Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Reading Alexis de Tocqueville

Some of us in Columbus are attending a study group called "Faith of our Fathers" produced by David Barton, Wall Builders. We watch one disc and then rearrange the chairs and discuss what we saw and heard. The first night he mentioned that most of us had read very condensed versions or sections of Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" in American History. I remembered it and even today you do hear it mentioned, so I bought the 2 vol. in paperback, c. 2003. What an amazing book! I'm not reading straight through--just nibbling certain chapters. Tonight I read the end of vol. 1 which is about the 3 races--European, Indian and Black. You can hardly believe this guy was only 26 when he wrote this. His grasp of what was happening to the Indians as Americans pushed them further and further west is incredible. Also, I had a peculiar sense that the American spirit and culture I was reading about of his 19th century travels was still true even 30 years ago, but not today.

WallBuilders.com: The American Heritage Series: DVDs

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