Thought is an invisible, almost intangible power that makes a mockery of tyranny in all its forms. The most absolute sovreigns in Europe today are powerless to prevent certain thoughts hostile to their authority from silently circulating through their states and even within their courts. The same cannot be said of America: as long as the majority remains in doubt, people talk, but as soon as it makes up its mind once

and for all, everyone falls silent, and friends and enemies alike seemingly hitch themselves to its chariot. The reason for this is simple: no monarch is so absolute that he can gather in his hands all the forces of society and overcome all resistance, as a majority can do if vested with the right to make and execute the laws.

-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 1, pt. II, ch. 7, p.292, 1835-40