Democracy in America/Volume 2

by Alexis de Tocqueville

 

CONTENTS

OF THE SECOND PART.

FIRST BOOK.

INFLUENCE OF DEMOCRACY ON THE PROGRESS OF OPINION IN THE UNITED STATES.

⁠CHAPTER I.	Page
Philosophical method among the Americans	1
CHAPTER II.
Of the principal source of belief among democratic nations	8
CHAPTER III.
Why the Americans display more readiness and more taste for general ideas than their forefathers the English	14
CHAPTER IV.
Why the Americans have never been so eager as the French for general ideas in political matters	20
CHAPTER V.
Of the manner in which religion in the United States avails itself of democratic tendencies	22
CHAPTER VI.
Of the progress of Roman Catholicism in the United States	33
CHAPTER VII.
Of the cause of a leaning to Pantheism amongst democratic nations	35
CHAPTER VIII.
The principle of equality suggests to the Americans the idea of the indefinite perfectibility of man	37
CHAPTER IX.
The example of the Americans does not prove that a democratic people can have no aptitude and no taste for science, literature, or art	40
CHAPTER X.
Why the Americans are more addicted to practical than to theoretical science	47
CHAPTER XI.
Of the spirit in which the Americans cultivate the arts	56
CHAPTER XII.
Why the Americans raise some monuments so insignificant and others so important	63
CHAPTER XIII.
Literary characteristics of democratic ages	65
CHAPTER XIV.
The trade of literature	72
CHAPTER XV.
The study of Greek and Latin literature peculiarly useful in democratic communities	73
CHAPTER XVI.
The effect of democracy on language	76
CHAPTER XVII.
Of some of the sources of poetry amongst democratic nations	85
CHAPTER XVIII.
Of the inflated style of American writers and orators	93
CHAPTER XIX.
Some observations on the Drama amongst democratic nations	95
CHAPTER XX.
Characteristics of historians in democratic ages	102
CHAPTER XXI.
Of Parliamentary eloquence in the United States	107
SECOND BOOK. INFLUENCE OF DEMOCRACY ON THE FEELINGS OF THE AMERICANS.
CHAPTER I.
Why democratic nations show a more ardent and enduring love of equality than of liberty	113
CHAPTER II.
Of individualism in democratic communities	118
CHAPTER III.
Individualism stronger at the close of a democratic revolution than at other periods	121
CHAPTER IV.
That the Americans combat the effects of individualism by free institutions	123
CHAPTER V.
Of the use which the Americans make of public associations in civil life	128
CHAPTER VI.
Of the relation between public associations and newspapers	134
CHAPTER VII.
Connexion of civil and political associations	138
CHAPTER VIII.
The Americans combat individualism by the principle of interest rightly understood	145
CHAPTER IX.
That the Americans apply the principle of interest rightly understood to religious matters	150
CHAPTER X.
Of the taste for physical well-being in America	153
CHAPTER XI.
Peculiar effects of the love of physical gratifications in democratic ages	156
CHAPTER XII.
Causes of fanatical enthusiasm in some Americans	159
CHAPTER XIII.
Causes of the restless spirit of the Americans in the midst of their prosperity	161
CHAPTER XIV.
Taste for physical gratifications united in America to love of freedom and attention to public affairs	166
CHAPTER XV.
That religious belief sometimes turns the Americans to immaterial pleasures	170
CHAPTER XVI.
That excessive care of worldly welfare may impair that welfare	176
CHAPTER XVII.
That in times marked by equality of conditions it is important to remove to a distance the object of human actions	178
CHAPTER XVIII.
That amongst the Americans all honest callings are honourable	182
CHAPTER XIX.
That almost all the Americans follow industrial callings	184
CHAPTER XX.
That aristocracy may be engendered by manufacturers	190
THIRD BOOK. INFLUENCE OF DEMOCRACY ON MANNERS, PROPERLY SO CALLED.
CHAPTER I.
That manners are softened as social conditions become more equal	195
CHAPTER II.
That democracy renders the habitual intercourse of the Americans simple and easy	201
CHAPTER III.
Why the Americans show so little sensitiveness in their own country, and are so sensitive in Europe	204
CHAPTER IV.
Consequences of the three preceding chapters	209
CHAPTER V.
How democracy affects the relation of masters and servants	211
CHAPTER VI.
That democratic instititutions and manners tend to raise rents and shorten the terms of leases	222
CHAPTER VII.
Influence of democracy on wages	226
CHAPTER VIII.
Influence of democracy on kindred	229
CHAPTER IXI.
Education of young women in the United States	237
CHAPTER X.
The young woman in the character of a wife	240
CHAPTER XI.
That the equality of conditions contributes to the maintenance of good morals in America	243
CHAPTER XII.
How the Americans understand the equality of the sexes	251
CHAPTER XIII.
That the principle of equality naturally divides the Americans into a number of small private circles	256
CHAPTER XIV.
Some reflections on American manners	259
CHAPTER XV.
Of the gravity of the Americans, and why it does not prevent them from often committing inconsiderate actions	264
CHAPTER XVI.
Why the national vanity of the Americans is more restless and captious than that of the English	268
CHAPTER XVII.
That the aspect of society in the United States is at once excited and monotonous	271
CHAPTER XVIII.
Of honour in the United States and in democratic communities	274
CHAPTER XIX.
Why so many ambitious men, and so little lofty ambition, are to be found in the United States	290
CHAPTER XX.
The trade of place-hunting in certain democratic countries	298
CHAPTER XXI.
Why great revolutions will become more rare	301
CHAPTER XXII.
Why democratic nations are naturally desirous of peace, and democratic armies of war	317
CHAPTER XXIII.
Which is the most warlike and most revolutionary class in democratic armies	325
CHAPTER XXIV.
Causes which render democratic armies weaker than other armies at the outset of a campaign, and more formidable in protracted warfare	330
CHAPTER XXV.
Of discipline in democratic armies	335
CHAPTER XXVI.
Some considerations on war in democratic communities	337
FOURTH BOOK. INFLUENCE OF DEMOCRATIC OPINIONS AND SENTIMENTS ON POLITICAL SOCIETY.
CHAPTER I.
That equality naturally gives men a taste for free institutions	345
CHAPTER II.
That the notions of democratic nations on government are naturally favourable to the concentration of power	347
CHAPTER III.
That the sentiments of democratic nations accord with their opinions in leading to concentrate political power	351
CHAPTER IV.
Of certain peculiar and accidental causes which either lead a people to complete centralization of government, or which divert them from it	356
CHAPTER V.
That amongst the European governments of our time the power of governments is increasing although the persons who govern are less stable	363
CHAPTER VI.
What sort of despotism democratic nations have to fear	378
CHAPTER VII.
Continuation of the preceding chapters	385
CHAPTER VIII.
General survey of the subject	396
Appendix	401

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA.

BY

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE,

TRANSLATED BY

HENRY REEVE, Esq.

A NEW EDITION,

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY THE TRANSLATOR.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, GEEEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS.

1862.

JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, PRINTER,

LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.