Democracy in America

Tocqueville begins with descriptions of North America’s main geographic features: the continent’s two oceans, its Great Lakes, and its mountain ranges. He particularly emphasizes the size of the Mississippi River and the fertile lands around it: “The Mississippi Valley is, all in all, the most magnificent dwelling that God has ever prepared for the habitation of man, and nonetheless one can say that it still forms only a vast wilderness” (21). Tocqueville characterizes New England as an “inhospitable coast,” and while he admits that the Atlantic Coast is currently a seat of political power, “behind it are assembling, almost in secret, the true elements of the great people to whom the future of the continent doubtless belongs” (22). Here Tocqueville introduces the theme of America’s growth past its origins into a new kind of nation. Tocqueville describes the continent’s Native people as “savage tribes,” demonstrating that his primary interest and moral sympathy is in white settlers (23). He further falls back on “noble savage” stereotypes, claiming, “The most famous ancient republics had never admired a firmer courage, prouder souls, a more intractable love of independence than was then hiding in the wild woods of the New World” (25). While Tocqueville laments “the ruin of these peoples,” he quickly turns to “that civilized men were to try to build a society on new foundations” (27).