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Showing posts with label People Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Show all posts

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Democracy in America By Alexis de Tocqueville



Democracy in America By Alexis de Tocqueville

Related: Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Carroll of Carrollton http://tinyurl.com/lyt9pw July 29 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff




http://tinyurl.com/mzhctb


Translated by Henry Reeve eBooks@Adelaide 2008

This web edition published by http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/.

Rendered into HTML by Steve Thomas.

Last updated Sunday March 09 2008.


http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tocqueville/alexis/democracy/

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eBooks@Adelaide The University of Adelaide Library University of Adelaide South Australia 5005

Table of Contents

Book One

Special Introduction By Hon. John T. Morgan

Special Introduction By Hon. John J. Ingalls

Introductory Chapter

Exterior Form Of North America

Origin Of The Anglo–Americans, And Its Importance In Relation To Their Future Condition.

The Striking Characteristic Of The Social Condition Of The Anglo–Americans In Its Essential Democracy.

The Principle Of The Sovereignty Of The People In America

Necessity Of Examining The Condition Of The States Before That Of The Union At Large.

Judicial Power In The United States And Its Influence On Political Society.

Political Jurisdiction In The United States

The Federal Constitution

Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The United States

Parties In The United States

Liberty Of The Press In The United States

Political Associations In The United States

Government Of The Democracy In America

What The Real Advantages Are Which American Society Derives From The Government Of The Democracy

Unlimited Power Of The Majority In The United States, And Its Consequences

Causes Mitigating Tyranny In The United States

Principal Causes Which Tend To Maintain The Democratic Republic In The United States

The Present And Probable Future Condition Of The Three Races Which Inhabit The Territory Of The United States

Book Two: Influence Of Democracy On Progress Of Opinion In the United States.

De Tocqueville’s Preface To The Second Part

Influence of Democracy on the Action of Intellect in The United States.

Philosophical Method Among the Americans

Of The Principal Source Of Belief Among Democratic Nations

Why The Americans Display More Readiness And More Taste For General Ideas Than Their Forefathers, The English.

Why The Americans Have Never Been So Eager As The French For General Ideas In Political Matters

Of The Manner In Which Religion In The United States Avails Itself Of Democratic Tendencies

Of The Progress Of Roman Catholicism In The United States

Of The Cause Of A Leaning To Pantheism Amongst Democratic Nations

The Principle Of Equality Suggests To The Americans The Idea Of The Indefinite Perfectibility Of Man

Why The Americans Are More Addicted To Practical Than To Theoretical Science

Of The Spirit In Which The Americans Cultivate The Arts

Why The Americans Raise Some Monuments So Insignificant, And Others So Important

Literary Characteristics Of Democratic Ages

The Trade Of Literature

The Study Of Greek And Latin Literature Peculiarly Useful In Democratic Communities

The Effect Of Democracy On Language

Of Some Of The Sources Of Poetry Amongst Democratic Nations

Of The Inflated Style Of American Writers And Orators

Some Observations On The Drama Amongst Democratic Nations

Characteristics Of Historians In Democratic Ages

Of Parliamentary Eloquence In The United States

Influence of Democracy on the Feelings of Americans

Why Democratic Nations Show A More Ardent And Enduring Love Of Equality Than Of Liberty

Of Individualism In Democratic Countries

Individualism Stronger At The Close Of A Democratic Revolution Than At Other Periods

That The Americans Combat The Effects Of Individualism By Free Institutions

Of The Use Which The Americans Make Of Public Associations In Civil Life

Of The Relation Between Public Associations And Newspapers

Connection Of Civil And Political Associations

The Americans Combat Individualism By The Principle Of Interest Rightly Understood

That The Americans Apply The Principle Of Interest Rightly Understood To Religious Matters

Of The Taste For Physical Well–Being In America

Peculiar Effects Of The Love Of Physical Gratifications In Democratic Ages

Causes Of Fanatical Enthusiasm In Some Americans

Causes Of The Restless Spirit Of Americans In The Midst Of Their Prosperity

Taste For Physical Gratifications United In America To Love Of Freedom And Attention To Public Affairs

That Religious Belief Sometimes Turns The Thoughts Of The Americans To Immaterial Pleasures

That Excessive Care Of Worldly Welfare May Impair That Welfare

That Amongst The Americans All Honest Callings Are Honorable

That Almost All The Americans Follow Industrial Callings

That Aristocracy May Be Engendered By Manufactures

Book Three: Influence Of Democracy On Manners, Properly So Called

That Manners Are Softened As Social Conditions Become More Equal

That Democracy Renders The Habitual Intercourse Of The Americans Simple And Easy

Why The Americans Show So Little Sensitiveness In Their Own Country, And Are So Sensitive In Europe

Consequences Of The Three Preceding Chapters

How Democracy Affects the Relation Of Masters And Servants

That Democratic Institutions And Manners Tend To Raise Rents And Shorten The Terms Of Leases

Influence Of Democracy On Wages

Influence Of Democracy On Kindred

Education Of Young Women In The United States

The Young Woman In The Character Of A Wife

That The Equality Of Conditions Contributes To The Maintenance Of Good Morals In America

How The Americans Understand The Equality Of The Sexes

That The Principle Of Equality Naturally Divides The Americans Into A Number Of Small Private Circles

Some Reflections On American Manners

Of The Gravity Of The Americans, And Why It Does Not Prevent Them From Often Committing Inconsiderate Actions

Why The National Vanity Of The Americans Is More Restless And Captious Than That Of The English

That The Aspect Of Society In The United States Is At Once Excited And Monotonous

Of Honor In The United States And In Democratic Communities

Why So Many Ambitious Men And So Little Lofty Ambition Are To Be Found In The United States

The Trade Of Place–Hunting In Certain Democratic Countries

Why Great Revolutions Will Become More Rare

Why Democratic Nations Are Naturally Desirous Of Peace, And Democratic Armies Of War

Which Is The Most Warlike And Most Revolutionary Class In Democratic Armies?

Of Discipline In Democratic Armies

Some Considerations On War In Democratic Communities

Book Four: Influence Of Democratic Opinions On Political Society

That Equality Naturally Gives Men A Taste For Free Institutions

That The Notions Of Democratic Nations On Government Are Naturally Favorable To The Concentration Of Power

That The Sentiments Of Democratic Nations Accord With Their Opinions In Leading Them To Concentrate Political Power

What Sort Of Despotism Democratic Nations Have To Fear

Continuation Of The Preceding Chapters

General Survey Of The Subject

Constitution Of The United States Of America

Bill of Rights

20080309 Democracy in America By Alexis de Tocqueville


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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Carroll of Carrollton


Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Carroll of Carrollton

July 29 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/lyt9pw

Today is the birthday of a famous French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville, who published in 1835 what many historians to this day, consider to be the foremost classic analysis of American culture, society, and government, “Democracy in America.”

To see a copy of “Democracy in America,” go here: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/home.html; or here: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tocqueville/alexis/democracy/.

For more information on “Democracy in America,” go here: http://www.tocqueville.org/.

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was born on July 29, 1805 in Paris.

Today’s segment of “The Writer’s Almanac,” narrated by Garrison Keillor, noted, “In 1831, (Tocqueville) was 25 years old, and he and Gustave de Beaumont, who was just 29, were sent by the French government to study the prison system in America. They arrived in Manhattan at sunrise on May 11, 1831.”

According to my Elon College history textbook, “The American Nation,” written by John A. Garraty, Tocqueville wrote at the time, “We are leaving with the intention of examining, in detail and as scientifically as possible, all the mechanism of that vast American society which everyone talks of and no one knows… We are counting on bringing back the elements of a fine work.”

[I used notes from my 1971 Elon College history class for the http://www.explorecarroll.com/ column I wrote last night for this Sunday’s Archives column on this topic. (Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/c0ysz)

In addition to my Elon College history textbook, “The American Nation,” written by John A. Garraty.

In the fall of 1971, I had Mrs. Holt for History 211-E, 9:05 AM, MWF. The classroom was in CO-206.

In the spring of 1972, I had George Troxler for History 212-G, 10:10 AM, MWF. The classroom was in CO-213.]

In 1831, our fledgling nation was much on the minds of the French for many reasons, but most notably for the fact that it was in that year that France and the United States teetered on the brink of war over monetary claims accumulated against the French for their actions during the Napoleonic Wars.

The dispute raged-on for years and was prosecuted, for the most part, by President Andrew Jackson, who was not only upset with the French, but also with Great Britain – and Canada – and native Americans...

In today’s world, Jackson would have been diagnosed with an anger management problem. Eventually, the French settled the dispute because, as Garraty puts it, Jackson “showed poor judgment, being ready to take monumental risks to win petty victories… (It) reinforced the impression held by foreigners that the United States was a rash young country with a chip on its shoulders and pathologically mistrustful…”

It is an attitude held by much of Europe to this day.

Historians have developed a number of explanations as to why these young writers made the trip. One accounts says: “Both were at odds with the new government of Louis Philippe,” (the last King of France, Louis-Philippe I,) who had just come to power on August 13, 1830, and they were looking for an excuse to leave France.

Whatever the reason, the result was an ageless classic which is studied and interpreted over and over again, to this day.

My Elon College history textbook, “The American Nation,” written by John A. Garraty, observed that “… many of the fundamental traits of the (American) society Tocqueville analyzed may still be observed in America today.”

For example, “The Writer’s Almanac” segment notes that Tocqueville observed: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”

The “Almanac” segment reports, “For the next nine months, they traveled more than 7,000 miles, from New England to Wisconsin to Louisiana.” I have yet to determine whether or not they came through what we now know as Carroll County.

Although there is an oblique Carroll County connection nevertheless because the man, after whom our county is named, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was one of the many Tocqueville interviewed – just before Carroll died on November 14, 1832.

Carroll, who was, at the time Tocqueville interviewed him, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the only Catholic to sign; and was considered to be one of the wealthiest men in the U.S.

One publication on the travels and work of Tocqueville notes “Tocqueville interviewed presidents, lawyers, bankers and settlers and even met with Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland…”

Carroll was probably a fascinating interview because it was not until after his death that his reputation was rehabilitated…

Dr. Bradley J. Birzer is currently writing a new biography on Carroll, “American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll (Lives of the Founders) ,” that is scheduled to be released in February 2010.

In a recent interview with Dr. Bradley J. Birzer, in the Washington Times, (Hat Tip: “Against The Grain,”) it was brought out that Carroll “was one of Alexis de Tocqueville's main informants. So there are moments in de Tocqueville's Democracy in America … when he is being critical of the democratic spirit, and it seems very clear to me that he is taking that from his interview with Carroll…

“He was so critical of what happened to the republic after the founding. He's very critical of the democratic element in the American republic - he's worried that self-interest and greed are replacing republican virtue.”

“So from the late 1700s, Carroll starts being called ‘the hoary-headed aristocrat.’ He starts to be seen as a relic of an older age. But after Carroll dies, there's a resurgence of his reputation. All across the country, the headlines read, ‘The last of the Romans is dead.’”

20090729 sdosm pubver Tocquevilles America

People Charles Carroll of Carrollton, People Tocqueville Alexis de, History 1830s, History This Day in History, Dayhoff writing essays history, Colleges Universities Elon, Dayhoff Elon College University,
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