ABSTRACT
The American tradition has developed from the persistent belief in three basic concepts: the free individual, the moral law, and progress. The ideas themselves were, of course, of European origin, chiefly English, but their development in America has been powerfully influenced by conditions peculiar to this continent. They seem to be the ground of our faith in what we call American democracy, and they are like iron rails on which we move confidently towards our ideals of the good life. If we leave these guiding rails we lose our way and become lost in a wilderness of uncertainty.
