"A government could take the place of some of the larger American associations, and several individual states of the union have already attempted to do so. But what political power could ever hope to equal the countless multitude of small ventures in which American citizens participate every day through their associations?" (Toqueville, Vol 2, Part 2, p. 597)

President's Day

Honor to whom honor is due.Thank you, great men of our past, for your part in shaping our national character.


(George Washington's Prayer at Valley Forge:(2008)www.sonofthesouth.net)

("Abraham Lincoln Seated Portrait", (2008)www.sonofthesouth.net)

Class reflections

"Try as they might, no people can ever achieve a perfect equality of conditions. Should a nation be unfortunate enough to reach such a state of absolute and complete leveling, it would still be left with inequalities of intelligence, and these, steming as they do directly from God, will always elude laws." (Alexis de Tocqueville)

What does this say to a democratic society in search of equality?

What do you think?

Reading de Tocqueville in class the question has arisen: do Americans value equality above liberty?

What are your thoughts?