In 1831 the French Government sent De Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont, both French aristocrats, to research the US prison system. In May of that year they arrived in New York and spent nine months moving around the USA, noting not only jail but all facets of American society, economy and its uniqueness. In February 1832 the two men filed their criminal reports after they returned to France and Beaumont published a novel on racial relationships in the United States.

However, it would be the work of de Tocqueville that was made a classic in countless editions of the 19th century. He was intrigued by American politics and he felt that the average people were committed to the democratic process, which is so alien to the old world. He came as President and political parties, from small associations controlled by local elite groups to mass membership bodies for the election of representatives at the local, state and national levels. He was already a political party leader and was experiencing a significant transition. "Not earlier do you set foot on American soil, you are amazed by a sort of riot. . - As he said with wonder. An American knows that almost the only joy is to take part in and address his actions in the government. In Auburn, New York, Senator Rivers of Virginia talked to the crowd for three-and-a-half hours, to offer just one example of this excitement. Senator Legarè of South Carolina went on for two and half more hours after the crowd took a brief stretch!"

"Democracy in America" is praised for the interpretation of its writers, but recent scholars have also been criticized for its flagrant gaps. The aristocrat de Tocqueville did not see much, including the city's poverty and slavery. But the vitality of the young nation and particularly of how people have worked democratically is captured by his account of Jacksonian America.