"The man of small means might vote, but none save well-to-do Christians could legislate, and in many states none but a rich Christian could be a governor."** In South Carolina, for example, a freehold of 10,000 pounds currency was required of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and members of A he Council; 2,000 pounds of the members of the Senate; and, while every elector was eligible to the House of Representatives, he had to acknowledge the being of a God and to believe in a future state of rewards and punishments, as well as to hold "a freehold at least of fifty acres of land, or a town lot." * George Combe, "Tour of the United States," vol.I, p.

205.
** McMaster, "Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political Rights of Man in America," p.

20.
It was government by a property-owning class, but in comparison with other countries this class represented a fairly large and increasing proportion of the population.

In America the opportunity of becoming a property-owner was open to every one, or, as that phrase would then have been understood, to most white men.

This system of class control is illustrated by the fact that, with the exception of Massachusetts, the new State Constitutions were never submitted to the people for approval.
The democratic sympathizer of today is inclined to point to those first State Governments as a continuance of the old order.