Democracy in America
My summer homework for AP Government consists of reading The Lanahan Readings in American Polity. In the first essay, Alexis De Tocqueville writes From Democracy in America. De Tocqueville was a young French aristocrat who came to the United States in 1831. He intended to study the new social and political phenomenon, American Democracy. In his travels and writings, he realized something exceptional about America. It was unlike any previous nation in history. To understand why that is the case, we must understand the history of its founding. De Tocqueville knew that America was founded by those who were not wanted in Europe. He says in the essay that “It may safely be advanced that on leaving the mother-country the emigrants had, in general, no notion of superiority one over another. The happy and powerful do not go into exile.”
The old European rules of lordship and aristocrat did not come over to the new world. Free from the ancient laws of Europe, the settlers created a more unique and more open society. Though America has not been free for many of its people, the foundation of the country allowed for change to take place. De Tocqueville realized that this country, free from the influences and biases of Europe, brought out hard-work, creativity, and determination in its people. However, he did make sure to say that America was not a perfect Utopia. In fact, he said, “There is no other country where the love of money has taken stronger hold of men.” America’s capitalistic and free-market society allowed for tremendous economic growth over our history. Unlike Europe, where there was little to no class mobility, wealth circulates with rapidity in America.
The best thing about this excerpt is that it shows the perspective of a non-American. In many ways, Americans take for granted the rights we have. We sometimes forget that most of the world does not live in a free society. What De Tocqueville was able to understand was that America embraces the individual. Unlike in Europe, where people were judged by their family and what class they were born. Ideally, in America we judge people by their actions and what they do. De Tocqueville realized the unlimited potential of the American system. Our country has never been perfect. We have the ability provided in the constitution, to make it a better place for all our fellow citizens.
