Alexis de Docqueville essays

Alexis de Docqueville essays Alexis de Tocqueville was born on July 29, 1805, in Paris. His father was a government official in various parts of France. His great-grandfather was a liberal aristocrat who was killed in the French Revolution. And his mother was a devoted Roman Catholic. Abbe Lesueur was Tocqueville's tutor, when his father passed away. Tocquevile went to the College Royal in Metz to study philosophy at the age of six-teen. During this time Tocqueville started to have fears about the role of the aristocracy in French government and he suffered a deep religious crisis that would affect him for the rest of his life. When he was finished at The College Royal at age eight-teen, Tocqueville moved back to Paris and he studied law. He then started a career as a lawyer, that is, as a salaried official of the royal court system. Tocqueville's father's career had been steadily moving forward until, in 1826, he became prefect of Versailles (the most influential prefecture in France). In 1827 was made a peer by Charles X. Tocqueville received a position as apprentice magistrate at the Versailles court of law, at the same time. During this period Tocqueville began to have more and more liberal sympathies as a result of his belief that the decline of the aristocracy was predictable. The first part of Democracy in America was published, in 1835. The book was extremely well-known throughout Europe. In the same year Tocqueville got married to Mary Motley, an Englishwoman. The marriage was a disgrace to Tocqueville's family because they though of Mary Motley to be of lesser birth. Tocqueville's mother died in 1836. After his mother died, Tocqueville went back to politics. He ran for the Chamber of Deputies in 1837, but lost. He lost because of his noble background. In 1838, he was named to the Legion of Honor for Democracy in America. In the year 1839 he was elected to the Chamber. ...