The first is to be found in the conditions of pioneer life in the
colonies. The wilderness forced self-government upon the settlers.
Clearing the forests, subduing the Indians, and conquering animal foes
was stern work, which weeded out the indolent and inefficient, and
rewarded the capable and self-reliant. Pioneer conditions did not
encourage a cringing or submissive spirit, but fostered independence
and individualism. The spirit of equality tended to become a dominant
feature of American life, for despite the existence of social classes,
the great majority of the population had to rely for their living upon
their own efforts. Under such conditions self-reliance and self-
government were natural developments.

The selected character of the colonists is a second reason for the
rise of democracy in America. Restless spirits who had chafed under
the restraints of monarchy in Europe, thronged to the new land. Once
here they often found the older American communities intolerant, and
so struck out into the wilderness to found new and, to them, more
democratic colonies. The founding of Rhode Island by Roger Williams,
and the settlement of the Connecticut valley by Thomas Hooker,
illustrate this tendency.

It should be remembered, thirdly, that the English colonists brought
with them very definite ideas as to the rights of man. The concessions
granted by the Magna Charta were made an essential part of their
political philosophy. The belief that all men were born free and
equal, and that government derives its just powers from the consent of
the governed, became prominent in early American politics. Where the
democratic tendencies of the settlers were reinforced by such
traditions, an oppressive government could not last. In Carolina in
1670, for example, an attempt to set up an undemocratic government