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In Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville observes the "restless curiosity" of Americans which finds its outlet in travel. As the Nineteenth century brought improvements in transportation and increased leisure, American tourism as an institution began to take shape. Americans formed a conception of their own Grand Tour; those who could afford the expense took to the new roads and canals and boarded the new steamboats with increasing vengence. This project endeavors to outline the American Grand Tour and locate the prototypical American tourist among the early travellers who came to examine a country emerging into Democracy.

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