Page:Henry Adams' History of the United States Vol. 1 (wikilinked).djvu/126

1800. hierarchy like that of New England; no great families like those of New York; no oligarchy like the plant­ers of Virginia and South Carolina. "In Pennsylvania," said Albert Gallatin, "not only we have neither Livingstons nor Rensselaers, but from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the banks of the Ohio I do not know a single family that has any extensive influence. An equal distribution of property has ren­dered every individual independent, and there is among us true and real equality." This was not all. The value of Pennsylvania to the Union lay not so much in the democratic spirit of society as in the rapidity with which it turned to na­tional objects. Partly for this reason the State made an insignificant figure in politics. As the nation grew, less and less was said in Pennsylvania of in­terests distinct from those of the Union. Too thor­oughly democratic to fear democracy, and too much nationalized to dread nationality, Pennsylvania be­came the ideal American State, easy, tolerant, and contented. If its soil bred little genius, it bred still less treason. With twenty different religious creeds, its practice could not be narrow, and a strong Quaker element made it humane. If the Ameri­can Union succeeded, the good sense, liberality, and democratic spirit of Pennsylvania had a right to claim credit for the result; and Pennsylvanians could afford to leave power and patronage to their neigh­bors, so long as their own interests were to decide the path of administration.