What is Alexis de Tocqueville best known for?
July 29 marks the birthday of French historian and political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), who is most well-known for providing a compelling analysis of American society in Democracy in America (1835).
Who was Alexis de Tocqueville and what did he do?
Alexis de Tocqueville, (born July 29, 1805, Paris, France—died April 16, 1859, Cannes), political scientist, historian, and politician, best known for Democracy in America, 4 vol. (1835–40), a perceptive analysis of the political and social system of the United States in the early 19th century.
What did Alexis de Tocqueville write about America?
Alexis de Tocqueville was the French author of Democracy in America (1835), perhaps the best, and certainly the most widely-quoted book ever written about the United States. He was unusual for his time in many ways. One way in which he stood out in nineteenth-century France was his attitude towards religion.
What was the purpose of Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America?
Tocqueville’s main purpose in writing Democracy in America was to analyze the functioning of political society and the various forms of political associations, although he also had some reflections on civil society as well as the relations between political and civil society.
Why is Alexis de Tocqueville important in history?
French sociologist and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prisons and returned with a wealth of broader observations that he codified in “Democracy in America” (1835), one of the most influential books of the 19th century.
How did Alexis de Tocqueville influence America?
Why did Alexis de Tocqueville believe US society was egalitarian?
Why did Alexis de Tocqueville believe that American society was egalitarian? Americans lacked a hereditary social class of nobles. Americans had just abolished slavery just before his visit. The Declaration of Independence announced that all men were created equal.
What did Alexis de Tocqueville admire?
Alexis de Tocqueville most admired the democracy of America, and the ability for Americans to be free of designations of class, and the ease in which one could acquire a fortune.
What did Alexis de Tocqueville believe?
As “Democracy in America” revealed, Tocqueville believed that equality was the great political and social idea of his era, and he thought that the United States offered the most advanced example of equality in action.