Chapter II: Introduction: Page

Course of our Civilisation over the World.--Oriental Civilisation,
European Civilisation.--Their approaching Contact.--The Arabians
stand between them.--Movement of European Civilisation towards the
East.--Two Routes to the East.--The Three European Types.--Latin
Europe, Teutonic Europe, Sclavonic Europe.--Mixed Character of France
and Austria.--The part to be played by France 9

LETTERS.

I. THE RAILROAD FROM LONDON TO PARIS.

Analogy between certain Political and Voltaic Phenomena.--France and
England.--In what we should imitate the English.--Railroads.--Objects
of a Journey in England.--The Feudal Castle of Heidelberg and the
London Brewery 19

II. LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILROAD.

Impressions of the Railroad.--Railroads in France.--Steam Carriages
will not interfere with Railroads.--Analogy between the present
Condition of France and the State of England after the Expulsion of
the Stuarts.--Religion in Liverpool 29

III. WAR OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES UPON THE BANK.

State of the Question.--History of Banks in the United
States.--Creation of the Bank of the United States in 1816; it
restored order in the finances of the country.--Causes of the
Antipathy of the Body of the People against Banks.--Benefits which
all Classes have derived from Banks.--Commercial Crisis 37

IV. THE DEMOCRACY.--THE BANK.

Democratic Movements in France.--Less Influence than in the United
States.--Errors of the Local Banks.--Their Dividends.--Wisdom of the
Bank of the United States.--Political Dangers of the great National
Bank.--Services rendered by it.--The President's Accusations against
the Bank.--The Multitude applauds 46

V. MOVEMENT OF PARTIES.--BANK QUESTION.

Industrial Crisis.--Backstairs Influence in Monarchies and
Republics.--Party Demonstrations.--Imperfection of the Banking
System.--Excess of Paper Money.--Modification of the Bank
Charter.--Good Sense of the American Democracy.--How great Questions
are settled in the United States 55

VI. PROGRESS OF THE STRUGGLE.--NEW POWERS.

Length of the Debates in Congress.--The Bank must withdraw.--Old
Dignities and old Politics.--New Dignities and new Politics.--New
Power of Industry 69

VII. RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES.

Rage of the Americans for Railroads.--Universal Use of
Railroads.--Glance at Railroads in the United States 80

VIII. THE BANKS.--PRESERVATION OF THE UNION.

Truce between the Parties.--Possibility of a Compromise.--The
Democracy must prevail.--The Bond of Union grows weaker.--Probability
of the Preservation of the Union.--Changes which it may undergo.--The
three Sections, North, South, and West 87

IX. THE FIRST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.

Pretensions of every Nation to Superiority.--Pretensions of the
Americans.--The Superiority passes from People to People.--New
Peoples.--Russia and the United States.--English Opinions of the
United States.--The Social System in the United States superior in
respect to the Condition of the Labouring Classes 100

X. THE YANKEE AND THE VIRGINIAN.

Course of Emigration toward the West--Two great Columns of
Emigrants.--Character of each.--Share of Europe.--Virginian
Type.--Yankee Type.--Yankee Predominance in the last half
Century.--The Virginian may in turn get the upper Hand.--Advantages
of the Contrast of Character.--Two Types in History.--Nations of
three Types.--Excess of Unity in France 109

XI. THE CITY OF LOWELL.

Losses of the Jackson Party.--Aspect of Lowell.--Rise of American
Manufactures.--Founding of Lowell.--Lowell Railroad.--Influence of
Manufactures on the Happiness and Morality of the People 125

XII. FACTORY GIRLS OF LOWELL.

Results of Machinery.--The Locomotive Engine.--Wages in
Lowell.--Factory Girls.--American Manners.--Measures of the
Manufacturing Companies to preserve Good Morals in Lowell.--French
Manners.--Will Good Morals last at Lowell?--Moral and Political
Influence of the Public Lands. 133

XIII. THE BANK.--SLAVERY.

Preparations for the Elections.--Bank Question.--Slavery gives the
Means of saving the Bank.--States' Rights Party.--Concessions of the
North in regard to Slavery. 145

XIV. THE ELECTIONS.

The Jackson Party repairing its Losses.--Decisive Results in New
York.--New Acts of Hostility against the Bank.--Hatred of Monied Men
on both sides of the Atlantic. 157

XV. PITTSBURG.

French Settlement of Pittsburg.--Aspect of Pittsburg.--Its
Manufactures.--Rise and Growth of Towns in the United States.--Triple
Symbol of the Church, of Schools and the Press, and of the Bank. 166

XVI. GENERAL JACKSON.

Revolution effected by the General.--His Military Success.--His
Character.--His bold Tactics.--His Embarrassments. 176

XVII. PUBLIC OPINION.

Public Opinion in America very different from Public Opinion in
Europe.--Government of the Democracy.--The Senate. 185

XVIII. CINCINNATI.

Situation and Aspect--Manufactories.--Slaughtering of Hogs.--Water
Works.--General Harrison.--Dependent Condition of the Public
Officers. 190

XIX. CINCINNATI.

Industry of the Inhabitants.--Industrial
Feudalism.--Patronage.--Absence of Idlers.--Rigourous Supervision
kept up over them in the whole Country.--Why the Americans do not
please certain European Travellers.--Gratitude which Posterity will
feel for them. 200

XX. WESTERN STEAMBOATS.

Influence of Means of Communication on Civilisation
and Liberty.--State of the West before the
Introduction of Steamboats.--Introduction of
Steamboats.--Description.--Passengers.--Life aboard.--Accidents;
little Attention which they attract.--Real Rulers in the
West.--Importance of the West. 209

XXI. INTERCOMMUNICATION.

Hydrographical, Political, and Commercial Divisions of the
Union.--Systems of Public Works resulting therefrom.--Lines
extending from East to West.--Erie Canal, Pennsylvania Canal,
&c.--Communications between the St. Lawrence and Mississippi
Basins.--Ohio Canal and others.--Improvements in the Navigation of
both Rivers.--Communication along the Atlantic Coast.--Coasting
Trade.--Lines of Railroads and Steamboats.--Routes radiating from the
Capitals.--Works around Coal Mines.--Miscellaneous Works.--National
Road.--Character of the Public Works in the United Slates.--American
Engineers.--The Public Works strengthen the Union.--Necessity of the
European Governments executing similar Works. 227

XXII. LABOUR.

French Essays in planting Colonies in America.--The English Colonial
System.--American Society organised for Work.--Haste.--Organisation
of Labour peculiar to America.--Organisation proper for
France.--Canada.--Algiers. 276

XXIII. MONEY.

Money among the English and Americans.--System of Honour.--Its
present Impracticability in France.--Pay for Public
Services.--Gratuitous Services in France.--Condition of Public
Functionaries in the United States.--Influence of the Progress of
Manufactures on the Pay of Public Officers.--No Marriages for Money
in the United States.--No Misers. 292

XXIV. SPECULATIONS.

Speculation in Land, in Railroads, and in Banks.--Speculation
necessary to the Americans.--Unsettled Condition of every thing in
the United States.--Trades' Unions.--Inconveniencies of the Excess of
the Innovating Power. 305

XXV. BEDFORD SPRINGS.

Exclusiveness.--Religious Festivals formerly Democratic
Festivals.--Political Processions.--Camp Meetings.--Women in Camp
Meetings; and in the Roman Catholic Festivals.--Suppression of the
popular Festivals in Europe.--Influence of the Philosophy of the
XVIIIth century on the Imagination.--Struggle between the Young,
Middle-Aged, and Old in France.--Pleasures of the Imagination in
England and the United States. 315

XXVI. POWER AND LIBERTY.

Situation and Character of Richmond.--Slavery.--Richmond
Flour.--Inspection Laws.--American Liberty is Liberty of Industry
and Locomotion.--Few Restrictions upon the Interior Trade.--Old
Restrictions upon French Commerce.--Decline of the Foreign Commerce
of France.--Twofold Authority in the United States.--Ancient
Authority, Cæsar.--Duties imposed by Self-Government.--The Authority
of Cæsar could be destroyed in the United States, but not in
Europe.--New Authority by the side of Cæsar.--Canal, School, and Bank
Commissioners; their Powers.--How Industry may flourish in Europe by
the side of Cæsar.--Of American Liberty.--The Liberty of the Yankee
would be intolerable to a Frenchman.--Liberty of the Virginian more
like our own.--Mixture of the two Liberties. 325

XXVII. PROGRESS OF SOCIETY.

Universal Appearance of Comfort in the American Population.--Effect
upon the Condition of Women.--State of the Blacks in the United
States.--Diminution of Taxes considered as a Measure of Relief for
the poorer Classes.--The encouragement of Industry a more effectual
Relief.--American Prosperity the Fruit of Labour.--Means of giving
Activity to Industry in France.--1. Industrial Education.--2.
The bad State of Credit in France paralyses the Spirit of
Enterprise.--Banking Institutions suited to France.--3. Credit must
be made accessible to the Cultivator.--Saving effected by an improved
System of Credit.--4. Means of Internal Communication.--Influence of
a Credit System on the Means of Communication.--Diminution of Price
caused by Facility of Carriage.--5. Legislative Reforms.--The Civil
Code too closely modelled on the Roman Law; its Defects in regard
to Industry.--The Laws in the United States.--Jury Trials in Civil
Causes. 341

XXVIII. SOCIAL REFORM.

Moral Obstacles to the Emancipation of the Blacks in the United
States.--Exclusive Spirit of the English Race.--The Yankees are
new Jews.--The Difficulty in the Way of the Emancipation of the
Labouring Class in Europe also of a Moral Kind.--Insufficiency of
Philanthropy and Philosophy.--Necessity of Religion.--Inaction of the
Religious Authority in Europe.--Religion has effected the Elevation
of the lower Classes in the United States.--Influence of Political
Institutions on the Social Reform.--Connection between the Religion
and the Political Condition of Nations.--Protestantism is Republican;
Catholicism Monarchical.--The Growth of Liberty depends on the
Development of Local and Municipal Institutions.--The Spirit of
Association and the Spirit of Division.--The Principles of Unity and
Association must prevail in France. 360

XXIX. THE EMPIRE STATE.

Tendency to Centralisation in the State of New York; in the
School System; in the Banking-System; in the System of Public
Works.--Results of Public Works.--Charters of Canal and Railroad
Companies.--Influence of the Example of New York.--Modern Nations
cannot dispense with the Action of Authority.--Religion cannot
fully take the place of Political Authority.--Authority must change
its Attributes.--Banks, Means of Communication, and Schools are
the Instruments of Government, which must, in part, take the Place
of the Ancient Attributes of Authority.--Inviolability of the
Individual.--Favourable Disposition of the Public Mind. 370

XXX. SYMPTOMS OF A REVOLUTION.

Riots and Outrages Committed.--Decrease of Respect for
the Laws.--Wrongs of Popular Justice.--Havoc committed in
Baltimore--Neglect of great Principles.--Diminution of Civil
Courage.--Dependent State of the Press.--Want of restraining
Power.--Industrial Superiority and Political Inferiority of the
present Generation in the United States.--Probable Issue of the
Crisis. 385

XXXI. THE MIDDLE CLASSES.

Elements of French Society.--Remnants of the Aristocracy.--Active
Portion of the Middle Class; Idle Portion.--Labourers and
Peasants.--Elements of American Society.--Middle Class
and Democracy.--Difference between the North and the
South.--Disappearance of an Idle Class in America.--The Idle Part
of the Middle Class must disappear in Europe.--There is no Reason
for its Existence.--It has no Office.--Advantages resulting from its
being merged in the Active Portion of the Class. 396

XXXII. ARISTOCRACY.

Authority is yet to organise itself in the United States.--Authority
is founded upon Centralisation and Distinction of Ranks.--Present
Character of Authority in America.--Representative Government,
become the Government of the Majority, tends to Tyranny.--Difference
between the South and the North.--Aristocracy of Birth; Aristocracy
of Talents.--Both co-existed in Ancient Society.--Forms of
Aristocracy among the Romans and the Greeks.--Vigourous Organisation
of the Feudal Aristocracy.--Violent Reaction against the
Nobility.--Christianity has contributed to this Reaction.--The
Feudal System fixed the Barbarians.--Primogeniture in the English
Commons.--Advantages of a Hereditary Aristocracy.--Growth of the
Sentiment of Family.--Necessity of balancing the Innovating and
the Conservative Elements of Society.--How Stability has been
secured without the Hereditary Principle.--Difficulty in the
Way of the immediate Abolition of the Hereditary Aristocracy in
Europe.--The absolute Hereditary Principle has been irretrievably
weakened.--Hereditary Transmission of Office.--Where can the Elements
of an Aristocracy in France be found?--How can an Aristocracy be
established in the United States?--Germs of Aristocracy in the
South.--Dangers of American Society. 405

XXXIII. DEMOCRACY.

Burden of the Past on the old Societies.--Difficulty of Reforms in
old Countries.--Facility of Innovation in new Countries.--Advantages
possessed by the Anglo-Americans for making Social Experiments.--The
American Labourer is _initiated_.--Absence of the _Profanum Vulgus_
in the United States.--The Labouring Classes in the United States
are superior to those of other Countries.--Defects of the American
Democracy.--Analogy to the Romans.--Superiority of the Educated
Classes in Europe.--The respective Merits, present and future, of
America and Europe. 422

NOTES AT THE END OF THE VOLUME.

Page.
1. Use of Iron.--Manufacture of Iron in France and England.--Its future
use in Architecture, 441

2. Coal mined in England, France and Belgium, 442

3. Exports of Domestic Produce from France, England, and the United
States, 443

4. Navigation.--Tonnage of the Shipping of France, England, and the
United States, 443

5. Nullification, (omitted.)

6. The Bank of the United States.--Comparison with the Bank of France
and the Bank of England.--Local Banks.--Private Bankers and Joint
Stock Banks in England.--Provincial Banks in France, 444

7. Of Failures in the United States, 449

8. The Press in the United States;--compared with the English and French
Press, 452

9. Transfer of Funds by the Bank of the United States, 453

10. Paper Money and Metallic Currency.--In France; in the United
States; in England, 453

11. The Cherokees, Creeks, and other Indian Tribes.--Indian Policy of
the Federal Government, (omitted.)

12. Public Lands.--System of Survey and Sale.--Quantity sold and for
sale, (omitted.)

13. Temperance Societies, (omitted.)

14. The Cotton Manufacture in France, England, and the United
States, 454

15. Production and Consumption of Cotton throughout the World, 456

16. Degradation of the People of Colour, (omitted.)

17. Trial of the Incendiaries of the Ursuline Convent, 456

18. Anthracite Coal, (omitted.)

19. Conclusion of the Question of the Public Deposits, (omitted.)

20. Taxation in the United States, 458

21. Construction and Cost of Steamboats in the West.--Number of
Steamboats in the United States, 460

22. Summary View of Public Works in the United States, 462

23. Geological Surveys, 466

LETTERS ON NORTH AMERICA.