Many reflections were made in Tocqueville's journal. One was of his experience of the July 4th celebration. He writes, "Ceremony of 4th July. Mixture of impressions, some funny, some very serious. Militia on foot and on horse, speeches swollen with rhetoric, jug of water on platform, hymn to liberty in church. Something of the French spirit. Perfect order that prevails. Silence. No police. Authority nowhere. Festival of the people. Marshal of the day without restrictive power, and obeyed, free classification of industries, public prayer, presence of the flag and of old soldiers. Real emotion" (126). This statement reflects the lack of police and security he was use to in France, which must of brought about some anxiety for him. Noted also was his recognition of the lack of manners of the Americans. This was because in France, people are judged by their pedigree and in America, people are judged by their achievement towards wealth. "Restlessness of character seems to me to be one of the distinctive traits of this people. The American is devoured by the longing to make his fortune; it is the unique passion of his life; he has no memory that attaches him to one place more than another, no inveterate habits, no spirit of routine; he is the daily witness of the swiftest changes of fortune, and is less afraid than any other inhabitant of the globe to risk what he has gained in the hope of a better future, for he knows that he can without trouble create new resources again," he wrote in his travel notebooks, publish as Journey to America.

             The journey of Beaumont and Tocqueville in America ended in February of 1832. However the legacy of Tocqueville's book Democracy in America (1835) is a living and growing monument of the work he did. This great work was never looked at much until after World War II when Europe was beginning to reshape its political authority. Today in many books he is quoted from his writings of Democracy in America.