First, a note on how I am going to approach this work. I plan on posting thoughts, observations, and other meanderings after I complete reading each chapter in the book, which should result in a minimum of 83 posts. I will include quotes from the work, but I do not plan on doing additional research or pulling quotes from beyond Toqueville's text. This, of course, may change as I delve into the work, but those are the general parameters that I am setting for myself as I read.
I also don't intend this to be a study of Tocqueville's times, the United States in the 19th century, or a rehash of history. I intend this instead to be a study of the application of these 19th century observances and the enlightenment era founding of American democracy to 21st century America.
Also note that the links I use are from a University of Adelaide eBook translation of the work. The Creative Commons License details are listed at this link.
Democracy in America, Introduction
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Every third grader can recite it (or should be able to). And every modern American believes it, in their hearts. Tocqueville states immediately how pronounced and how unique the "general equality of conditions" was in the burgeoning United States. To me, this statement was at once shocking and reassuring. Shocking to my modern sensibilities that in the time of the 3/5ths rule and no universal suffrage a general equality would be evident enough to be not only noticeable, but as Tocqueville says, is "the fundamental fact from which all others seem to be derived, and the central point at which all my observations constantly terminated." Tocqueville's dissection of the history of Europe, of the establishment of kings and lords in the Middle Ages, the rise of a merchant and a priestly class ultimately leading to revolutions that strove to create this general equality of conditions at great human cost is markedly different than the history of colonial America, and indeed America today. I was reassured by and agree with his assertion that the American idea of equality, while no longer unique to these shores is so engrained in the American mind that we could not separate it from our identity any more that we can separate Ben from Jerry.
America, of course, has not been, nor does it continue to be, perfect in the application of this ideal. I'm not sure that total equality in all aspects of life is a practical or necessary ideal. Hamilton thought, rightly, that equality bumps up against our other great American idea of liberty, and that the two can't be resolved. They may not be able to be resolved, but they have learned to live with one other, and we've spent the last 200 years proving this to be the case, flattening the equality curve in fits and spurts while keeping liberty robust. Debates today regarding same sex marriage, immigrant rights, government intrusiveness, and free market reforms continue the struggle. Tocqueville suggests that in the end, where people stand up for equality, eventually (though at times not quickly) equality reigns, even against the most powerful foes. For those of us that believe that this equality of conditions is a central governing principal of democracy, this thought certainly encouraging.
Next up:
Chapter 1: The Exterior Form of North America
I also don't intend this to be a study of Tocqueville's times, the United States in the 19th century, or a rehash of history. I intend this instead to be a study of the application of these 19th century observances and the enlightenment era founding of American democracy to 21st century America.
Also note that the links I use are from a University of Adelaide eBook translation of the work. The Creative Commons License details are listed at this link.
Democracy in America, Introduction
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Every third grader can recite it (or should be able to). And every modern American believes it, in their hearts. Tocqueville states immediately how pronounced and how unique the "general equality of conditions" was in the burgeoning United States. To me, this statement was at once shocking and reassuring. Shocking to my modern sensibilities that in the time of the 3/5ths rule and no universal suffrage a general equality would be evident enough to be not only noticeable, but as Tocqueville says, is "the fundamental fact from which all others seem to be derived, and the central point at which all my observations constantly terminated." Tocqueville's dissection of the history of Europe, of the establishment of kings and lords in the Middle Ages, the rise of a merchant and a priestly class ultimately leading to revolutions that strove to create this general equality of conditions at great human cost is markedly different than the history of colonial America, and indeed America today. I was reassured by and agree with his assertion that the American idea of equality, while no longer unique to these shores is so engrained in the American mind that we could not separate it from our identity any more that we can separate Ben from Jerry.
America, of course, has not been, nor does it continue to be, perfect in the application of this ideal. I'm not sure that total equality in all aspects of life is a practical or necessary ideal. Hamilton thought, rightly, that equality bumps up against our other great American idea of liberty, and that the two can't be resolved. They may not be able to be resolved, but they have learned to live with one other, and we've spent the last 200 years proving this to be the case, flattening the equality curve in fits and spurts while keeping liberty robust. Debates today regarding same sex marriage, immigrant rights, government intrusiveness, and free market reforms continue the struggle. Tocqueville suggests that in the end, where people stand up for equality, eventually (though at times not quickly) equality reigns, even against the most powerful foes. For those of us that believe that this equality of conditions is a central governing principal of democracy, this thought certainly encouraging.
Next up:
Chapter 1: The Exterior Form of North America
