Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the mid-1830s and found a young, energetic republic practicing a new form of representative government built on a Constitution promulgated by, of and for "we the people." He met the people of the United States of America on the "Main Streets" of many Midwestern and Northeastern towns and villages. He saw neighbors helping neighbors. He saw people volunteering in small groups to help in their local towns and villages, and be found part-