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Tocqueville Dbq

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Q. 1. Answer Tocqueville illustrates the harsh fact of an aristocratic society that if a man has been born rich, he is credited to wealth and inherits to remain rich. This striving force led by a man continues till he dies. Furthermore, if a man is born a peasant, it becomes his destiny to die as a peasant, consequently inheriting the same virtue to his children (Tocqueville, p. 54). All in all, both of these classes intersect to pursue their private interests in their walk of life. They both act upon to depict their ideas to support democratic government. Status, pride, honor, national glory, excellence, and passivity are all important values in an aristocratic society (Tocqueville, p. 13). Americans are not inherited with a status that will determine their future, instead they are all born equally and are able to rise or decrease in power due to self-interest. Equal responsibilities, respect, status, and opportunity are all important values in an Egalitarian society. However equality is a mere illusion, equality in America is valued and does not reflect reality (Tocqueville, p. 504-505). Tocqueville witnessed that even though Americans are born with the same status, certain groups still struggled with inequality. Different races and genders created a separation, thus …show more content…

When the poor were in the labour force, which was regulated by government entities, the poor tended to exist as servants. Instead of being arbitrators for their own salaries, governmental entities intervened. Wages were fixed by the government, which in turn aided the process of the market growth. Durkheim believed that this combination of events was a leading factor in the rise of people committing suicide, since the workers’ situations appeared hopeless and without escape (Durkheim, Durkheim on Suicide and Society p.

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Mikal Fikremariam Prof. Good Group Discussion Summary The primary source is Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, published in 1835 with the purpose of describing American way of life in the 1800s. Tocqueville’s point of view comes from his own aristocratic life in France. The late 1700s and early 1800s were a very turbulent time in France’s history, due to the political and social disturbances caused by the French Revolution. Thus, when he comes to America Tocqueville contrasts the American democracy with the forms of government he familiar with in Europe.

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The French people’s knowledge of their rights led them to believe that it is possible to achieve fairness and be respected in their own province. And lastly, the idea of questioning France’s government had peasants discover that their king barely even cared about their well-being and restricted them of representation.

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Stephen Marche wrote an argument trying to argue the point that we as Americans are not as equal as we have always believed we were. Marche is a mainstream writer and a novelist with his first novel published in 2005. Many of his articles can often be read in the New York Times and the Atlantic. In his article “We Are Not All Created Equal: The Truth about the American Class System” he gives valid points and details to inform us the truth behind what we think we see.

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This may come from slightly from a place of defense for Tocqueville as he is part of the aristocrat class in France. Tocqueville isn’t wrong completely though as many of the people of the time were largely very uneducated about the world and to expect them to be able to understand situations around the world is asking too much of them. Yet this largely not their fault as much of them did not have access to education. Tocqueville also notices in the United States that many people don’t look up to the wealthy or a king anymore but still look up to people who appear virtuous to them.

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Specifically, in the 1960s, a decade where de Tocqueville’s defining characteristics of American Exceptionalism are

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Settling Charles Town The Spanish were the first Europeans to explore South Carolina. Francisco Gordillo sailed to South Carolina in 1521, but didn't attempt to settle there. After Gordillo’s exploration, there were many failed attempts at settling in South Carolina.

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Why do some groups have the status that they do? On this planet, Revolutions have played a vital role in shaping the people, and for this reason, there have been countless changes. However, when analyzing the American Revolution, it brought little to no reform for African Americans, Native Americans, and women. Of the three, women would receive the biggest increase in status, followed by African Americans, and Native Americans would slip in rank. These groups would acquire some modification with mixed results.

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Lewis Miller American History Paper 5/1/2023 Primary Source Paper Alexis de Tocqueville was a French male political thinker, historian, and writer who is best known for his book "Democracy in America." He traveled to the US in the 1830s to study its political system and society, and his observations and analysis led him to conclude that democracy was becoming a powerful force in the world. He commented on his own beliefs that “men in public and women in the home”(Tocqueville). Tocqueville's work is highly regarded for its insightful commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of democracy, and his ideas and writings continue to be studied by scholars worldwide.

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Tocqueville was concern about the tyranny of the majority, citing the government of the United States that without some form of checks and balances it could possibly lead to the suppression of the minority. He writes, “What is a majority on its collective capacity, if not an individual with opinions, and usually with interests, contrary to those of another individual, called the minority?” . He is apprehensive about the lack of guarantees against tyranny and how to preserve individual freedoms in the United

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Tocqueville does accept how the wealthy has more power over the poor. You can relate it by saying the strongest over the weakest or the oldest over the youngest. He admits that equality can be uncertain in society where the dominance can be portrayed as more

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1448 Words | 6 Pages

In 1831 French sociologist and political theorist Alexis De Tocqueville and a lawyer he befriended named Gustave de Beaumont, spent nine months traveling around America studying its prisons and came back with a full report on the cultural, political and psychological life in America. While Beaumont wrote about the penitentiary system, Tocqueville focused more in the cultural and political life in America. He wrote two essays and published them in a book called Democracy in America. He discussed the possible threats to democracy and the possible dangers of democracy. He believed that religion and equality were the greatest ideas and they were the most advanced in the United States and that's why democracy worked so well in America.

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De Tocqueville doesn 't view liberty as an attribute part of the democratic era. He believes that the only character that is associated with this era is equality. He explains in his theory that people of this era prize equality over liberty, although he doesn 't deny that democratic people value liberty, because everyone can take part in it and enjoy it effortlessly, as opposed to liberty where you have to "sacrifice" to achieve it (De Tocqueville, 1835). He holds that equality creates individualism, which means people separate themselves from one another, their ancestors and the future generations, that leads to tyranny and despotism. On the contrary, he claims that during the aristocratic ages, people were not selfish and careless about others ' needs because "aristocracy links everybody, from peasant to king" (De Tocqueville, 1835).

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He puts forward the idea of “freedom of opinion” (Tocqueville 106) and constitutes it as “independence of mind and real freedom of discussion” (Tocqueville 104). Unlike Locke, this stretches far beyond what is done. Tocqueville is careful to differentiate this liberty from the freedom of speech, as this freedom from opinion is more meant to indicate the freedom to follow different paths of thought and not be unfairly judged for it. Once again, it is the majority who suppresses this in Tocqueville’s opinion, as scorn and persecution for unwanted opinions permeate throughout society (Tocqueville 105). Tocqueville’s entanglement of liberty and what is right means that a majority’s limitation of liberty is unjust, while Locke’s concept of liberty means it must necessarily be restrained by a majority in order to protect the principle aim of government, to protect

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Furthermore, taking the work as a whole, one finds that main problems of a democracy are the following: a disproportionately high portion of power in the legislative branch, an abuse of or lack of love for freedom, an excessive drive for equality, individualism, and materialism. The elements that Tocqueville believes can most successfully combat these dangerous democratic tendencies are: an independent and influential judiciary, a strong executive branch, local self-government, administrative de-centralization, religion, well-educated women, freedom of association, and freedom of the press. Tocqueville directly applies this newfound thesis to American democracy and explains how this situation can affect the United States. He references this thesis in talking about the pros and cons to American democracy, specifically the dangers and benefits of the

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1186 Words | 5 Pages

The lower Classes sustained the rights and privileges to the Upper Classes, and in most cases enacted by laws sustained the Feudal System. Everything was a source of privilege for the nobles. The high-ranking nobles lived in castles with their knights, ladies and retinues. Others “enjoyed” their daily life on poor and harsh lives.

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