Tocqueville and Native Americans

This article argues that Alexis de Tocqueville's political philosophy was shaped by his personal encounters with Native Americans. By unearthing his letters and posthumously published writings, this article reveals how these experiences helped him think through key theoretical concepts he used in Democracy in America, such as freedom, restlessness, and justice. This article advances the work of scholars who have recognized the noteworthy aspects of Tocqueville's encounters and intervenes in recent scholarship that views him as either indifferent to the fate of Native Americans or operating within a settler colonial ideology. Tocqueville's engagement with Native Americans is more substantive and positive than previously believed. Overall, this article prompts scholars to reexamine Democracy with fresh eyes—to see how Native Americans helped Tocqueville understand modern liberal democracy.