De Tocqueville on American Liberty
Alexis De Tocqueville admired the Constitutional government of the Americans, but he knew America’s success was dependent upon more than a mere document. Mexico had adopted a form of the U.S. Constitution in 1824 but failed to maintain liberty or order. (p.167) Countries in Europe attempted similar forms of government, but vacillated between anarchy and tyranny. What was the difference?
Though it was somewhat distasteful to his enlightenment humanism, Alexis had to admit that the biblical faith of the Americans made the difference. First, there was the founding of American laws on the Bible. “The legislators of Connecticut begin with the penal laws, and, strange to say, they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy Writ.” (p.37) From there the evidence mounted until De Tocqueville was forced to concede that the dominance of the Protestant faith enabled the Constitutional government to work.
Alexis comforted himself in imagining that many people were insincere, but he was forced to admit religion’s positive effects: “In the United States the sovereign authority is religious, and consequently hypocrisy must be common; but there is no country in the world where 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…than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.” (p.303)
Americans everywhere confirmed De Tocqueville’s thesis that the protestant faith made America’s liberty and prosperity possible: “I do not know whether all 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.” pp.305-6
For the American, faith and freedom were inseparable. He said, “Liberty regards religion as its companion in all its battles and its triumphs, as the cradle of its infancy and the divine source of its claims. It considers religion as the safeguard of morality, and morality as the best security of law and the surest pledge of the duration of freedom.” (p.44)
De Tocqueville was forced to admit that this vigorous Protestant faith produced an American who understood the balance of freedom and responsibility--men and women who did not need intrusive civil government. He describes the mindset of the people: "When a private individual meditates an undertaking, however directly connected it may be with the welfare of society, he never thinks of soliciting the cooperation of the government; but he publishes his plan, offers to execute it, courts the assistance of other individuals, and struggles manfully against all obstacles.” (p.94)
“The citizen of the United States is taught from infancy to rely upon his own exertions in order to resist the evils and the difficulties of life…In the United States, associations are established to promote public safety, commerce, industry, morality, and religion.” (pp.191-2) In contrast, the modern American is taught in the public schools that religion is irrelevant and encouraged to look to the state for all his needs. The state is the solution to all our woes.
Our forbears knew the true foundation of liberty, and would not be surprised by the increasing lawlessness and the loss of liberty that we have experienced over the past 100 years. They would also know the root cause--our rejection of the Christian faith.
So what must be done? Though restoring the American republic to its constitutional boundaries is a good start, it is not enough. History is littered with nations that took our Constitution but ended up in tyranny or anarchy, and we are fast becoming another example. We must concede with De Tocqueville, that the balance of law and liberty can only be maintained where people are self-governed by the law of God, which is the law of liberty (James 1:25). Thus, a vibrant Christian faith and morality is "the best security of law and the surest pledge of the duration of freedom.”