a new law confirmed these measures. (_Same +collection_, vol. ii., p. 405.) + +Similar enactments exist in the laws of the state of New York, revised +in 1827 and 1828. (See _Revised Statutes_, part i., chapter 20, p. 675.) +In these it is declared that no one is allowed on the sabbath to sport, +to fish, play at games, or to frequent houses where liquor is sold. _No +one_ can travel except in case of necessity. + +And this is not the only trace which the religious strictness and +austere manners of the first emigrants have left behind them in the +American laws. + +In the revised statutes of the state of New York, vol. i., p. 662, is +the following clause:-- + +"Whoever shall win or lose in the space of twenty-four hours, by gaming +or betting, the sum of twenty-five dollars, shall be found guilty of +a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be condemned to pay a fine +equal to at least five times the value of the sum lost or won; which +will be paid to the inspector of the poor of the township. He that loses +twenty-five dollars or more, may bring an action to recover them; and +if he neglects to do so, the inspector of the poor may prosecute the +winner, and oblige him to pay into the poor box both the sum he has +gained and three times as much beside." + +The laws we quote from are of recent date; but they are unintelligible +without going back to the very origin of the colonies. I have no doubt +that in our days the penal part of these laws is very rarely applied. +Laws preserve their inflexibility long after the manners of a nation +have yielded to the influence of time. It is still true, however, that +nothing strikes a foreigner on his arrival in America more forcibly than +the regard to the sabbath. + +There is one, in particular, of the large American cities, in which all +social movements begin to be suspended even on Saturday evening. You +traverse its streets at the hour at which you expect men in the middle +of life to be engaged in business, and young people in pleasure; and you +meet with solitude and silence. Not only have all ceased to work, but +they appear to have ceased to exist. Neither the movements of industry +are heard, nor the accents of joy, nor even the confused murmur which +arises from the midst of a great city. Chains are hung across the +streets in the neighborhood of the churches; the half closed shutters +of the houses scarcely admit a ray of sun into the dwellings of the +citizens. Now and then you perceive a solitary individual, who glides +silently along the deserted streets and lanes. + +Next day, at early dawn, the rolling of carriages, the noise of hammers, +the cries of the population, begin to make themselves heard again. The +city is awake. An eager crowd hastens toward the resort of commerce +and industry; everything around you bespeaks motion, bustle, hurry. A +feverish activity succeeds to the lethargic stupor of yesterday: you +might almost suppose that they had but one day to acquire wealth and to +enjoy it. + + +APPENDIX F.--Page 41. + +It is unnecessary for me to say, that in the chapter which has just been +read, I have not had the intention of giving a history of America. My +only object was to enable the reader to appreciate the influence which +the opinions and manners of the first emigrants had exercised upon +the fate of the different colonies and of the Union in general. I have +therefore confined myself to the quotation of a few detached fragments. + +I do not know whether I am deceived, but it appears to me that by +pursuing the path which I have merely pointed out, it would be easy to +present such pictures of the American republics as would not be unworthy +the attention of the public, and could not fail to suggest to the +statesman matter for reflection. + +Not being able to devote myself to this labor, I am anxious to render +it easy to others; and for this purpose, I subjoin a short catalogue and +analysis of the works which seem to me the most important to consult. + +At the head of the general documents, which it would be advantageous +to examine, I place the work entitled An Historical Collection of State +Papers, and other authentic Documents, intended as Materials for a +History of the United States of America, by Ebenezer Hasard. The first +volume of this compilation, which was printed at Philadelphia in 1792, +contains a literal copy of all the charters granted by the crown of +England to the emigrants, as well as the principal acts of the colonial +governments, during the commencement of their existence. Among other +authentic documents, we here find a great many relating to the affairs +of New England and Virginia during this period. The second volume is +almost entirely devoted to the acts of the confederation of 1643. This +federal compact, which was entered into by the colonies of New England +with the view of resisting the Indians, was the first instance of +union afforded by the Anglo-Americans. There were besides many other +confederations of the same nature, before the famous one of 1776, which +brought about the independence of the colonies. + +Each colony has, besides, its own historic monuments, some of which are +extremely curious; beginning with Virginia, the state which was first +peopled. The earliest historian of Virginia was its founder, Capt. John +Smith. Capt. Smith has left us an octavo volume, entitled, The generall +Historic of Virginia and New England, by Captain John Smith, sometymes +Governour in those Countryes, and Admirall of New England; printed at +London in 1627. The work is adorned with curious maps and engravings of +the time when it appeared; the narrative extends from the year 1584 to +1626. Smith's work is highly and deservedly esteemed. The author was one +of the most celebrated adventurers of a period of remarkable adventure; +his book breathes that ardor for discovery, that spirit of enterprise +which characterized the men of his time, when the manners of chivalry +were united to zeal for commerce, and made subservient to the +acquisition of wealth. + +But Capt. Smith is remarkable for uniting, to the virtues which +characterized his contemporaries, several qualities to which they were +generally strangers: his style is simple and concise, his narratives +bear the stamp of truth, and his descriptions are free from false +ornament. + +This author throws most valuable light upon the state and condition of +the Indians at the time when North America was first discovered. + +The second historian to consult is Beverley, who commences his narrative +with the year 1595, and ends it with 1700. The first part of his book +contains historical documents, properly so called, relative to the +infancy of the colonies. The second affords a most curious picture of +the Indians at this remote period. The third conveys very clear ideas +concerning the manners, social condition, laws, and political customs of +the Virginians in the author's lifetime. + +Beverley was a native of Virginia, which occasions him to say at the +beginning of his book that he entreats his readers not to exercise their +critical severity upon it, since, having been born in the Indies, he +does not aspire to purity of language. Notwithstanding this colonial +modesty, the author shows throughout his book the impatience with which +he endures the supremacy of the mother-country. In this work of Beverley +are also found numerous traces of that spirit of civil liberty which +animated the English colonies of America at the time when he wrote. He +also shows the dissensions which existed among them and retarded their +independence. Beverley detests his catholic neighbors of Maryland, even +more than he hates the English government; his style is simple, his +narrative interesting and apparently trustworthy. + +I saw in America another work which ought to be consulted, entitled, The +_History of Virginia_, by William Stith. This book affords some curious +details, but _I_ thought it long and diffuse. + +The most ancient as well as the best document to be consulted on the +history of Carolina is a work in a small quarto, entitled, The History +of Carolina, by John Lawson, printed at London in 1718. This work +contains, in the first part, a journey of discovery in the west of +Carolina; the account of which, given in the form of a journal, is +in general confused and superficial; but it contains a very striking +description of the mortality caused among the savages of that time, both +by the small-pox and the immoderate use of brandy; and with a curious +picture of the corruption of manners prevalent among them, which was +increased by the presence of Europeans. The second part of Lawson's book +is taken up with a description of the physical condition of Carolina, +and its productions. In the third part, the author gives an interesting +account of the manners, customs, and government of the Indians at that +period. There is a good deal of talent and originality in this part of +the work. + +Lawson concludes his history with a copy of the charter granted to the +Carolinas in the reign of Charles II. The general tone of this work is +light, and often licentious, forming a perfect contrast to the solemn +style of the works published at the same period in New England. Lawson's +history is extremely scarce in America, and cannot be procured in +Europe. There is, however, a copy of it in the royal library at Paris. + +From the southern extremity of the United States I pass at once to the +northern limit; as the intermediate space was not peopled till a later +period. + +I must first point out a very curious compilation, entitled, Collection +of the Massachusetts Historical Society, printed for the first time at +Boston in 1792, and reprinted in 1806. The collection of which I speak, +and which is continued to the present day, contains a great number of +very valuable documents relating to the history of the different states +of New England. Among them are letters which have never been published, +and authentic pieces which have been buried in provincial archives. The +whole work of Gookin concerning the Indians is inserted there. + +I have mentioned several times, in the chapter to which this note +relates, the work of Nathaniel Norton, entitled New England's Memorial; +sufficiently perhaps to prove that it deserves the attention of those +who would be conversant with the history of New England. This book is in +8vo. and was reprinted at Boston in 1826. + +The most valuable and important authority which exists upon the history +of New England is the work of the Rev. Cotton Mather, entitled Magnalia +Christi Americana, or the Ecclesiastical History of New England, +1620-1698, 2 vols. 8vo, reprinted at Hartford, United States, in 1820. +(A folio edition of this work was published in London in 1702.) The +author divided his work into seven books. The first presents the history +of the events which prepared and brought about the establishment of New +England. The second contains the lives of the first governors and chief +magistrates who presided over the country. The third is devoted to the +lives and labors of the evangelical ministers who during the same period +had the care of souls. In the fourth the author relates the institution +and progress of the University of Cambridge (Massachusetts). In the +fifth he describes the principles and the discipline of the Church of +New England. The sixth is taken up in retracing certain facts, which, in +the opinion of Mather, prove the merciful interposition of Providence +in behalf of the inhabitants of New England. Lastly, in the seventh, the +author gives an account of the heresies and the troubles to which the +Church of New England was exposed. Cotton Mather was an evangelical +minister who was born at Boston, and passed his life there. His +narratives are distinguished by the same ardor and religious zeal which +led to the foundation of the colonies of New England. Traces of bad +taste sometimes occur in his manner of writing; but he interests, +because he is full of enthusiasm. He is often intolerant, still oftener +credulous, but he never betrays an intention to deceive. Sometimes his +book contains fine passages, and true and profound reflections, such as +the following:-- + +"Before the arrival of the Puritans," says he (vol. i., chap, iv.), +"there were more than a few attempts of the English to people and +improve the parts of New England which were to the northward of New +Plymouth; but the design of those attempts being aimed no higher +than the advancement of some worldly interests, a constant series of +disasters has confounded them, until there was a plantation erected upon +the nobler designs of Christianity: and that plantation, though it +has had more adversaries than perhaps any one upon earth, yet, having +obtained help from God, it continues to this day." + +Mather occasionally relieves the austerity of his descriptions with +images full of tender feeling: after having spoken of an English lady +whose religious ardor had brought her to America with her husband, and +who soon after sank under the fatigues and privations of exile, he adds, +"As for her virtuous husband, Isaac Johnson, + + "He tried + To live without her, liked it not, and died."--(Vol. i.) + +Mather's work gives an admirable picture of the time and country which +he describes. In his account of the motives which led the puritans to +seek an asylum beyond seas, he says:-- + +"The God of heaven served, as it were, a summons upon the spirits of his +people in the English nation, stirring up the spirits of thousands which +never saw the faces of each other, with a most unanimous inclination to +leave the pleasant accommodations of their native country, and go over +a terrible ocean, into a more terrible desert, for the pure enjoyment +of all his ordinances. It is now reasonable that, before we pass any +farther, the reasons of this undertaking should be more exactly made +known unto posterity, especially unto the posterity of those that were +the undertakers, lest they come at length to forget and neglect the true +interest of New England. Wherefore I shall now transcribe some of them +from a manuscript wherein they were then tendered unto consideration. + +"_General Considerations for the Plantation of New England_. + +"First, it will be a service unto the church of great consequence, to +carry the gospel unto those parts of the world, and raise a bulwark +against the kingdom of antichrist, which the Jesuits labor to rear up in +all parts of the world. + +"Secondly, all other churches of Europe have been brought under +desolations; and it may be feared that the like judgments are coming +upon us; and who knows but God hath provided this place to be a refuge +for many whom he means to save out of the general destruction! + +"Thirdly, the land grows weary of her inhabitants, inasmuch that man, +which is the most precious of all creatures, is here more vile and +base than the earth he treads upon; children, neighbors, and friends, +especially the poor, are counted the greatest burdens, which, if things +were right, would be the chiefest of earthly blessings. + +"Fourthly, we are grown to that intemperance in all excess of riot, as +no mean estate almost will suffice a man to keep sail with his equals, +and he that fails in it must live in scorn and contempt; hence it comes +to pass, that all arts and trades are carried in that deceitful manner +and unrighteous course, as it is almost impossible for a good upright +man to maintain his constant charge and live comfortably in them. + +"Fifthly, the schools of learning and religion are so corrupted, as +(beside the unsupportable charge of education) most children, even the +best, wittiest, and of the fairest hopes, are prevented, corrupted, +and utterly overthrown by the multitude of evil examples and licentious +behaviors in these seminaries. + +"Sixthly, the whole earth is the Lord's garden, and he hath given it to +the sons of Adam, to be tilled and improved by them: why then should +we stand starving here for places of habitation, and in the mean time +suffer whole countries, as profitable for the use of man, to lie waste +without any improvement? + +"Seventhly, what can be a better or a nobler work, and more worthy of a +Christian, than to erect and support a reformed particular church in its +infancy, and unite our forces with such a company of faithful people, as +by timely assistance may grow stronger and prosper; but for want of it, +may be put to great hazards, if not be wholly ruined. + +"Eighthly, if any such as are known to be godly, and live in wealth +and prosperity here, shall forsake all this to join with this reformed +church, and with it run the hazard of a hard and mean condition, it will +be an example of great use, both for the removing of scandal, and to +give more life unto the faith of God's people in their prayers for the +plantation, and also to encourage others to join the more willingly in +it." + +Farther on, when he declares the principles of the church of New England +with respect to morals, Mather inveighs with violence against the +custom of drinking healths at table, which he denounces as a pagan and +abominable practice. He proscribes with the same rigor all ornaments for +the hair used by the female sex, as well as their custom of having the +arms and neck uncovered. + +In another part of his work he relates several instances of witchcraft +which had alarmed New England. It is plain that the visible action of +the devil in the affairs of this world appeared to him an incontestible +and evident fact. + +This work of Cotton Mather displays in many places, the spirit of civil +liberty and political independence which characterized the times in +which he lived. Their principles respecting government are discoverable +at every page. Thus, for instance, the inhabitants of Massachusetts, in +the year 1630, ten years after the foundation of Plymouth, are found to +have devoted 400_l_. sterling to the establishment of the University of +Cambridge. In passing from the general documents relative to the history +of New England, to those which describe the several states comprised +within its limits, I ought first to notice The History of the Colony of +Massachusetts, by Hutchinson, Lieutenant-Governor of the Massachusetts +Province, 2 vols., 8vo. + +The history of Hutchinson, which I have several times quoted in the +chapter to which this note relates, commences in the year 1628 and ends +in 1750. Throughout the work there is a striking air of truth and the +greatest simplicity of style; it is full of minute details. + +The best history to consult concerning Connecticut is that of Benjamin +Trumbull, entitled, A Complete History of Connecticut, Civil and +Ecclesiastical, 1630-1764; 2 vols., 8vo., printed in 1818, at New Haven. +This history contains a clear and calm account of all the events which +happened in Connecticut during the period given in the title. The author +drew from the best sources; and his narrative bears the stamp of truth. +All that he says of the early days of Connecticut is extremely curious. +See especially the constitution of 1639, vol. i., ch. vi., p. 100; and +also the penal laws of Connecticut, vol. i., ch. vii., p. 123. + +The History of New Hampshire, by Jeremy Belknap, is a work held in +merited estimation. It was printed at Boston in 1792, in 2 vols., +8vo. The third chapter of the first volume is particularly worthy of +attention for the valuable details it affords on the political and +religious principles of the puritans, on the causes of their emigration, +and on their laws. The following curious quotation is given from a +sermon delivered in 1663: "It concerneth New England always to remember +that they are a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade. The +profession of the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline, is +written on her forehead. Let merchants, and such as are increasing cent +per cent, remember this, that worldly gain was not the end and design +of the people of New England, but religion. And if any man among us make +religion as twelve, and the world as thirteen, such an one hath not the +true spirit of a true New Englishman." The reader of Belknap will find +in his work more general ideas, and more strength of thought, than are +to be met with in the American historians even to the present day. + +Among the central states which deserve our attention for their remote +origin, New York and Pennsylvania are the foremost. The best history we +have of the former is entitled A History of New York, by William Smith, +printed in London in 1757. Smith gives us important details of the wars +between the French and English in America. His is the best account of +the famous confederation of the Iroquois. + +With respect to Pennsylvania, I cannot do better than point out the +work of Proud, entitled the History of Pennsylvania, from the original +Institution and Settlement of that Province, under the first Proprietor +and Governor, William Penn, in 1681, till after the year 1742; by Robert +Proud; 2 vols., 8vo., printed at Philadelphia in 1797. This work is +deserving of the especial attention of the reader; it contains a mass of +curious documents concerning Penn, the doctrine of the Quakers, and +the character, manners, and customs of the first inhabitants of +Pennsylvania. + + +APPENDIX G.--Page 48. + +We read in Jefferson's Memoirs as follows:-- + +"At the time of the first settlement of the English in Virginia, when +land was had for little or nothing, some provident persons having +obtained large grants of it, and being desirous of maintaining +the splendor of their families, entailed their property upon their +descendants. The transmission of these estates from generation to +generation, to men who bore the same name, had the effect of raising up +a distinct class of families, who, possessing by law the privilege of +perpetuating their wealth, formed by these means a sort of patrician +order, distinguished by the grandeur and luxury of their establishments. +From this order it was that the king usually chose his counsellor of +state." (This passage is extracted and translated from M. Conseil's +work upon the Life of Jefferson, entitled, "_Melanges Politiques et +Philosophiques de Jefferson_.") + +In the United States, the principal clauses of the English law +respecting descent have been universally rejected. The first rule that +we follow, says Mr. Kent, touching inheritance, is the following: If a +man dies intestate, his property goes to his heirs in a direct line. +If he has but one heir or heiress, he or she succeeds to the whole. If +there are several heirs of the same degree, they divide the inheritance +equally among them, without distinction of sex. + +This rule was prescribed for the first time in the state of New York +by a statute of the 23d of February, 1786. (See Revised Statutes, vol. +iii., Appendix, p. 48.) It has since then been adopted in the revised +statutes of the same state. At the present day this law holds good +throughout the whole of the United States, with the exception of the +state of Vermont, where the male heir inherits a double portion: Kent's +Commentaries, vol. iv., p. 370. Mr. Kent, in the same work, vol. iv., p. +1-22, gives an historical account of American legislation on the subject +of entail; by this we learn that previous to the revolution the colonies +followed the English law of entail. Estates tail were abolished in +Virginia in 1776, on a motion of Mr. Jefferson. They were suppressed +in New York in 1786; and have since been abolished in North Carolina, +Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri. In Vermont, Indiana, +Illinois, South Carolina, and Louisiana, entail was never introduced. +Those States which thought proper to preserve the English law of entail, +modified it in such a way as to deprive it of its most aristocratic +tendencies. "Our general principles on the subject of government," says +Mr. Kent, "tend to favor the free circulation of property." + +It cannot fail to strike the French reader who studies the law +of inheritance, that on these questions the French legislation is +infinitely more democratic even than the American. + +The American law makes an equal division of the father's property, but +only in the case of his will not being known; "for every man," says the +law, "in the state of New York (Revised Statutes, vol. iii., Appendix, +p. 51), has entire liberty, power, and authority, to dispose of his +property by will, to leave it entire, or divided in favor of any persons +he chooses as his heirs, provided he do not leave it to a political body +or any corporation." The French law obliges the testator to divide his +property equally, or nearly so, among his heirs. + +Most of the American republics still admit of entails, under certain +restrictions; but the French law prohibits entail in all cases. + +If the social condition of the Americans is more democratic than that of +the French, the laws of the latter are the most democratic of the two. +This may be explained more easily than at first appears to be the case. +In France, democracy is still occupied in the work of destruction; in +America it reigns quietly over the ruins it has made. + + +APPENDIX H.--Page 55. + +SUMMARY OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS IN THE UNITED STATES. + +All the states agree in granting the right of voting at the age of +twenty-one. In all of them it is necessary to have resided for a certain +time in the district where the vote is given. This period varies from +three months to two years. + +As to the qualification; in the state of Massachusetts it is necessary +to have an income of three pounds sterling or a capital of sixty pounds. + +In Rhode Island a man must possess landed property to the amount of 133 +dollars. + +In Connecticut he must have a property which gives an income of +seventeen dollars. A year of service in the militia also gives the +elective privilege. + +In New Jersey, an elector must have a property of fifty pounds a year. + +In South Carolina and Maryland, the elector must possess fifty acres of +land. + +In Tennessee, he must possess some property. + +In the states of Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, +Delaware, New York, the only necessary qualification for voting is that +of paying the taxes; and in most of the states, to serve in the militia +is equivalent to the payment of taxes. + +In Maine and New Hampshire any man can vote who is not on the pauper +list. + +Lastly, in the states of Missouri, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, +Indiana, Kentucky, and Vermont, the conditions of voting have no +reference to the property of the elector. + +I believe there is no other state beside that of North Carolina in which +different conditions are applied to the voting for the senate and the +electing the house of representatives. The electors of the former, in +this case, should possess in property fifty acres of land; to vote for +the latter, nothing more is required than to pay taxes. + + +APPENDIX I.--Page 92. + +The small number of custom-house officers employed in the United States +compared with the extent of the coast renders smuggling very easy; +notwithstanding which it is less practised than elsewhere, because +everybody endeavors to suppress it. In America there is no police for +the prevention of fires, and such accidents are more frequent than in +Europe, but in general they are more speedily extinguished, because the +surrounding population is prompt in lending assistance. + + +APPENDIX K--Page 94. + +It is incorrect to assert that centralization was produced by the French +revolution: the revolution brought it to perfection, but did not create +it. The mania for centralization and government regulations dates from +the time when jurists began to take a share in the government, in the +time of Philippe-le-Bel; ever since which period they have been on the +increase. In the year 1775, M. de Malesherbes, speaking in the name +of the Cour des Aides, said to Louis XIV. (see "Memoires pour servir a +l'Histoire du Droit Public de la France eft matiere d'lmpots," p. 654, +printed at Brussels in 1779): + +"Every corporation and every community of citizens retained the right of +administering its own affairs; a right which not only forms part of the +primitive constitution of the kingdom, but has a still higher origin; +for it is the right of nature and of reason. Nevertheless, your +subjects, sire, have been deprived of it; and we cannot refrain from +saying that in this respect your government has fallen into puerile +extremes. From the time when powerful ministers made it a political +principle to prevent the convocation of a national assembly, one +consequence has succeeded another, until the deliberations of the +inhabitants of a village are declared null when they have not been +authorized by the intendant. Of course, if the community have an +expensive undertaking to carry through, it must remain under the control +of the sub-delegate of the intendant, and consequently follow the plan +he proposes, employ his favorite workmen, pay them according to his +pleasure; and if an action at law is deemed necessary, the intendant's +permission must be obtained. The cause must be pleaded before this first +tribunal, previous to its being carried into a public court; and if the +opinion of the intendant is opposed to that of the inhabitants, or if +their adversary enjoys his favor, the community is deprived of the +power of defending its rights. Such are the means, sire, which have been +exerted to extinguish the municipal spirit in France; and to stifle, if +possible, the opinions of the citizens. The nation may be said to lie +under an interdict, and to be in wardship under guardians." + +What could be said more to the purpose at the present day, when the +revolution has achieved what are called its victories in centralization? + +In 1789, Jefferson wrote from Paris to one of his friends: "There is no +country where the mania for over-governing has taken deeper root than in +France, or been the source of greater mischief." Letter to Madison, 28th +August, 1789. + +The fact is that for several centuries past the central power of France +has done everything it could to extend central administration; it has +acknowledged no other limits than its own strength. The central power to +which the revolution gave birth made more rapid advances than any of +its predecessors, because it was stronger and wiser than they had been; +Louis XIV. committed the welfare of such communities to the caprice +of an intendant; Napoleon left them to that of the minister. The same +principle governed both, though its consequences were more or less +remote. + + +APPENDIX L.--Page 97. + +This immutability of the constitution of France is a necessary +consequence of the laws of that country. + +To begin with the most important of all the laws, that which decides +the order of succession to the throne; what can be more immutable in its +principle than a political order founded upon the natural succession of +father to son? In 1814 Louis XVIII. had established the perpetual law +of hereditary succession in favor of his own family. The individuals +who regulated the consequences of the revolution of 1830 followed his +example; they merely established the perpetuity of the law in favor of +another family. In this respect they imitated the Chancellor Maurepas, +who, when he erected the new parliament upon the ruins of the old, +took care to declare in the same ordinance that the rights of the new +magistrates should be as inalienable as those of their predecessors had +been. + +The laws of 1830, like those of 1814, point out no way of changing the +constitution; and it is evident that the ordinary means of legislation +are insufficient for this purpose. As the king, peers, and deputies, all +derive their authority from the constitution, these three powers united +cannot alter a law by virtue of which alone they govern. Out of the +pale of the constitution, they are nothing; where, then, could they take +their stand to effect a change in its provisions? The alternative is +clear; either their efforts are powerless against the charter, which +continues to exist in spite of them, in which case they only reign in +the name of the charter; or, they succeed in changing the charter, and +then the law by which they existed being annulled, they themselves cease +to exist. By destroying the charter, they destroy themselves. + +This is much more evident in the laws of 1830 than in those of 1814. +In 1814, the royal prerogative took its stand above and beyond the +constitution; but in 1830, it was avowedly created by, and dependant on, +the constitution. + +A part therefore of the French constitution is immutable, because it is +united to the destiny of a family; and the body of the constitution is +equally immutable, because there appear to be no legal means of changing +it. + +These remarks are not applicable to England. That country having no +written constitution, who can assert when its constitution is changed. + + +APPENDIX M.--Page 97. + +The most esteemed authors who have written upon the English constitution +agree with each other in establishing the omnipotence of the parliament. + +Delolme says: "It is a fundamental principle with the English lawyers, +that parliament can do everything except making a woman a man, or a man +a woman." + +Blackstone expresses himself more in detail if not more energetically +than Delolme, in the following terms:-- + +"The power and jurisdiction of parliament," says Sir Edward Coke (4 +Inst. 36), "is so transcendant and absolute, that it cannot be confined, +either for causes or persons, within any bounds. And of this high +court," he adds, "may be truly said, 'Si antiquitatem spectes, est +vetustissima; si dignitatem, est honoratissima; si jurisdictionem, est +capacissima.' It hath sovereign and uncontrollable authority in making, +confirming, enlarging, restraining, abrogating, repealing, reviving and +expounding of laws, concerning matters of all possible denominations; +ecclesiastical or temporal; civil, military, maritime, or criminal; this +being the place where that absolute despotic power which must, in all +governments, reside somewhere, is intrusted by the constitution of these +kingdoms. All mischiefs and grievances, operations and remedies, that +transcend the ordinary course of the laws, are within the reach of this +extraordinary tribunal. It can regulate or new model the succession to +the crown; as was done in the reigns of Henry VIII. and William III. It +can alter the established religion of the land; as was done in a variety +of instances in the reigns of King Henry VIII. and his three children. +It can change and create afresh even the constitution of the kingdom, +and of the parliaments themselves; as was done by the act of union and +the several statutes for triennial and septennial elections. It can, in +short, do everything that is not naturally impossible to be done; and, +therefore, some have not scrupled to call its power, by a figure rather +too bold, the omnipotence of parliament." + + +APPENDIX N.--Page 107. + +There is no question upon which the American constitutions agree more +fully than upon that of political jurisdiction. All the constitutions +which take cognizance of this matter, give to the house of delegates the +exclusive right of impeachment; excepting only the constitution of North +Carolina which grants the same privilege to grand-juries. (Article 23.) + +Almost all the constitutions give the exclusive right of pronouncing +sentence to the senate, or to the assembly which occupies its place. + +The only punishments which the political tribunals can inflict are +removal and interdiction of public functions for the future. There is +no other constitution but that of Virginia (152), which enables them to +inflict every kind of punishment. + +The crimes which are subject to political jurisdiction, are, in the +federal constitution (section 4, art. 1); in that of Indiana (art. 3, +paragraphs 23 and 24); of New York (art. 5); of Delaware (art. 5); high +treason, bribery, and other high crimes or offences. + +In the constitution of Massachusetts (chap. 1, section 2); that of +North Carolina (art. 23); of Virginia (p. 252), misconduct and +mal-administration. + +In the constitution of New Hampshire (p. 105) corruption, intrigue and +mal-administration. + +In Vermont (chap, ii., art 24), mal-administration. + +In South Carolina (art. 5); Kentucky (art. 5); Tennessee (art. 4); Ohio +(art. 1, Sec.23, 24); Louisiana (art. 5); Mississippi (art. 5); Alabama +(art. 6); Pennsylvania (art. 4); crimes committed in the non-performance +of official duties. + +In the states of Illinois, Georgia, Maine, and Connecticut, no +particular offences are specified. + + +APPENDIX O.--Page 171. + +It is true that the powers of Europe may carry on maritime wars with +the Union; but there is always greater facility and less danger in +supporting a maritime than a continental war. Maritime warfare only +requires one species of effort. A commercial people which consents to +furnish its government with the necessary funds, is sure to possess a +fleet. And it is far easier to induce a nation to part with its money, +almost unconsciously, than to reconcile it to sacrifices of men and +personal efforts. Moreover, defeat by sea rarely compromises the +existence or independence of the people which endures it. + +As for continental wars, it is evident that the nations of Europe +cannot be formidable in this way to the American Union. It would be +very difficult to transport and maintain in America more than 25,000 +soldiers; an army which maybe considered to represent a nation of +2,000,000 of men. The most populous nation of Europe contending in this +way against the Union, is in the position of a nation of 2,000,000 of +inhabitants at war with one of 12,000,000. Add to this, that America +has all its resources within reach, while the European is at 4,000 miles +distance from his; and that the immensity of the American continent +would of itself present an insurmountable obstacle to its conquest. + + +APPENDIX P.--Page 186. + +The first American journal appeared in April, 1704, and was published at +Boston. See collection of the Historical Society of Massachusetts, vol. +vi., p. 66. + +It would be a mistake to suppose that the periodical press has always +been entirely free in the American colonies: an attempt was made to +establish something analogous to a censorship and preliminary security. +Consult the Legislative Documents of Massachusetts of the 14th of +January, 1722. + +The committee appointed by the general assembly (the legislative body of +the province), for the purpose of examining into circumstances connected +with a paper entitled "The New England Courier," expresses its opinion +that "the tendency of the said journal is to turn religion into +derision, and bring it into contempt; that it mentions the sacred +writings in a profane and irreligious manner; that it puts malicious +interpretations upon the conduct of the ministers of the gospel; and +that the government of his majesty is insulted, and the peace and +tranquillity of the province disturbed by the said journal. The +committee is consequently of opinion that the printer and publisher, +James Franklin, should be forbidden to print and publish the said +journal or any other work in future, without having previously submitted +it to the secretary of the province; and that the justices of the peace +for the county of Suffolk should be commissioned to require bail of the +said James Franklin for his good conduct during the ensuing year." + +The suggestion of the committee was adopted and passed into a law, but +the effect of it was null, for the journal eluded the prohibition by +putting the name of Benjamin Franklin instead of James Franklin at +the bottom of its columns, and this manoeuvre was supported by public +opinion. + + +APPENDIX Q.--Page 287. + +The federal constitution has introduced the jury into the tribunals of +the Union in the same way as the states had introduced it into their own +several courts: but as it has not established any fixed rules for the +choice of jurors, the federal courts select them from the ordinary +jury-list which each state makes for itself. The laws of the states must +therefore be examined for the theory of the formation of juries. +See Story's Commentaries on the Constitution, B. iii., chap. 38, pp. +654-659; Sergeant's Constitutional Law, p. 165. See also the federal +laws, of the years 1789, 1800, and 1802, upon the subject. + +For the purpose of thoroughly understanding the American principles with +respect to the formation of juries, I examined the laws of states at +a distance from one another, and the following observations were the +result of my inquiries. + +In America all the citizens who exercise the elective franchise have the +right of serving upon a jury. The great state of New York, however, has +made a slight difference between the two privileges, but in a spirit +contrary to that of the laws of France; for in the state of New York +there are fewer persons eligible as jurymen than there are electors. It +may be said in general that the right of forming part of a jury, like +that of electing representatives, is open to all the citizens; the +exercise of this right, however, is not put indiscriminately into any +hands. + +Every year a body of municipal or county magistrates--called _selectmen_ +in New England, _supervisors_ in New York, _trustees_ in Ohio, and +_sheriffs of the parish_ in Louisiana--choose for each county a certain +number of citizens who have the right of serving as jurymen, and who we +supposed to be capable of exercising their functions. These magistrates, +being themselves elective, excite no distrust: their powers, like those +of most republican magistrates, are very extensive and very arbitrary, +and they frequently make use of them to remove unworthy or incompetent +jurymen. + +The names of the jurymen thus chosen are transmitted to the county +court; and the jury who have to decide any affair are drawn by lot from +the whole list of names. + +The Americans have contrived in every way to make the common people +eligible to the jury, and to render the service as little onerous as +possible. The sessions are held in the chief town of every county; and +the jury are indemnified for their attendance either by the state or +the parties concerned. They receive in general a dollar per day, beside +their travelling expenses. In America the being placed upon the jury is +looked upon as a burden, but it is a burden which is very supportable. +See Brevard's Digest of the Public Statute Law of South Carolina, vol. +i, pp. 446 and 454, vol. ii., pp. 218 and 333; The General Laws of +Massachusetts, revised and published by Authority of the Legislature, +v. ii., pp. 187 and 331; The Revised Statutes of the State of New +York, vol. ii., pp. 411, 643, 717, 720; The Statute Law of the State of +Tennessee, vol. i., p. 209; Acts of the State of Ohio, pp. 95 and 210; +and Digeste General des Actes de la Legislature de la Louisiana. + + +APPENDIX R.--Page 290. + +If we attentively examine the constitution of the jury as introduced +into civil proceedings in England, we shall readily perceive that the +jurors are under the immediate control of the judge. It is true that the +verdict of the jury, in civil as well as in criminal cases, comprises +the question of fact and the question of right in the same reply; thus, +a house is claimed by Peter as having been purchased by him: this is the +fact to be decided. The defendant puts in a plea of incompetency on the +part of the vendor: this is the legal question to be resolved. + +But the jury do not enjoy the same character of infallibility in civil +cases, according to the practice of the English courts, as they do in +criminal cases. The judge may refuse to receive the verdict; and even +after the first trial has taken place, a second or new trial may be +awarded by the court. See Blackstone's Commentaries, book iii., ch. 24. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Institutions and Their +Influence, by Alexis de Tocqueville et al. + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS *** + +***** This file should be named 8690.txt or 8690.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/6/9/8690/ + +Produced by Lee Dawei, David King, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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