Page 276 - American Stories, A History of the United States

Read the Document Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835–1840) 10.1

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AlexIs De toCquevIlle Alexis de Tocqueville, the french political thinker and historian,
published Democracy in America in 1835 upon his return from his American travels.

Yet Tocqueville was acutely aware of the limitations of American democracy. He
knew that the kind of democracy men were practicing was not meant for women. Observ-
ing how women were strictly assigned to a separate domestic sphere, he concluded that
Americans had never supposed “that democratic principles should undermine the hus-
band’s authority and make it doubtful who is in charge of the family.” He also believed
the nullification crisis foreshadowed destruction of the Union and predicted that slavery
would lead to civil war and racial conflict. He noted the power of white supremacy,
providing an unforgettable firsthand description of the sufferings of an Indian com-
munity during forced migration to the West, and a graphic account of how free blacks
were segregated and driven from the polls in northern cities such as Philadelphia. White
Americans, he believed, were deeply prejudiced against people of color, and he doubted it
was possible “for a whole people to rise . . . above itself.” A despot might force the equality
and mingling of the races, but “while American democracy remains at the head of affairs,
no one would dare attempt any such thing, and it is possible to foresee that the freer the
whites in America are, the more they will seek to isolate themselves.” Tocqueville clearly
saw that Jacksonian democracy and equality were meant for only some of the people. His
belief that slavery would endanger the union was prophetic. 243