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absolute monarchy had everywhere triumphed over the ruins of the oligarchical and feudal liberties of the Middle Ages.
The settlers of New England were at the same time ardent sectarians and daring innovators.
The energy, however, with which they strove for the acquirement of wealth, moral enjoyment, and the comforts as well as liberties of the world, is scarcely inferior to that with which they devoted themselves to Heaven.
the old principles which had governed the world for ages were no more;
Yet in America it is the poor who make the law, and they usually reserve the greatest social advantages to themselves.
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.
The principal object, therefore, of the law of entail is to regulate the descent of property after the death of its owner: its other provisions are merely means to this end.] Through their means man acquires a kind of preternatural power over the future lot of his fellow-creatures.
this law unites, draws together, and vests property and power in a few hands: its tendency is clearly aristocratic.
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.
The sons of the great landed proprietor, if they are few in number, or if fortune befriends them, may indeed entertain the hope of being as wealthy as their father, but not that of possessing the same property as he did; the riches must necessarily be composed of elements different from his.
floating capital
real property,
What is called family pride is often founded upon an illusion of self-love.
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.
Primary instruction is within the reach of everybody; superior instruction is scarcely to be obtained by any.
in a State where the citizens are nearly on an equality, it becomes difficult for them to preserve their independence against the aggressions of power. No one among them being strong enough to engage in the struggle with advantage, nothing but a general combination can protect their liberty.
The form of the Federal Government of the United States was the last which was adopted; and it is in fact nothing more than a modification or a summary of those republican principles which were current in the whole community before it existed, and independently of its existence.
local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations.
