Civil Life I do not propose to speak of those political associations--by the aid of which men endeavor to defend themselves against the despotic influence of a majority--or against the aggressions of regal power.

That subject I have already treated.

If each citizen did not learn, in proportion as he individually becomes more feeble, and consequently more incapable of preserving his freedom single-handed, to combine with his fellow-citizens for the purpose of defending it, it is clear that tyranny would unavoidably increase together with equality.
Those associations only which are formed in civil life, without reference to political objects, are here adverted to.

The political associations which exist in the United States are only a single feature in the midst of the immense assemblage of associations in that country.
Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations.

They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in which all take part, but associations of a thousand other kinds--religious, moral, serious, futile, extensive, or restricted, enormous or diminutive.