History 103: US History I

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In this lesson, we'll learn about Alexis de Tocqueville, a Frenchman who wrote a book about his observations of American society during the Jackson era.

From France with Curiosity

In the 1830s, Europe was reeling from war, revolution, and a decaying aristocracy. The old world was hampered by old ideas, and many Europeans did not hesitate to criticize their societies and cultures and look abroad for better models of government.

Two Frenchmen, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont, signed on to study the United States on behalf of the French government, which by then had suffered through the wars of Napoleon, the rule of the mob, and now was again in the hands of a monarch. America, to them, seemed special, and they wanted to know why.

Traveling to America aboard a steamer, the two men had come to take a look at American prisons - yes, prisons - but their real purpose was withheld from officials in France, and that was to study what made America special. For you see, America was an experiment, a young country full of Europe's cast-offs, its ne're-do-wells, its dreamers, its Puritans, its pious - all of those who sought a new life and opportunity in the new world.

Without question, those who came to America and continued to come as free immigrants, were regarded in quaint romantic light by many in Europe, but as of yet no real study of the American experiment had been completed.

Over the next nine months, the two men did their best to study America's prisons, but de Tocqueville was more interested in the society around him, and kept careful, detailed notes of what he found. Upon returning to France, de Tocqueville published Democracy in America in 1835, and it has become a classic of history, cultural studies, and American studies. So what did he find?

Quite a few things, but what struck him most was the American expression of equality, not merely in the ability of Americans to elect those who governed them, but in their income, living conditions, and personal liberty.

It was not that all Americans were materially equal, but from rich to poor, the social positions of free, white Americans were not enforced by society, institutions, or luck of birth, as they were in Europe. To be sure, some Americans were better off than others, but it was de Tocqueville's opinion that the United States offered social mobility to all who were willing to work for it, or were endowed with the creativity and entrepreneurship to achieve it.

Slavery and the Plight of the Indians

Given our knowledge of Jacksonian America, it is clear that de Tocqueville and Beaumont missed several realities, including the large number of urban poor. Based on his writings, we also know that he had little contact with the lower classes of American society, moving instead among the more wealthy and connected elites. This did not mean he took no notice of poverty, but it most certainly colored his more rosy experiences and ruminations on American life.

What he most certainly did not miss was the fate of the African slaves and the Indians. Both races, de Tocqueville wrote, shared a common sadness. One lost in servitude, the other lost in its liberty.

What did he mean? He explained that the fate of the African slave in the United States was to be born into this condition of servitude, cut off from his culture, his religion, and even the language of his ancestors, bent like iron to the will of his master.

From cradle to grave, the slave would know nothing of free will, even as his reason remained intact. De Tocqueville could not help but be saddened at witnessing how one race of men could treat another with such barbarity. Yet, he was not without hope. De Tocqueville witnessed the absence of slavery in the Northern states, and the general mood for abolition that was boiling under the surface in other regions. However, he noted that even when free, the black man would not enjoy the same rights and privileges of the whites, leading most likely to a level of societal conflict yet unseen inside the United States.

It was, in his opinion, going to be nature's way of punishing the Europeans who had made slaves of a race other than their own. While not a comforting idea, he believed the conflict to be inevitable.

In regards to the Indians, he had a similar despondent narrative, for he believed they suffered because of their excess of natural freedom. For you see, Indians were born, according to de Tocqueville, the descendants of those 'savage' men of the wilderness, not knowing civilized law, customs, or even the basics of agriculture.

The indigenous Americans that remained lacked even the basics of science and philosophy common to the poorest of European races. But to many observers at the time, this lack of knowledge was not in itself detrimental. Indeed, for many, including de Tocqueville, the natural state of Indians worked well for many tribes who had lived for centuries with little competition for resources, no government larger than the tribe, and a natural world that provided in abundance.

But the times had changed. America had changed, and now the Indians had been introduced to a more advanced civilization bent on taking their land: white America. De Tocqueville observed that the Indians were woefully unprepared for the challenge. They could neither adapt nor adopt to change fast enough, and it did not help that the society pressuring them was, in de Tocqueville's words, oppressive and tyrannical. Having witnessed the results of America's Indian Removal Act firsthand, he believed there was but one outcome, and that was the inevitable extinction of the American Indian.

Much to Admire

But beyond the sadness and the destitution of these two races, de Tocqueville found much to admire in the American union. He spent a great deal of time chronicling its strengths in agriculture, industry, and government. He praised America's strong judiciary, its free press, and diversification of government powers from state, to local, to federal.

He appreciated how citizens could move through the social classes, marrying at will, without wealth, religion, or even regional identity being an obstacle. And most of all, he saw a force growing in America that would likely keep it stable, responsible, and out of the unnecessary wars of foreign powers. What was this force? The middle class.

We now know through decades of political science, international relations, and other fields of study, that countries with a large middle class have fewer income inequalities, and therefore less internal conflict. What is more, countries with middle classes tend to have more personal sovereignty invested in the individual, which translates into the masses being better informed, better educated, and more active in the political process.

A middle class also usually equals democracy and the fostering of strong democratic values, and de Tocqueville noticed all of these qualities in 1830s America.

Lesson Summary

As de Tocqueville bid farewell to America one last time, he left his readers a sense of admiration for all he had experienced and all he had seen. While 1830s America was not perfect, de Tocqueville believed it had all the qualities necessary to be great, and indeed, he believed greatness was America's destiny.