Tocqueville and the Penitentiary Tour of 1831
Jennifer Lawrence (Temple University)
“Our
arrival in America has created a sensation. . . ” remarked a bewildered
Alexis De Tocqueville. He had just arrived in New York with his companion
Gustave De Beaumont and the “sensation” of their arrival ushered in a whirlwind
tour of America’s newest institution-the penitentiary. The two had prepared
diligently for their trip and had studied penitentiaries in France but
their initial research could not have readied them for what they found
in America in 1831
By
the time of the Frenchmen’s arrival, the states of New York and Pennsylvania
were embroiled in a controversy that would last for half a century. At
stake was not the actual building of a penitentiary, but, rather, what
system of a penitentiary- a debate that would transcend America’s
borders and find fertile ground for discussion in Europe. New York, with
the model institution at Auburn, utilized a system of congregate labor
and limited isolation. Pennsylvania, with the model institution at Eastern
State, employed a total system of isolation which was mitigated with labor
performed in the cell. The observations of Tocqueville and Beaumont demonstrate
that America gave birth to an institution that was European in its foundation
but American in its administration. The two visitors discovered a penitentiary
system administered with a uniquely American character that was representative
of Jacksonian attitudes and ideology. The Frenchmen observed a system of
incarceration that was infused with the concept of republicanism, a commitment
to openness in America’s institutions as well as an openness to public
scrutiny. Beaumont and Tocqueville witnessed a penitentiary system “belonging
to all,” a system influenced by an authority stronger than all others-
public opinion; they observed an American public fascinated with the penitentiary
system, a public who could think of little else to discuss with the Frenchmen.
Commemorative plates, commissioned paintings, and a burgeoning tourism
industry characterized the uniqueness of these Jacksonian institutions.
Tocqueville
and Beaumont observed the heated public debates surrounding these institutions
and they witnessed first hand the realities of both systems of incarceration
while ultimately they withheld judgment of the systems until the publication
of their monumental study On the Penitentiary System in United States
and its Application in France published in 1833. An analysis of On
the Penitentiary System advances scholars’ understanding of the impact
of the penitentiary on American popular culture and reveals the significance
of these institutions to the American citizen. Their study revealed the
openness of seemingly “locked” institutions; the vigilance with which the
American public scrutinized the penitentiaries’ administration and the
equaling effects of punishment; all characteristic of an overall Jacksonian
attitude that could not be found in France. While it is true that many
of the penal philosophies of Europe’s eighteenth century thinkers took
root in America’s penitentiaries, the penitentiary was molded and modified
to fit an American attitude, an American manifestation of republican ideology
that drew observers from around the world.