ABSTRACT
The American tradition is an individualistic tradition which has tended to look upon the state with doubt or suspicion. It rarely goes beyond the limits of the Deist principle; but it is natural, as the nineteenth century dawns, to see any novelty in ideas receive a welcome far more profound than any it was likely to secure in Europe. The zeal for accumulation by the individual sets the background for some important elements in the American tradition. The zeal for material well-being has had a profound effect, also, upon the American tradition in politics and literature. The American Constitution established a political democracy; and the circumstances in which it operated involved a large measure of social equality. The traditions which have been evoked by the history of the last three centuries have given opportunities for individual advancement which, save for Russia since 1917, have been unparalleled in their scale in modern times.
