THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP 203

no room for individual variations. The strong individualistic
 character of the group prevents an expression of personal
 individuality on the one hand and an approach to
other groups on the other hand.
Both aspects of the correlation are exemplified in the
political life of the American people before the Civil War.
The southern states were populated mostly by adventurous
 individuals with no particular tendency toward local
self-government. Their counties were large but colorless
administrative units, and their real political unity resided
in the state. The people of the northern states settled
mostly in groups. They formed small local townships,
which absorbed and regulated a large part of the personal
life. But these narrow local structures possessed as a whole
a much more individualistic character. The New England
states were not combinations of individuals. but combinations
 of townships.
The apparently existing n=ed for a fixed quantum of
differentiation and conformity which seems determined
by personal, social, and historical circumstances can evidently
 be satisfied in different forms. The individual leads
in a way a double existence. In his private life he is conscious
 of his delimitation from his other group members.
In his social life, that is, as a group member, he is conscious
of his delimitation from everything that lies outside of his
group. It is for this reason that the differentiation within
the group can compensate for the lack of differentiation
between groups, and vice versa, thus maintaining the fixed
balance between variation and conformity.
Although membership in a small circle is in general
much less favorable for a complete development of the individuality
 than membership in a large group, there is an interesting
 exception. In the large and wide cultural communities
 of modern civilization, the membership in a