Chronologie

1789 Start of the French Revolution

Storming of the Bastille, anonymous, oil painting
Musée national du Château de Versailles © RMN

1793 Louis XVI condemned to death, defended by Malesherbes, Alexis's great-grandfather, arrière-grand-père d'Alexis.
Marriage of his parents, Hervé de Tocqueville and Louise-Madeleine Le Pelletier de Rosanbo

Louis XVI's Farewell to his Family at the Temple, Charles Benazech, 1793
Musée national du Château de Versailles © RMN

Hervé Bonaventure Clérel de Tocqueville, anonymous; medallion miniature from the late 18th century; private collection © AD Manche/Poirier

Louise-Madeleine Le Pelletier de Rosanbo, anonymous; medallion miniature from the late 18th century; private collection © AD Manche / Poirier

1804 First Empire - reign of Napoleon I, emperor of the French

Napoleon in ceremonial dress, François Gérard, 1805
Musée national du Château de Fontainebleau © RMN

1805 Alexis de Tocqueville born in Paris on July 29

Domestic scene (detail of Alexis), anonymous;
private collection © AD Manche/Poirier

1815 The Restoration - reigns of Louis XVIII and then Charles X, kings of France

Portrait of Louis XVIII in ceremonial dress, François Souchon
Lille, musée des Beaux-Arts © RMN

1827 Tocqueville named apprentice magistrate at the Court of the First Instance in Versailles

Presumed portrait of Alexis de Tocqueville © Conseil de l'Ordre des avocats de Paris

1830 Beginning of the conquest of Algeria
The Revolution of the Three Glorious Days (July 27, 28 and 29) overthrows the July Monarchy
Reign of Louis-Philippe I, king of the French

Liberty Leading the People, Eugène Delacroix, 1830; musée du Louvre © RMN

1831 Voyage to America (departure)

View (presumed) of the Fort of New Orleans, 1803; Blérancourt
Musée national de la Coopération franco-américaine © RMN/Christian Jean

1832 Voyage to America (return)

Le ship Le Havre towed into harbor by a steamship, (1857)
Gustave Le Gray © RMN/Christian Jean

1835 Publication of the first volume of Democracy in America
Tocqueville marries Marie Mottley

Portrait of Marie Mottley, anonymous
Département des Estampes © BNF

1838 Election to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences

Alexis de Tocqueville's Academy epee
private collection © AD Manche/A. Poirier

1839 First election to the Chamber of Deputies as the representative from La Manche

Château de Tocqueville © AD Manche/A. Poirier

1840 Publication of the second volume of Democracy in America

Title page of the second volume of Democracy in America, first edition,
private collection © AD Manche/A. Poirier

1841 First trip to Algeria
Election to the Académie française

The Great Mosque in Algiers, Callow lithograph;
From the Bettinger Album © CAOM

1842 First election as president of the Manche Departmental Council

The Valognes church, anonymous © AD Manche

1846 Second voyage to Algeria

Algiers, cover page of the book, Genty de Bussy © CAOM

1848 The February Revolution and proclamation of the Second Republic
Élection of Prince Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte as President of the Republic
Tocqueville takes part in drawing up the Constitution of the Second Republic

Lamartine in front of Paris's Hôtel de Ville, February 25, 1848, Henri-Félix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux, Paris, Petit Palais - Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris © PMVP

1849 Minister of Foreign Affairs from June to October
Elected president of the Manche Departmental Council

Caricature of Alexis Tocqueville, Cham © Olivier Ménard

1850 Tocqueville writes his Souvenirs ((which were published in 1893)

Pages from the original manuscript of Souvenirs
Private collection © AD Manche/A. Poirier

1851 The Coup d'Etat of December 2nd which led to the establishment of the Second Empire the following year
Napoleon III, emperor of the French

Emperor Napoleon III , Nadar, Archives photographiques
(Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine) © CMN

1852 Following the change in regime, Tocqueville resigns all of his elected offices

Note ordering the release of Tocqueville, dated December 3, 1851; private collection
© AD Manche/A. Poirier

1856 Publication of The Old Régime and the Revolution

Manuscript pages from The Old Regime and the Revolution;
private collection © AD Manche/A. Poirier

1859 Death of Tocqueville in Cannes, April 16

Silence, Théodore Chassériau (decoration of the main stairway of the former Cour des Comptes); Paris, musée du Louvre © RMN/Hervé Lewandovski