Democracy in America

Tocqueville begins with descriptions of North America’s main geographic features: the continent’s two oceans, its Great Lakes, and its mountain ranges. He particularly emphasizes the size of the Mississippi River and the fertile lands around it: “The Mississippi Valley is, all in all, the most magnificent dwelling that God has ever prepared for the habitation of man, and nonetheless one can say that it still forms only a vast wilderness” (21). Tocqueville characterizes New England as an “inhospitable coast,” and while he admits that the Atlantic Coast is currently a seat of political power, “behind it are assembling, almost in secret, the true elements of the great people to whom the future of the continent doubtless belongs” (22). Here Tocqueville introduces the theme of America’s growth past its origins into a new kind of nation. Tocqueville describes the continent’s Native people as “savage tribes,” demonstrating that his primary interest and moral sympathy is in white settlers (23). He further falls back on “noble savage” stereotypes, claiming, “The most famous ancient republics had never admired a firmer courage, prouder souls, a more intractable love of independence than was then hiding in the wild woods of the New World” (25). While Tocqueville laments “the ruin of these peoples,” he quickly turns to “that civilized men were to try to build a society on new foundations” (27). For Tocqueville, Native peoples are not without moral distinction, but his interest in white political engagement ultimately overrides any sense of tragedy.

Tocqueville argues that all nations are products of their origins, and if it were possible to study these genealogies in detail, “national character” would be readily discernible (28). America is singular, he argues, because “it has been possible to specify the influence exerted by the point of departure on the future of states” (28). Specifically, because aspects of British society and culture are well understood, it’s easy to determine how status as a British colony shaped American development. One key feature is what Tocqueville calls “the bond of language” (28); the colonists all spoke English and were familiar with English laws, particularly traditions of local government. Tocqueville argues that while the original colonists were equal because they shared poverty as religious refugees, future aristocrats in America found that “the American soil absolutely repelled territorial aristocracy” (30). Specifically, land cultivation had to be done by the owner and could not support both an owner and laborers—a feudal system where aristocrats delegated labor proved impractical.

Turning to the particular histories of the first American colonies, Tocqueville notes that Virginia, settled in 1607, introduced slavery onto the continent. He makes his critical relationship to the institution clear, insisting that it “dishonors work, and introduces idleness into society” (31), a theme that emerges later as he spends more time contrasting American regions.

Tocqueville has a more positive view of New England and considers its influence just as formative, arguing that the principles established there ultimately “penetrated the entire confederation” (31). This owed something to its social composition: Tocqueville points out that the region’s initial settlers “all belonged to the well-to-do classes of the mother country” (32). Many were educated and emigrated as family units. Perhaps most importantly, though, they emigrated out of religious conviction as Puritans, “to obey a purely intellectual need” (32). Tocqueville quotes Puritan historians and their conviction that the new colony was a heavenly project and a sign of divine favor. Tocqueville is interested in Puritan faith insofar as it operated both as a faith principle and a “political theory,” quoting founding documents in which the new settlers pledged to found a legal order for their new land (35). Tocqueville’s admiration for the Puritans is obvious: He casts them as a deeply thoughtful people committed to legal order and their beliefs.

Tocqueville goes on to note that, as English politics became more tumultuous, Puritan emigration continued, and the colony remained a society of “the middle classes” (35). New England was, unusually, largely allowed to govern itself rather than being governed mostly by elites appointed by the Crown. To further examine the history of the colonies, Tocqueville turns to their penal codes. He notes that Connecticut’s had strict penalties for anything perceived as a moral lapse. Tocqueville notes that some of these preoccupations, such as restrictions on hair length, have little to do with democracy but that others reflected key principles: “intervention of the people in public affairs, free voting of taxes, responsibility of the agents of power, individual freedom and judgment by jury were established there without discussion and in fact” (39-40). Tocqueville clearly approves of elections, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

Most distinctively, America had a strong tradition of local government from its inception. Tocqueville is unstinting in his praise for township government, calling it “a real, active, altogether democratic and republican political life reigning” where taxes are collected locally and all politically important matters are discussed in public (40). He particularly approves of New England’s commitment to social welfare and infrastructure through aid for the poor and a road system. He notes that the region’s laws “anticipate and satisfy a host of social needs, about which in our day there are still only confused sentiments in France” (41).

Tocqueville continues his comparison of America and Europe, noting that ideas of freedom were far less developed there in the 1650s: “never had notions of true freedom less preoccupied minds; and it was then that these same principles, unknown in European nations or scorned by them, were being proclaimed in the wilderness of the New World” (42). This occurs, Tocqueville argues, because New England’s government placed faith and political freedom in harmony rather than in opposition. He notes that “[r]eligion sees in civil freedom a noble exercise of the faculties of man; in the political world, a field left by the Creator to the efforts of intelligence,” whereas religion provides political culture with “the divine source of its rights” (43). For Tocqueville, religion provides a key moral foundation for politics, and politics is a realm where humans can act freely to determine their futures.