Democracy in America

Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville, best known simply as Alexis de Tocqueville, was born in France on July 29, 1805. His family history is intimately tied to French political history, specifically the aftermath of the 1789 revolution that toppled the absolute monarchy. The Reign of Terror, the period of radical violence in the 1790s, was particularly formative for Tocqueville’s parents. As the radical Jacobins sought to purge all opposition, including aristocrats, many of his family members were executed. Napoleon’s reign as emperor of the French and his efforts to conquer Europe followed the revolutionary era, and the monarchy was restored in 1815.

Tocqueville entered politics from a young age. Due to his family’s aristocratic ties, he quickly found favor under the renewed monarchy of Louis XVIII. Political turmoil continued to influence his career, however. Though the restored monarchy was constitutional—it relied on the support of parliament to govern and enact its agenda—Charles X was much more sympathetic to noble causes and sought to restore some elements of the absolute monarchy. In July 1830 another revolution broke out and Louis Philippe, a cousin of the former king, took power. Tocqueville saw these events as proof that the age of