In this excerpt Tocqueville makes the distinction between the populations that settled the North, and those that settled the South of the United States. The southern colonies such as Virginia were populated by prospectors from the lower classes of society that had no strong religious affiliation. In contrast to this, the groups that populated the Northern Colonies were extremely religious. The Puritans expressed many of their religious beliefs in their laws. Tocqueville does a good job of expressing the beliefs and backgrounds of the different groups that immigrated to America. These beliefs went on to influence the political processes in America for the next few centuries.
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