Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont in America

739 Pages·2010·57.89 MB·English

by  Alexis de Tocqueville

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
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THEIR FRIENDSHIP AND
THEIR TRAVELS
EDITED BY
OLIVIER ZUNZ
TRANSLATED BY
ARTHUR GOLDHAMMER
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a young aristocrat of
Alexis de Tocqueville,
twenty-five, worried deeply about the future
of France as well as his own Fite in his native
country, which had just experienced its sec¬
ond revolution in less than fifty years. Along
with Gustave de Beaumont, a fellow magistrate,
Tocqueville conceived the idea that by traveling
to America he could penetrate the secret of the
modern world, in which democracy and equality
were destined to rule.
Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont
in America presents the journey of these two
friends in an authoritative and elegant volume.
Zunz and Goldhammer reproduce most of the
surviving letters, notebooks, and other texts that
Tocqueville and Beaumont wrote during their
decisive American journey of 1831-32, as well as
their reflections and correspondence on America
following their return to France. Also reproduce
here are most of the drawings from the two
sketchbooks Beaumont filled during their travels.
The two young men relied on these documents
in writing their individual works on America,
Tocqueville’s seminal Democracy in America
(1835-40) and Beaumont’s novel Marie; or,
Slavery in the United States (1835).
Focusing on American equality, Tocqueville
made a lasting contribution to Western political
thought by framing modern history as a con¬
tinuous struggle between political liberty and
social equality, and presented the United States
as having struck a proper balance between the
two ideals. Beaumont concentrated instead on the
brutality of racial prejudice. These extraordinarily
rich and often profound texts constitute the in¬
dispensable record of their intertwined engage¬
ment with the United States, which we see here
through the unfailingly intelligent gaze of two
young Frenchmen with a unique appreciation of
what was novel in the American experiment.
THEIR FRIENDSHIP AND THEIR TRAVELS
University of Virginia Press
© 2010 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2010
987654321
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1805-1859.
[Selections. English. 2010]
Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont in America : their friendship and their
travels / edited by Olivier Zunz ; translated by Arthur Goldhammer.
p. cm.
Summary: A selection of Tocqueville’s writings on America together with letters and
sketches from his traveling companion, Gustave de Beaumont.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8139-3062-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. United States—Description and travel—Sources. 2. United States—Social life and
customs—1783-1865—Sources. 3. United States—Politics and government—1783-1865—-
Sources. 4. National characteristics, American—History—19th century—Sources.
5. Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1805-1859—Travel—United States. 6. Beaumont, Gustave de, 1802-
1866—Travel—United States. 7. Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1805-1859—Friends and associates.
8. Beaumont, Gustave de, 1802-1866—Friends and associates. 9. Tocqueville, Alexis de,
1805-1859—Archives. 10. Beaumont, Gustave de, 1802-1866—Correspondence. I. Zunz,
Olivier. II. Goldhammer, Arthur. III. Beaumont, Gustave de, 1802-1866. IV. Title.
E165.T53213 2010
917.30409*034—dc2 2
2010021800
Title page illustrations: Alexis de Tocqueville at 39 (1844) by Theodore Chasseriau (upper left; The Image
Works, Inc.) and Gustave de Beaumont at 35 (1837) (lower right, Beinecke Library).
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvii
Editor’s Note xl
«
PART ONE
Letters from Tocqueville and Beaumont on Their American Travels i
Before the Voyage
Tocqueville to Charles Stoffels, Paris, 4 November 1830 3
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, 14 March 1831 4
Aboard Le Havre
Beaumont to his father, 23 April 1831 6
Tocqueville to his mother, 9 May 1831 7
During theJourney
FROM THE EAST COAST
Tocqueville to his mother, New York, 14 and 15 May 1831 7
Beaumont to his mother, New York, 14 May 1831 n
Beaumont to his father, New York, 16 May 1831 15
Tocqueville to Louis de Kergorlay, New York, 18 May 1831 20
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, New York, 18 May 1831 21
Tocqueville to his brother Edouard, New York, 28 May 1831 24
Tocqueville to Abbe Lesueur, New York, 28 May 1831 23
Tocqueville to his father, Sing Sing, 3 June 1831 27
Beaumont to his mother, New York, 7 June 1831 31
Tocqueville to his sister-in-law Emilie, New York, 9 June 1831 36
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, New York, 9 June 1831 38
Beaumont to his brother Achille, New York, 18 June 1831 40
Tocqueville to his mother, New York, 19 June 1831 43
Tocqueville to his sister-in-law Alexandrine, New York, 20 June 1831 44
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, New York, 20 June 1831 45
Tocqueville to Eugene Stoffels, New York, 28' June 1831 47
Tocqueville to Louis de Kergorlay, Yonkers and Calwell, 29 June 1831 49
Beaumont to his father, New York, 29 June 1831 57
Tocqueville to Abbe Lesueur, New York, 30 June 1831 38
Beaumont to his brother Jules, Albany and Utica, 4 and 6 July 1831 59
Tocqueville to his father, Albany, 4 July 1831 68
FROM THE OLD NORTHWEST (AND BACK TO ALBANY BY WAY OF CANADA)
Beaumont to his sister, Eugenie, Auburn, 14 July 1831 69
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Auburn, 16 July 1831 77
Tocqueville to his mother, Auburn, 17 July 1831 80
Beaumont to Ernest de Chabrol, aboard the Ohio on Lake Erie,
24 July 1831 83
Tocqueville to his sister-in-law Emilie, Batavia, 25 July 1831 85
Beaumont to Ernest de Chabrol, aboard the Superior on Lake Huron,
2 August 1831 88
Tocqueville to Abbe Lesueur, Detroit, 3 August 1831 98
Beaumont to his brother Achille, aboard the Superior on Lake Michigan,
11 August 1831 98
Tocqueville to his father, on Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan,
14 and 15 August 1831 no
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Buffalo, 17 August 1831 hi
Beaumont to his father, aboard the Great Britain on Lake Ontario,
21 August 1831 113
Tocqueville to his mother, on Lake Ontario, 21 August 1831 114
Tocqueville to Dalmassy, late August 1831 117
Beaumont to his father, Albany, 5 September 1831 118
Tocqueville to Abbe Lesueur, Albany, 7 September 1831 123
Tocqueville to his sister-in-law Emilie, Albany, 7 September 1831 125
FROM BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND BALTIMORE
Beaumont to his brother Jules, Boston, 16 September 1831 126
Beaumont, diary fragments, September 1831 132
Tocqueville and Beaumont to Jared Sparks, 1 October 1831 134
Tocqueville to his father, Hartford, 7 October 1831 137
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Hartford, 7 October 1831 138
Tocqueville to his cousin Eugenie de Grancey, New York,
10 October 1831 140
Tocqueville to vicomte Ernest de Blosseville, New York, 10 October 1831 144
Beaumont to his father, Philadelphia, 16 October 1831 143
Tocqueville to his sister-in-law Alexandrine, Philadelphia,
18 October 1831 147
VI CONTENTS
Tocqueville to Eugene Stoffels, Philadelphia, 18 October 1831 148
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Philadelphia, 18 October 1831 149
Tocqueville to his mother, Philadelphia, 24 October 1831 130
Beaumont to his sister-in-law Felicie, Philadelphia, 26 October 1831 131
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Philadelphia, 26 October 1831 155
Beaumont to his brother Achille, Philadelphia, 8 November 1831 161
Tocqueville to an unknown recipient, Philadelphia, 8 November 1831 163
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Philadelphia, 19 November 1831 167
GOING SOUTH
Tocqueville to his brother Edouard, aboard the Fourth of July;
26 November 1831 169
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, aboard the Fourth of July on the Ohio River,
26 and 28 November 1831 170
Tocqueville to his sister-in-law Emilie, on the Ohio River,
28 November 1831 174
Beaumont, diary fragments, December 1831 175
Beaumont to his brother Jules, on the Ohio River, 4 December 1831 178
Tocqueville to Jared Sparks, Cincinnati, 2 December 1831 182
Tocqueville to his mother, Louisville, 6 December 1831 184
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Louisville, 6 December 1831 186
Beaumont to his mother, Sandy Bridge and Memphis,
15 and 18 December 1831 187
Tocqueville to his father, Memphis, 20 December 1831 190
Tocqueville to his mother, on the Mississippi River, 23 December 1831 193
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, on the Mississippi River,
27 December 1831 197
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Chesapeake Bay, 16 January 1832 200
BACK TO WASHINGTON
Beaumont to his mother, Washington, 20, 22, and 23 January 1832 201
Tocqueville to his brother Edouard, Washington, 20 January 1832 204
Tocqueville to his father, Washington, 24 January 1832 205
Tocqueville to Ernest de Chabrol, Washington, 24 January 1832 206
PART TWO
Tocqueville s Travel Notebooks 209
Non-alphabetic Notebooks
1 211 2 and 3 234
Travel Notebooks
1 292 3 306
2 293 4 and 5 311
CONTENTS vn
Alphabetic Notebooks
A 314 B 333
#
Notebooks
E 339 F 366
PART THREE
Tocqueville s Narration of Two Excursions 395
The Journey to Oneida Lake 397
Two Weeks in the Wilderness 402
PART FOUR
Tocqueville’s and Beaumont’s Texts on the Penitentiary System 441
Letters from America
Tocqueville to Felix Le Peletier d’Aunay, Sing Sing, 7 June 1831 443
Tocqueville and Beaumont to the Minister of the Interior, Auburn,
14 July 1831 448
Tocqueville and Beaumont to the Minister of the Interior, Philadelphia,
10 November 1831 453
Tocqueville and Beaumont to Richard Riker, January-February 1832 465
Excerpts from Beaumont and Tocqueville, On the Penitentiary System in the
United States and Its Application in France
Part i: “Penitentiary Systems in the United States,” chapter 3: “Reform” 466
Part 3: “Reform Schools” (Matsons de refuge), chapter 1 470
Appendix 2: Public Education 478
Appendix 4: Imprisonment for Debt in the United States 479
Appendix 5: Imprisonment, Witnesses 479
Appendix 6: Temperance Societies 480
Appendix 7: Study of the Philadelphia Penitentiary (October 1831) 481
Letters Following Publication of the Penitentiary Report
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, Paris, 26 May 1837 492
Tocqueville to Honore Langlois, Tocqueville, 17 August 1838 493
Tocqueville to Nathaniel Niles, 15 June 1843 499
Tocqueville to Charles Sumner, Tocqueville, 6 August 1847 500
viii CONTENTS
PART FIVE
Beaumont’s Marie; or, Slavery in the United States: A Novel
of Jacksonian America, 1835 303
Chapter Excerpts 503
Appendix i: On the Social and Political Condition of Negro Slaves and Freed
Men and Women of Color 520
Note Excerpts 542
PART SIX
Tocqueville’s Letters on the Writing and Publication
of Democracy in America 361
Tocqueville to Camille d’Orglandes, 29 November 1834 563
Tocqueville to John Stuart Mill, June 1835 564
Tocqueville to M. le comte Mole, Paris, August 1835 566
Tocqueville to John Stuart Mill, Baugy and Paris, 3 and 5 December 1835 566
Tocqueville to an American correspondent, 1835 or 1836 368
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Baugy, 5 June 1836 569
Tocqueville to Captain Basil Hall, Baugy, 19 June 1836 570
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Baugy, 21 November 1836 571
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, Baugy, 22 November 1836 572
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Paris, 22 March 1837 573
Tocqueville to Jared Sparks, Tocqueville, 21 August 1837 574
Tocqueville to John Quincy Adams, Paris, 4 December 1837 575
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Baugy, 3 January 1838 576
Tocqueville to Louis de Kergorlay, Baugy, 2 February 1838 577
Tocqueville to Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard, Tocqueville, 30 August 1838 578
Tocqueville to John Canfield Spencer, Tocqueville, 20 September 1838 578
Tocqueville to John Canfield Spencer, Tocqueville, 12 September 1839 379
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Paris, 15 September 1839 581
Tocqueville to John Stuart Mill, Paris, 14 November 1839 582
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Paris, 3 February 1840 583
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Paris, 28 February 1840 584
Tocqueville to John Stuart Mill, Paris, 3 May 1840 584
Tocqueville to John Stuart Mill, Paris, 18 December 1840 585
Tocqueville to Louis de Kergorlay, 18 October 1847 586
CONTENTS ix
PART SEVEN
Tocqueville’s and Beaumont’s Views of America after 1840 591
Tocqueville s and Beaumont's Letters on America, 1840—58
Tocqueville to Jared Sparks, Tocqueville, 13 October 1840 593
Tocqueville to John Canfield Spencer, Tocqueville, 10 November 1841 394
Tocqueville to Odilon Barrot, Tocqueville, 16 September 1842 595
Tocqueville to Francis Lieber, Tocqueville, 18 September 1844 593
Tocqueville to Francis Lieber, Paris, 13 November 1844 597
Tocqueville to Francis Lieber, 14 December 1844 599
Tocqueville to Francis Lieber, 22 July 1846 600
Tocqueville to Edward Everett, Paris, 15 February 1850 600
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Paris, 4 December 1852 602
Tocqueville to Jared Sparks, Paris, n December 1852 603
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Saint-Cyr, 7 November 1853 604
Beaumont to Alexis de Tocqueville, Paris, 31 July 1854 605
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, Bonn, 6 August 1854 606
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Bonn, 14 August 1854 606
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, Compiegne, 21 February 1855 607
Tocqueville to Francisque de Corcelle, 5 September 1853 608
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Tocqueville, 19 September 1855 608
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Tocqueville, 29 August 1856 609
Tocqueville to Francis Lieber, Tocqueville, 1 September 1856 610
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Tocqueville, 14 October 1856 611
Tocqueville to Henry Reeve, Tocqueville, 21 November 1856 611
Tocqueville to Edward Vernon Childe, Tocqueville, 12 December 1856 612
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Tocqueville, 10 January 1857 613
Tocqueville to Arthur de Gobineau, Tocqueville, 24 January 1857 613
Tocqueville to Edward Vernon Childe, 2 April 1857 614
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Paris, 13 April 1857 615
Tocqueville to Theodore Sedgwick, Paris, 13 June 1857 617
Tocqueville to the Massachusetts Historical Society, June 1857 618
Tocqueville to Francis Lieber, Tocqueville, 9 October 1857 619
Tocqueville to Charles Sumner, Tocqueville, 14 November 1857 620
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, Tocqueville, 16 November 1857 621
Beaumont to Alexis de Tocqueville, Beaumont-la-Chartre,
19 November 1857 622
Tocqueville to Gustave de Beaumont, Tocqueville, 6 December 1857 622
Tocqueville to Edward Vernon Childe, Tocqueville, 23 January 1858 623
Tocqueville to Pierre Freslon, Tocqueville, 5 March 1858 623
Tocqueville to Charles Sumner, Tocqueville, 28 March 1858 623
X CONTENTS