Harriet Martineau and Alexis de Tocqueville on Democracy in America

FAIN: FT-51755-03

Lisa Vetter
American University (Washington, DC 20016-8200)

Alexis de Tocqueville is widely held to be the most prescient commentator on early 19th century America. His Democracy in America is one of the most widely studied texts in political theory and the frequent subject of political commentary. But Tocqueville was not the only European to travel to America and express his views of American society in written form. Harriet Martineau, a prolific English writer, also journeyed to America in 1835, the year Democracy in America first appeared. My project will attempt to reexamine Martineau's work, make a detailed comparison between her work and that of Tocqueville, and integrate her observations into the canon of classical political theory that is still relevant today.