Alexis de Tocqueville was a French citizen sent

to America to observe and write about our

prison system. He then began to write in a
journal not only discussing about our prisons,
but American exceptionalism and of
American citizens.
De Tocqueville focused on liberty, equality,
individualism, popular sovereignty, and laissez
faire.
Our class assignment was to select an era in
American history (following the Civil War) and
examine it through de Tocquevilles eyes.
I selected the 20s because it is when we saw a mass amount of
citizens thinking in different ways and doing many different
things within their personal lives and lives in the government.
De Tocqueville described liberty as
freedom from arbitrary government
control
The government seemed to take liberties
away from the citizens. An example of
this is prohibition and making alcohol
consumption made illegal.

De Tocqueville described equality as a
society of equals and a life without a
permanent class (such as the caste
system found in Europe).
In the 20s, women began to receive
more rights than they had ever before,
such as voting. Women also began to be
seen doing things that had been only
done by men, such as: sports, drinking,
smoking, driving, and flying airplanes.
De Tocqueville described individualism
as freedom to flourish without hereditary
distinctions
In the 20s, women began to dress more
racy (flappers) and strayed away from
ideals set on women since the beginning
of time.
De Tocqueville described popular
sovereignty as the right to participate in
the government and ability to vote.
In the 20s, men were already allowed to
vote, however women were not. During
the Roaring Twenties, women were finally
given the right to vote.
De Tocqueville described laissez fair as
hands off which is directed towards
the government.
In the 1920s, the three republican
administrators adhered to a hands-off
policy when it came to the
governments relationship to the
economy.
The best laws
cannot make
a constitution
work in spite
of morals
Alexis de
Tocqueville
Regardless of what
laws are made,
morals dictate
whether they are
successful or not.
What a person
stands for
determines if the
law will be
followed or not.
De Tocqueville viewed America as this
grandiose country where everything is better
and made for those who live in it. Compared
to Europe and other parts of the world, de
Tocqueville viewed America as bigger, better,
and more opportunistic. If de Tocqueville was
to come to America today, he would probably
still be in awe of how great the country is, if not
more. There are so many more opportunities
and freedoms than there were when he first
came to America. However, there are still
things that do not fulfill all of de Tocquevilles 5
ideals, but the majority of them would be.