Tocqueville explains that his study of American life will concentrate on what struck him most during his stay: “the equality of conditions” (3) that permeates every aspect of society. He notes similar trends in Europe, though they are less developed there and not necessarily popular with those who miss the former system of government.

Tocqueville adopts a historical long view, arguing that equality has been advancing for several centuries, especially in his home country of France. His expansive vision focuses on society more than political events: men who owned property first ruled the entire nation, but the clergy quickly gained social prominence in their own right. Increasingly, society was governed by laws and commercial preoccupations, and more people became literate. Tocqueville sees history largely as a progressive march forward, a continuous evolution toward his own time. Erosion of elite status is a necessary engine of all progress: “discoveries in the arts could not be made, nor improvements in commerce and industry be introduced, without creating almost as many new elements of equality among men” (5). Tocqueville adopts a holistic vision of society and rejects the idea that any sphere of activity is somehow separate from broader social trends. All aspects of human activity “bring progress toward universal leveling” (5), including literature and art.