![]() ![]() De Tocqueville's parents had been imprisoned earlier during the French Revolution. Much more than a mere record of his travels, Democracy in America, in the words of one modern historian, turned out to be "perhaps the greatest commentary ever written about any culture by any person at any time."Īlexis de Tocqueville was born into an aristocratic family in 1805, the year after Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor of France. In 1840 the two volumes became one book which de Tocqueville titled Democracy in America. ![]() De Tocqueville spent the next eight years writing two volumes on his observations. America was such a young nation, and most Europeans had only a vague idea about its unique democratic system.Īfter traveling thousands of miles over a period of nine months, the young men returned to France. However, even before leaving France, de Tocqueville and de Beaumont decided to spend most of their time observing American democracy in action. Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont, both minor French court officials, had been sent by their government to study new experimental prisons in America. On May 9, 1831, two young Frenchmen sailed into the harbor of Newport, Rhode Island and began a remarkable journey through the United States. "A great democratic revolution is taking place in our midst. ![]() ELECTION CENTRAL The Citizen in de Tocqueville's America ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |