Essay 48: A Few Reflections On The Reasons For The Commercial Greatness Of The United States Influenced by their Commerce (Vol. 1 Pt. 2 Ch. 10, Subch. 5)

Essay Read by Constituting America Founder, Actress Janine Turner

The essays in our study reference the following edition of Democracy In America: University of Chicago Press – 1st edition translated by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Today’s essay references pages 379 (Start at heading “On Republican Institutions”) – 384 (Stop at heading “Some Considerations…”) of this edition of Democracy in America.

A Few Reflections On The Reasons For The Commercial Greatness Of The United States Influenced by their Commerce

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick” states the Psalmist, “but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life”. This sound wisdom states the human need for opportunity, advancement and productivity. All humanity yearns forward, organic in nature. Immobility is a death sentence to the human race. Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, described American commerce related to its organic nature as one that is always moving forward. Commerce in America, as a factor of American exceptionalism, demonstrated unique qualities birthed out of the very nature of those called Americans. He found that geographic advantages, intellectual superiority and moral people were the three great winds blowing on the exceptional nature of Americans and commerce.

Undeniably, the American continent has geographic advantages unseen in the world. “There is no people in the world that can offer to commerce deeper, vaster and safer ports than the Americans.” Risking danger, American ships “neglected precautions” and pushed their sailors further without creature comforts at the prospect of commercial gain. This was one dynamic De Tocqueville recognized as an “American trait” in the colonies before and after Independence. Living in a temperate zone, American colonies doubled in population in nearly twenty-two years. Population growth mirrors hope. The American Dream was realized and taken advantage of by common people. For the American, navigable rivers, a climate for agricultural diversity, and fertile soil allowed for expansion. The limitless opportunities afforded by nature were embodied in the hearts and minds of the American. For the one willing to learn, to risk, and to work hard, the North American continent had endless possibilities.

European industry, in De Tocqueville’s time, far advanced American output, but was lacking what the individual American held in intellectual superiority. He witnessed that the American’s production capacity was more general, but the sphere of his intellect was more extensive. The American was not held to prejudices in profession nor by lag in progress, but was motivated by his sheer will to survive in the world that he built. This created, “an irresistible impulse on the national character.” Therefore, the mentality of private industry, of self motivation, was seen in every task of the American. No ceiling existed for the Americans. He further elaborated, “I think that nations, like men, almost always indicate the principal features of their destiny in their youth. When I see the spirit in which the Anglo-Americans carry on commerce, the opportunities that they find to do it, the success that they obtain in it, I cannot prevent myself from believing that one day they will become the first maritime power on the globe.” What De Tocqueville was recognizing was American grit. As the new colonists gave way to cultivators of the land, the “taste of well being and the spirit of enterprise” became a key characteristic of those called Americans. The independent, problem solving nature of the American, rivaled any he had seen. He called it intellectual superiority because it represented a person who could do many things. De Tocqueville honored it as intelligence, but understood that its fuel was morality.

Moral steadfastness. This grit found in the American people was a reflection of the transformation required by the opportunity in front of them. Never before had a people been given an opportunity quite like the American people and they embodied the time. They had already created political doctrines that other nations were borrowing. They “exerted a great moral influence over all the peoples of the New World.” This tilled the soil for enlightened thinking, or personal advancement among individuals. All people, created equal, while not in full practice, were stirring in the hearts and minds of Americans. This enlightenment was reflected in commerce, allowing Americans to participate in not only the wealth of their own land, but also that of Europe and beyond. Morality, in this light, referred to a person, who was willing to give all they had for the hope of success. “Skin in the game” combined with hard work in America was a harvest for all.

Commerce, forward motion, a successful organic movement, described America to a “t”. When the perfect soil, climate and worker collide, commerce is a natural progression. The soil and climate offered in America, both literally and figuratively, could only be taken advantage of by the one whose moral compass directed him towards hard work. Commerce would be birthed out of this mentality. Take what is available and sacrificially give all you have for the possibility of more. The hope of the American was void of victimization, but rather full of effort and an undying grit to succeed. What Europe did “piercing the darkness of the Middle Ages with its own efforts,” America did in the river valleys, plains, deserts and mountains of the North American continent, and all peoples, both north and south of its boundaries, were influenced by their commerce.

Andrea Criswell is a wife, mother, and homeschool teacher in the northwest Houston area. Graduating from both Texas Tech University and Asbury Theological Seminary, she teaches Christian Worldview classes. Her passion is helping high school students become responsible young adults who critically think and learn how to solve problems.

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