Question

According to Tocqueville, why did an elite aristocracy never take root in the United States?

Answer 1

Answer:

The culture of hard work and the absence of primogeniture were responsible for the absence of elite aristocracy in the United States.

Explanation:

Alexis de Tocqueville who was a French Political theorist was impressed by the democratic nature of the United States in which elite aristocracy was not practiced. He attributed the reasons for this to;

1. The culture of hard work: Unlike in the other European countries, as well as in England where America had its roots, the Americans took pride in hard work as a means of making fortunes and not the inheritance of properties from parents.

2. The absence of the practice of Primogeniture: This was a practice in other European lands where only the firstborn was entitled to his father's estates and other children inherited nothing. This was not the practice in America as there was a way of sharing properties among siblings.

The presence of these factors, Tocqueville noted as the reason for America's democratic nature.