Democracy absorbed white men and white immigrants, but created boundaries against the participation of women and nonwhite men in politics. Reasons for political exclusion ranged from economic dependence to natural inabilities as democracy prevailed. Racial and gender differences were seen as part of an individual, natural hierarchy of natural abilities. A natural line was not exclusive, many debated, and women and non-whites were seen as lacking many qualities necessary for successful democracy and self-government. The white man's freedom included a process of personal transformation, of enhancing one's potential to the highest degree, while the limits of democracy lay in the idea that the characteristics and capabilities of women and non-whites were determined by natural factors.