A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I believe this government cannot endure
permanently half-slave and half-free.
-- Abraham Lincoln, 1858
By the mid-19th century, the United States began to attract a steady stream of foreign visitors. As one historian has noted: "What had been a somewhat obscure, occasionally romanticized backwater of colonial exploitation became, virtually overnight, a phenomenon to be investigated, a political and moral experiment to be judged."
No visitor to the United States left a more enduring record of his travels and observations than the French writer and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville, whose Democracy in America, first published in 1835, remains one of the most trenchant and insightful analyses of American social and political practices. Tocqueville was far too shrewd an observer to be uncritical about the United States, but his verdict was fundamentally positive. "The government of democracy brings the notion of political rights to the level of the humblest citizens," he wrote, "just as the dissemination of wealth brings the notion of property within the reach of all the members of the community." Nonetheless, Tocqueville was only one of the first of a long line of thinkers to worry whether such rough equality could survive in the face of a growing factory system that threatened to create divisions between industrial workers and a new business elite.
Other travelers marveled at the growth and vitality of the country, where they could see "everywhere the most unequivocal proofs of prosperity and rapid progress in agriculture, commerce and great public works." But such optimistic views of the American experiment were by no means universal. One skeptic was English novelist Charles Dickens, who first visited the United States in 1841-42. "This is not the Republic I came to see," he wrote in a letter. "This is not the Republic of my imagination.... The more I think of its youth and strength, the poorer and more trifling in a thousand respects, it appears in my eyes. In everything of which it has made a boast -- excepting its education of the people, and its care for poor children -- it sinks immeasurably below the level I had placed it upon."
Dickens was not alone. America in the 19th century, as throughout its history, generated expectations and passions that often did not agree with a reality that was both more mundane and more complex. Already, its size and diversity defied easy generalization and invited contradiction: America was both a freedom-loving and slave-holding society, a nation of expansive and primitive frontiers as well as cities of growing commerce and industrialization.
Answer the following in 2 paragraphs:
How do Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens differ in their views of the U.S.?
Do you agree that "2 Americas" existed during the 1800s? Explain
1.Alexis De Tocqueville view of the united states was fundamentally positive.He felt that the government of democracy brought the nation together as Charles Dickens saw the united states as a corrupted enviorment for the youth .
ReplyDelete2.Yes i do believe that there were 2 americas during the 1800's. People lived different lives some richer than others some middle class so ofcourse the people saw life differently.
1.Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens differ in their views of the U.S. because Tocqueville never said anything bad about the U.S. As for Dickens he thought if everything was youth and strength the more the world was poorer and more trifiling.
ReplyDelete2.No i do not believe two Americas existed because even thought it was seperate it was still one America.
Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens have different view of the United states. They both had their own opinion on the U.S. Tocqueville thought the U.S. was good and said nothing negative about it. On the other hand, Dickens aimed for the youth and poor people. He wanted to aid them in their daily life and support them with care.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there were two Americas because they had the same goal, which was to build a better U.S. Alexis said the great actions of America and want to keep it as it is, because its stable and realiable. As of Dicken, he said things about the poor, the children, and the unequalness. As you can see even though they have different thoughts of the U.S., the U.S. was still one. Both of the people want to make America better, but with seperate route to the goal.
Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens both had different views on the U.S. Charles Dicekens thought that america was way too corrupted for people especially the poors. He wants to make America better as in help the poor people with care, and as for Tocqueville, he didnt really mention anything about the US.He already thought America was good enough.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I dont believe that there was two Americas.Even though they both had seperate goals, America was still one, they didndt have there seperate rules. They wanted things better for the poeple. As long as they are not trying to take over one another, they are both supporting the US.