Tocqueville states in his introduction that morals, ideas, laws and habits are all important parts of society that need to change to fit democracy. He says that these are things that citizens of France need to adapt to in order for the revolution to take full effect.
He uses many examples of these concepts that American’s have a different mentality to. For example, the law of inheritance is an example of a more democratic style of inheriting land. Instead of having property remain in the hands of one family, unbroken for generations, in America land is divided, sold and bought more constantly due to this law. Since land is changed frequently, money is held in other ways than in just land. This means equality is more common among American citizens.
The reason Tocqueville gives for this difference between American morals, ideas, laws and habits and France’s is because America started out as a democracy while France had to change from one form of law to another.
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