What regional differences can you draw from his descriptions? THE 1840 ELECTION Take the Alexis de Tocqueville Tour to experience nineteenth-century America as Tocqueville did, by reading his journal entries about the states and territories he visited with fellow countryman Gustave de Beaumont. I know no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America. The authority of a king is purely physical, and it controls the actions of the subject without subduing his private will but the majority possesses a power which is physical and moral at the same time it acts upon the will as well as upon the actions of men, and it represses not only all contest, but all controversy. However iniquitous or absurd the evil of which you complain may be, you must submit to it as well as you can. When an individual or a party is wronged in the United States, to whom can he apply for redress? If to public opinion, public opinion constitutes the majority if to the legislature, it represents the majority, and implicitly obeys its injunctions if to the executive power, it is appointed by the majority, and remains a passive tool in its hands the public troops consist of the majority under arms the jury is the majority invested with the right of hearing judicial cases and in certain States even the judges are elected by the majority. In this excerpt from Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville warns of the dangers of democracy when the majority will can turn to tyranny: Indeed, Tocqueville described a new type of tyranny, the tyranny of the majority, which overpowers the will of minorities and individuals and was, in his view, unleashed by democracy in the United States. A great deal of the social revolution of democracy, however, carried negative consequences. In analyzing the democratic revolution in the United States, he wrote that the major benefit of democracy came in the form of equality before the law. He wrote and published his findings in 18 in a two-part work entitled Democracy in America. Tocqueville’s experience led him to believe that democracy was an unstoppable force that would one day overthrow monarchy around the world. Théodore Chassériau painted this portrait of Alexis de Tocqueville in 1850 (b). The first English translation, by Henry Reeve and titled Democracy in America (a), was published in New York in 1838. The first volume of Tocqueville’s two-volume work was immediately popular throughout Europe. Given his place in French society, however, much of what he saw of American democracy caused him concern.įigure 10.17 Alexis de Tocqueville is best known for his insightful commentary on American democracy found in De la démocratie en Amérique. Tocqueville marveled at the spirit of democracy that pervaded American life. Perhaps the most insightful commentator on American democracy was the young French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville, whom the French government sent to the United States to report on American prison reforms ( Figure 10.17). The 1840 presidential election marked a significant turning point in the evolving style of American democratic politics. Mass democracy also shaped political campaigns as never before.

Some worried that the rights of those who opposed the will of the majority would never be safe. As the will of the majority became the rule of the day, everyone outside of mainstream, White American opinion, especially Native American and Black people, were vulnerable to the wrath of the majority. To some observers, the rise of democracy in the United States raised troubling questions about the new power of the majority to silence minority opinion. Describe the election of 1840 and its outcome.Explain Alexis de Tocqueville’s analysis of American democracy.By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Tyranny of the majority