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| | [[Image:Alexis de tocqueville.jpg|right|thumb|Alexis de Tocqueville]] | | [[Image:Alexis de tocqueville.jpg|right|thumb|Alexis de Tocqueville]] |
| | '''Alexis Clérel de Tocqueville''' ([[Paris]] 1805 - Cannes 1859) was a [[French]] historian and politician who published an insightful review of the [[United States]] entitled ''Democracy in America'' (1835),<ref>http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EHyper/DETOC/toc_indx.html</ref> based on a nine-month tour of the young country.<ref>Initially de Tocqueville came to America to study her penal (criminal justice) system, but then expanded the scope of his study.</ref> It remains the most comprehensive treatise of early [[America]]n society to this day. | | '''Alexis Clérel de Tocqueville''' ([[Paris]] 1805 - Cannes 1859) was a [[French]] historian and politician who published an insightful review of the [[United States]] entitled ''Democracy in America'' (1835),<ref>http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EHyper/DETOC/toc_indx.html</ref> based on a nine-month tour of the young country.<ref>Initially de Tocqueville came to America to study her penal (criminal justice) system, but then expanded the scope of his study.</ref> It remains the most comprehensive treatise of early [[America]]n society to this day. |
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| | + | ==French Revolution== |
| | + | Tocqueville was a staunch opponent of the [[French Revolution]] and later [[Socialist]] doctrines, and noted the similarities between the two. He also noted the similarities in the two ideologies, in particular, their contempt for private property.<ref>The state of society in France before the Revolution of 1789, ch. 18</ref> |
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| | ==Tocqueville on Christianity== | | ==Tocqueville on Christianity== |
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| | * "Democracy extends the sphere of personal independence; socialism confines it. Democracy values each man at his highest; socialism makes of each man an agent, an instrument, a number. Democracy and socialism have but one thing in common - equality. But note well the difference. Democracy aims at equality in liberty. Socialism desires equality in constraint and in servitude."<ref>[http://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/tocqueville-s-critique-of-socialism-1848 Tocqueville’s Critique of Socialism]</ref> | | * "Democracy extends the sphere of personal independence; socialism confines it. Democracy values each man at his highest; socialism makes of each man an agent, an instrument, a number. Democracy and socialism have but one thing in common - equality. But note well the difference. Democracy aims at equality in liberty. Socialism desires equality in constraint and in servitude."<ref>[http://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/tocqueville-s-critique-of-socialism-1848 Tocqueville’s Critique of Socialism]</ref> |
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| − | == Writings == | + | == Works == |
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| | *Democracy in America (1835) | | *Democracy in America (1835) |
| | *Souvenirs (1848) | | *Souvenirs (1848) |
| | *The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856) | | *The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856) |
| | + | *The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789: And the Causes Which Led to That Event (1888) |
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| | == See also == | | == See also == |
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| | *[[American Revolution]] | | *[[American Revolution]] |
| | *[[Enlightenment]] | | *[[Enlightenment]] |
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| | == References == | | == References == |
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| | :*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-597857/Alexis-de-Tocqueville Tocqueville at Britannica] | | :*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-597857/Alexis-de-Tocqueville Tocqueville at Britannica] |
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| | {{DEFAULTSORT:Tocqueville, Alexis De}} | | {{DEFAULTSORT:Tocqueville, Alexis De}} |
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| | [[Category:French Authors]] | | [[Category:French Authors]] |
| | [[Category:Historians]] | | [[Category:Historians]] |