Alexis de Tocqueville Always Asking Questions

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1 God s World News Biographies Always Asking Questions Dust clouded the air as the wooden wheels of the stagecoach rattled along the bumpy dirt road. The young Frenchman rubbed his sore back. The roads are awful, he thought, I must make note of that... But s discomfort distracted him for only a moment. His attention soon returned to the lawyer sitting across the coach from him. He was from Alabama, and he was telling stories about his scuffles there. The lawyer mopped his brow and pointed to several scars on his forehead. And that s where I got these! And, did you take it to the law? Alexis asked in his thick accent. No, the lawyer chuckled. I tried to give it back to him just as good! Alexis glanced at his friend Gustave de Beaumont with a grin. His eyes sparkled what an adventure this was! Gustave stretched and rolled his eyes as Alexis peppered the lawyer with questions. Alexis was always asking questions. It didn t matter who he was talking to or what they were talking about he was interested. Questions, questions, always pressing for a detail here or a story there. How did that happen? Why is that? What does that mean? He might jot a note down now and then, but usually he just listened, his bright eyes prodding the speaker for more. That night, after reaching an inn, Alexis sat at his desk writing furiously. He wanted to make sure he did not forget any of the details of that day. Gustave peered over his shoulder. Alexis, he said teasingly, You have notes on everything from the food to the roads. I thought we were supposed to be writing about the prisons? It was true. Alexis and Gustave, at the young ages of 25 and 28, had been commissioned by the French government to sail to America and write about the prison systems there. They embarked in April of We are, Alexis smiled mischievously. But Americans are so much more interesting. Alexis and Beaumont traveled all over the United States for about a year. It was a hard journey. From north to south, big cities to countryside. They traveled by stagecoach and steamboat. The roads were rough and long. Sometimes they got sick. Other times, their stagecoach broke down. They met backwoods farmers and heads of state. They even met two presidents, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. The two young men did their duty. They visited the prisons and wrote reports. But it was clear that the majority of Alexis stacks of disorganized paper was not about prisons. Most of his writing was about the life, government, and people of America. When Alexis and Gustave returned to France in February of 1832, they prepared their report on the prison system as they had promised. In That Day 1808 Goethe s Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy is published in full Jane Austen s Pride and Prejudice is published Minh Mang outlaws the teaching of Christianity in Vietnam Samuel Morse patents the telegraph The Liberty Bell is cracked while being rung for George Washington s birthday.

2 traveled all around the United States by stagecoach. He was accompanied by his friend and working partner, Gustave de Beaumont (right). But Alexis wanted to write a book about America. He wanted to organize all the different topics he had studied and explain to all of Europe what made America the country it was. He was not sure he could do it. It was such a big project and he was a very young man. But he decided to give it a shot anyway. Alexis published his huge book, called De la Démocratie en Amérique, which means Democracy in America in French. It was so big, he wrote it in two parts the first in 1835 and the second in Alexis work is one of the most important books ever written about America. He talked about how America s founding affected the country it would become. He described how the states were different from each other. He talked about how the government worked. He showed how Christianity and individual morality formed the basis for the free society. Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith, he stated. Alexis even predicted America s future based on what he observed sometimes with skeptical warning. For instance, knowing the nature of humans to be greedy, Alexis warned about a government elected by those individuals. Voters could choose to support their own selfish interests. And then, a Congress made of greedy people could choose to govern based on maintaining power and position. The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public s money, he said. He talked about the good things and the bad things. Most of all, he tried to help Europe learn from God s World News Biographies, America s strengths and weaknesses. Though he was an outsider looking in on the new nation, Alexis got a lot of things in his book right. He observed things about America that even most Americans had not noticed. Students of American democracy still read his book to understand their own country better. Who would have thought that a young Frenchman would write such an important and enduring work about America? And all because he was curious and always asking questions. Rachel Lynn Aldrich More About... Born: July 29, 1805 in Paris Parents: Herve-Bonaventure Clerel de Tocqueville and Louise Le Peletier de Rosanbo Siblings: Older brothers, Hippolyte and Edouard Married: Mary Motley, an English woman, in They had no children. Other books: The U.S. Penitentiary System and its Application in France with Gustave de Beaumont, The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856), Recollections (1893, published posthumously) Religion: Catholic Died: April 16, 1859 in Cannes Famous Quote: Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom. 2

3 Quiz Check your reading. Check your thinking. 1 Tocqueville was always. a) telling stories, b) asking questions 2 Alexis and Gustave commisioned by the French government to write about. a) the American prison system, b) American food, c) American culture 3 Tocqueville s book De la Démocratie en Amérique was written in parts. a) 2, b) 3, c) 4, d)5 4 Students of American democracy still read his book to. a) learn about how America used to be, b) understand their own country better, c) see how forgieners view America 5... Alexis warned about a government elected by greedy individuals. Why? Bible2Life Proverbs 25:2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. respected Americans and their way of life very much. When he wrote Democracy in America, he pointed out many ways Europe could learn from America s example. Because he was an outsider, Alexis was able to see America more clearly than many Americans could. He could be objective. That meant he could fairly weigh what was good and what was bad. It made the good things he said more trustworthy. It is always better to let someone else point out your good qualities or your accomplishments rather than bragging about them yourself. No one believes (or likes!) someone who is boastful. It s better to point out the good in others and encourage them with your words. God s World News Biographies, 3

4 Puzzling Times made predictions and obervations about America in his book. One prediction was that America seemed set to one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world. He said that about one other nation. Follow the path to discover which nation. START God s World News Biographies, 4

5 Key Page Quiz: 1) b, 2) a, 3) a, 4) The government does not intervene anywhere in the economy. 5) Answers may vary but should include elements of the following: Voters could choose to support their own selfish interests. And then, a Congress made of greedy people could choose to govern based on maintaining power and position. The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public s money, Tocqueville said. Puzzling Times Key: Russia God s World News Biographies, 5