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Equality of Social Condition By Tocqueville.
Contacts for help:dorineadalyn@gmail.com
3 Of all the novel things which attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, none
struck me more forcibly than the equality of social conditions.
What does Tocqueville mean by “equality of social conditions”? Knowing what we know
about 19th century America, were social conditions in fact equal? Are they equal today?
Tocqueville looks at equality of social condition and democracy as same things. As such,
he defines social condition as integral characteristics in the contemporary society. The ideology,
has the same meaning has capitalism. Almost all characteristics of democracy fit together into
logically coherent whole. Based on his assertion. Equality of social condition has immense
impact on the whole course society. Equality of the condition, especially to its social states is the
central cause of most of the ideas, customs and laws in the society.
One of the question that Tocqueville ask is what the relationship between equality and
social condition. According to Tocqueville, equality of social condition is the integral ineluctable
tendency in the contemporary society particularly western societies. Even though the tendency

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appears to be inevitable, it impose dangers to the community. In society where there is conceived
battle between merchants and the democrats, none of the party involved in the party will figure
out how best their democracy can be build. According to the Tocqueville better comprehension
of the societal is the best way to an ideal societal equality, it is the only sure root to make
democracy work. The author seek this modern political science in the America because
according to him, it was only in the United states that democracy seemed to have progressed but
without a goal of what inherent challenges it was about to face. He explains that in the United
States, there he saw what more than United States was, it was the shape of democracy itself that
he has been seeking. According to Tocqueville, social condition was benefit to all than its
potential virtues that outweigh its political setbacks. Based on this, Tocqueville was wondering
how to make social condition work. For this, he saw social condition as separate from American.
Social condition is a general kind of society that was well developed in America, social condition
was well developed in the United States because the nation had many characteristics that were
common in the social condition.
Tocqueville argues that equality of social condition seem to be tending towards tyranny.
As he gives three forms of tyranny which include, tyranny of the majority, the authority of a
single man and provide state that does not torment people. As such, he analyzed how social
condition, which he also defines as democracy may depend into tyranny. As such, Tocqueville
derive characteristics of then American as compost of materialism and individualism which
come directly from social conditions. According to Tocqueville, equality of social condition can
survive if it maintain public spirit or sense of civic.
The United States at the time of the Tocqueville writing was more likely to develop into a
large state of the proletariat or a stable bourgeois. The status of the United States particularly in

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the slave holding part like southern part that were large slave holding states was casting a
shadow over United States. According to the Tocqueville, at the time of writing, the
contemporary America was at flux. It was largely agrarian where lack of technology made
access to market was limited. However, as time went by, invention of communication, and
transport systems increased standard of living and promoted the quality of social condition to
democracy. With the invention of the print media and general improvement in technology at the
time, American elected their first present, Andrew Jackson, however, the president central threat
to equality of social condition or democracy were the government reinforcing the privileges of
those who had already had a lot of equality such as the Second Banks of America, as such, the
president was such moved to serving the interest of the elite without any form of accountability.
However, for opponent of the president, the threat was the president himself somebody who
claimed to be speaking for the people (10). Despite the president claiming to be speaking for the
common people, those whom he championed their interests were the common white people. He
ardently supported slavery even though he was battling with issue of tariff on export and
nullification from his perceived enemies. As such, at the time of the writing, there was a mix of
equality and inequality. Issue of despotism was obviously real and the federal government the
government had real opposing issue.
During Tocqueville visit, there was no equality. The interest of the people were
punctured by educated elite from Washington. There was increased concern about what the
future hold for America. There was general worries as political corruption was more rampant,
American political party were growing nasty, there was increase immigration and above all,
slavery was a major issue and reason for conflict between the north and the south. His major
concern was on the issue of slavery as a major societal tragedy. Tocqueville admit that he is

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“pained by the fact that freest people in in the whole globe, ( America at that time), in fact most
Christian nation and most civilized states maintained personal servitude, yet this serfdom was
about dispersing, from the most degraded nation”. As such, the issue of the slavery tarnish the
image of America or the nation’s perceived civility. As he hoped to see a day when the
community will wake and grant equality and civil liberty to all.
Today, ideal stride have been made by American regarding equality by providing
freedom and jobs to its citizens. This are aimed to align by the ideal state that the nation was
founded on its founding fathers. Today, issue of race is not a major issue as it was century
because America have move to abolish it thank to works and resilient of many groups and
individual who have made this equality barrier be eliminated. As such, the dream of equality
that people like Tocqueville saw or wanted is becoming a reality. Today, access to educated is
provided for all. However, despite all these advancement, there are inherent social justice issue
that solely focus of race or systematic prejudice over other races, particularly America Africans.
Access to safe places, particularly in black dominated area has heavily remained undermined.
Mot black living condition is not equal to whites. Most importantly, United State citizens have
pledged their optimism that one day, there will be economic equality between whites and black.
Despite income gaps still very wide between black and the whites, American still dream to lower
that for all to achieve their America dream.
Work Cited
Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy of America. (2013)