DuBois, Gillman, and Tocqueville on American Freedom and Equality

Tocqueville, DuBois, and Gilman on American Ideals

Alexis de Tocqueville makes a moral assessment of America, arguing that the "goodness" inherent in American values like freedom and liberty is what makes the nation "great." The term "great" refers to the nation's power, status, and enduring prestige. However, social critics throughout American history have endeavored to point out the gross shortcomings in the country's policies and its hypocritical practices. In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois discusses the ongoing problem of racism in America to show that the values of freedom and liberty have not been fulfilled. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's novel Herland offers a scathing critique of the patriarchal and sexist values and norms that persist in American society in spite of the façade of offering "liberty and justice for all." Both DuBois and Gilman provide road maps to a better America — one that recognizes the essential equality of all human beings.

Double Consciousness and Gender Inequality

In The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois shows how African Americans have developed a "double consciousness" because of racial inequality and social injustice. It has become impossible for African Americans to recognize themselves as "Americans" because of the ways Black people have been systematically excluded from access to wealth and social capital. Similarly, Gilman uses the medium of fiction and literary irony to show that women have been constrained by their gender, as men hold positions of power and dictate the roles and norms of women. Gilman illustrates what a society looks like when it is dominated by only one gender — only half of the population.

Both DuBois and Gilman suggest that a "good" America is one that recognizes its faults and comes to terms with them. Eliminating social hierarchies is one step toward creating a "good" America. America can become "great" when it empowers all its citizens instead of only a small portion, defined by accidents of birth that determine gender, race, and social class. Instead of pretending that America is egalitarian, it would be better to confront how institutionalized sexism and racism continue to impact the status and integrity of the United States.

Paine, Franklin, and Douglass on Social Institutions

When Thomas Paine suggested that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness depended on the rejection of outmoded social institutions like religion and hereditary politics, he was not necessarily advocating atheism and anarchy. On the contrary, Paine was urging the American colonists to adopt a new vision for society — one not based on the traditional European social hierarchies that had evolved over centuries. Whereas the European model was grounded in classism, the American model would be based on the elimination of class as a defining feature of one's social status. Unfortunately, slavery proved that the colonialists were unable to shed some of the European models of social hierarchy.

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the author shows how the social system of racial hierarchy defines the lives of African Americans. In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by contrast, the author demonstrates how self-reliance and hard work are far more important values than relying on systems of inherited privilege, as was common in Europe.

Race, Privilege, and Self-Reliance

Becoming free of social, political, and religious institutions means not allowing these systems to determine one's opportunities or status. Douglass, unlike Franklin, is keenly aware of the role that race plays. Franklin operates within the consciousness of white privilege, largely unaware of how his high social status was already conferred upon him simply by virtue of being born white. Franklin might not believe that organized religion or monarchy is relevant, but he does not fully recognize how entrenched systems like racism and sexism had become — because he writes from the perspective of a white male. Douglass, on the other hand, poignantly describes his struggles to break free from the shackles of slavery in both literal and figurative terms.