In chapter 3 of Democracy in America, Tocqueville discusses the social construct of Anglo-Americans, and more specifically compares and contrasts them between themselves (New England versus the south) and between them and the Europeans. He starts off by explaining how in New England the Anglo-Americans were very democratic, while in the south they formed a new kind of aristocracy through slavery, which differed greatly from the aristocracy in Europe. In my opinion, Tocqueville used a quite unique approach of differing the north, specifically New England, from the south by using the Hudson River as a geographical marker. As someone who grew up on the Hudson, I have never thought of it as a midway point between the two geographic regions, but from a historical standpoint I can see where Tocqueville is coming from especially with the significance that the Hudson River has provided in the past.
Tocqueville proceeds to meticulously explain the issues of inheritance, especially the downside of passing down land to each child after death rather than just following the standard of primogeniture. Another uniquely American trait he finds is that although almost everyone gets an education, people don’t finish out their education in a more specialized way, which could not be said to be true today. However, though in the present day Americans do go onto a specialized education (i.e. college), Europeans tend to concentrate their studies earlier on in life, such as in high school.
The end of this chapter brings the notion of equality back into sight. Tocqueville seems to favor a social hierarchy, but he does express that although Anglo-Americans mostly live equally, they seem to make it work in a different way with a political system unlike his own.