Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/759

 THE CITY IN HISTORY 743

we have had occasion to see, membership in the political com- munity was a necessary prerequisite to the exercise of any trade or calling.

The new and distinctly modern spirit first asserts itself in an intense individualism which completely changed the concept of government. The idea of the individual as an end, rather than as a means, begins to dominate the political thinking of the time. England of the seventeenth century gives clear evidence of the influence of the new political principles. The role of government, which in the mediaeval cities had been construed to include the regulation of every field of individual activity, receives a new and distinctly negative interpretation. Ideas of inherent and imprescriptible individual right obtain general acceptance, while government is regarded as the guarantor and protector of these rights rather than as a positive factor in industrial activity. The settlement of America gives to these ideas a new and wider environment in which to develop. There they receive definite formulation in law. The bills of rights and the prohibitions upon government of the early compacts are dominated by a spirit of individualism which has been fostered by the industrial evolution of the present century. In a country of unexploited resources the opportunities for individual initia- tive and enterprise are so great that a feeling of independence toward government inevitably arises.

Due, in large part, to the combination of these forces, the negative view of government, which limits the public authority to the protection of individual rights, received its fullest develop- ment in the United States. It has met with no such counter- acting political forces as has been the case in England. Not only the conditions of economic growth, but also the character of our political life, has fostered these individualistic tendencies. The political issues which the present generation has had to face have made prominent individual rather than national interests. The manufacturer desires a tariff to increase his profits ; the workingman, to raise his wages; the debtor advocates a silver standard; the creditor, a gold standard. In none of these questions have the interests of the nation, as such, been made prominent.