Tocqueville was able to make very strong and intelligent predictions especially in his setting of pre-civil war, but they were not all correct. One of the predictions that he makes is how the racial tension and the differences in people of society will impact the Union. Slavery is like a huge cut you would get maybe from something like a shark attack and it can be healed (abolished) but there will always be a scar. There will always be a mark in society from slavery. Tocqueville discusses the negative impact slavery has on the nation, as in the south, Kentucky, for example, “society seems to be asleep”. While in the north the industry is booming. He also made the prediction that the U.S. will be a supreme power and he knows the U.S “must inevitably become one of the greatest nations in the world.” He understands that the U.S is doing things in “constant motion and every change seems an improvement.” Tocqueville makes quite smart predictions about the future of the United States even pre-civil war before the nation changes drastically.
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I additionally found it interesting that Tocqueville discussed how society in the south “seemed to be asleep.” Tocqueville emphasized that slavery allowed people to become lazy and lessened their moral values. He compared Kentucky, a slave-owning state, to Ohio, a state that had outlawed slavery within its boundaries. In Kentucky, the slave owners were lazy and lacked moral value and were “confounded by slavery.” In contrast, the north’s industry began to boom and prosper as they were more motivated and overall more moral. He claims that those who lived in Ohio identified with “prosperity and improvement.” They relied more heavily on hired workers. Additionally, although slaves were not paid, they worked slower than free workmen. The free workmen were paid and therefore more motivated. They worked faster than the slaves, which added up in the end. Tocqueville claims that the free workmen’s rapidity of execution was highly beneficial to the economy.