The love of wealth is therefore to be traced, as either a principal or accessory motive, at the bottom of all that the Americans do; this gives to all their passions a sort of family likeness.

This observation comes from Alexis de Tocqueville’s account of the United States in the early 1830s, written after his 1831–32 journey (officially to study prisons) and published as the first volume of *Democracy in America* (1835). In analyzing American “manners” (moeurs)—the habits, values, and everyday motivations that sustain democratic society—Tocqueville repeatedly notes the prominence of commerce, material improvement, and social mobility. He contrasts this democratic, opportunity-driven culture with aristocratic Europe, arguing that equality of conditions tends to redirect ambition away from hereditary honors toward acquisition and comfort, shaping politics, religion, and private life alike.

Tocqueville is not simply accusing Americans of crude greed; he is diagnosing a structural tendency in democratic societies. Where rank is fluid and inherited privilege weaker, people seek security and distinction through property, enterprise, and visible prosperity. This “love of wealth” becomes a common denominator that colors otherwise different passions—political zeal, reform movements, religious energy, even leisure—giving them a shared tone of practicality and self-interest. The phrase “family likeness” suggests that diverse pursuits resemble one another because they are animated by the same underlying motive: the desire for material advancement and the comforts it promises.