The American soil

Hello, teachers.

In general, we say American soil without the.

No sooner do you set foot upon the American soil than you are stunned by a kind of tumult.

Did the writer make a mistake?

Or in his opinion,does the American soil seem very different from any other soil?

Could you please help me with it?

Here is the context:

Tocqueville (1980) wrote the description, and it comes from his famous study of early American society, Democracy in America, in which he analyzed the nature of the U.S. political culture in the early 1800s: # It is not impossible to form an imaginary picture of the surpassing liberty which the Americans enjoy; some idea may likewise be formed of the extreme equality which subsists amongst them. But the political activity which pervades the must be seen in order to be understood. No sooner do you set foot upon the American soil than you are stunned by a kind of tumult; a confused clamour is heard on every side; and a thousand simultaneous voices demand the immediate satisfaction of their social wants. Everything is in motion around you; here, the people of one quarter of a town are met to decide upon the building of a church; there, the election of a representative is going on; a little further, the delegates of a district are traveling in a hurry to the town in order to consult upon some ......