View of America Alexis de Tocqueville was a

View of America Alexis de Tocqueville was a citizen of France, sent to observe American Prisons, by the French government in the 1830’s. While in America, he began a journal commenting on the “exceptionalism” of America and its citizens. He Focused on five characteristics: Liberty, Equality, Individualism, Popular Sovereignty and Laissez Faire. Our class assignment was to select an era of American History after the Civil War and look at it though de Tocqueville’s eyes.

The Era I Selected The Civil Rights Era Approximate Dates: Around the times from: (1954 -1968) This era marked a time where great strives towards equality began and were achieved. This era in many ways is responsible for the type of integrated society that takes place today. I feel that this was a congressional time and a very important moment in our nations history.

Liberty De Tocqueville's viewed Liberty as the ability to govern oneself as much as possible throughout the administration of local affairs. During this era there was a large struggle for all Americans to receive liberty. Many of the minorities living in the United States did not have the same rights as other people. As a result, many of the minority groups fought to end the policy of segregation.

Liberty Cont.

Equality According to De Tocqueville believed that history progresses with the growth of equality. Equality means a society where everybody is equal. Minority groups such as African Americans, Hispanics and Even Women struggled to obtain the same rights as the male Caucasian.

Equality Cont.

Individualism De Tocqueville views individualism as the principle that people are free to flourish without hereditary distinctions. During this era there was a strong presence of individualism in the way people chose to protest and speak out against segregation. From Rosa Parks refusing to move from her spot to Cesar Chavez individualism has been omnipresent.

Individualism Cont.

Popular Sovereignty De Tocqueville’s idea of popular sovereignty is that the population is in complete participation almost to the point of complete control over what happens. During this era, both the pro and against sides of segregation were heavily involved in the government. The people were very persistent, they organized boycotts, marches and even secret organizations.

Popular Sovereignty Cont.

Laissez Faire De Tocqueville defines Laissez Faire as the type of government in which there is a hands off approach to the economy. Throughout the Civil Rights era the government was only present to fight against the protesting and boycotts. The overall government had very little control over what was undergoing.

Laissez Faire Cont.

Quotes from De Tocqueville “Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other. ” -Alexis de Tocqueville When De Tocqueville stated this quote he was implying that the American society had a hard time distinguishing the difference between religion and liberty. De Tocqueville was noting that a lot of the principles that America bases its idea of liberty on are very similar and almost connected to their views of religion. The entire workmanship of the US government, in de Tocqueville's eyes, is religion and liberty and their codependency of one another.

My Thoughts on De Tocqueville’s Views De Tocqueville was a very optimistic person, he chose to only see the very basics of what the American government had to offer. Despite the idea that he had the whole American government figured out I feel that he was lacking a few key points when he assessed the entire American economy. There is a little more depth when it comes to his five ideals: populism, Individualism, Laissez Faire, Egalitarianism and Liberty. Had De Tocqueville stayed a little longer I feel he could've truly experienced the entire American government.

Works Cited http: //www. gradesaver. com/democracy-inamerica/study-guide/section 1/ http: //memory. loc. gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart 9. html