American Exceptionalism Research Paper

American Exceptionalism is the term that imperialists in the United States regularly use to claim that their country is unusual or amazing. American exceptionalism defend to the exceptional character of the United States as an inimitably free country centered on democratic principles and personal liberty. American Exceptionalism is an issue that has been existed from early years and George Washington is one of the key pieces in this issue.

Both Alfred Bester and Andre Norton make impassioned claims about the nature of American Exceptionalism, but these claims are very hard to assess objectively. Clearly the excerpt from Bester’s book comes from the Introduction, just as the excerpt from Norton’s article comes from the Conclusion. In both cases we are presented with general statements and are left to wonder if the evidence presented in the body of each work actually supports the claims being asserted.1

American Exceptionalism explained by David Barton is the longevity of the American U.S. Constitution compared to other nations form of government. America has had an exceptional record of accomplishment of stability because it has not gone through a Revolution over the pass 20-30 years. Alexis DeTocqueville created the term American Exceptionalism. DeTocqueville observation of America lead him to believe that America is an exceptional democratic type of people.

Through Howard Zinn’s “The Power and the Glory: Myths of American Exceptionalism”, his view on American History has been expressed. Our country had many ups and downs when it came to expansion, but Zinn mainly focuses on the downs giving a negative view. This can be seen through the examples given showing different ways the U.S. expanded their land. He also speaks on how these acts have been justified by the theory of American Exceptionalism. Which in our country’s past we have used war to bringing freedom, order, and civilization to other parts of the world; and used divine sanction or moral obligation as reasoning for it.

This paper will discuss what I believe America’s founding fathers tried to accomplish with the “American Experience”. This experience gives an understanding of America in the 20th century and the accomplishments in the 21st century.

Throughout American history, idealists and materialists have changed the theme of exceptionalism. In our readings, we see the idea of american exceptionalism come to life from the writings of John Winthrop, Juan Jose Arevalo, and George W. Bush. Exceptionalism is when one depicts something, especially a nation, as unique and different from others. Winthrop expresses exceptionalism to his Puritan followers as the belief that they are special and above all others, while Arevalo, being a part of Latin America, offers an outsider’s perspective on the greed and corruption that comes with the idea of exceptionalism in the United States. Then Bush gives off the idea that America is exceptional and others were out to get

American exceptionalism 2. A tradition to draw from 3. The roots of American politics. The questions: 1. What are the broad purposes of the government? 2.

Some people seem to question the concept of American exceptionalism, while others know and interpret it differently. American exceptionalism has various definitions and has been used by many politicians. The most accurate way to define American exceptionalism, though, would be to think of it as a concept that refers to the United States of America as a uniquely free country that is different from other nations based on its principles, history, and political system. Over the years, American exceptionalism has been an important topic of debate with people asking whether it is real and whether it is good. The purpose of this paper is to argue whether American exceptionalism is a real concept that makes America unique from other nations. I seek to show how the idea of American exceptionalism, which has been discussed by many people since the 19th century, could be real and flawed at the same time. Ultimately, this research will shed light on the different myths of American exceptionalism as well as whether it makes America a unique democracy and how diverse groups of people interpret it.

American Exceptionalism is the idea that the United States is uniquely special, superior, and different from other nations. First, America is inheritently different because of the way the country was founded and because of the principles it was founded on. The principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence have allowed for the United States to acquire advancements and achievements that place our country in a better standing when compared to others.

America is truly without a doubt seen as the land of opportunity. The way that America has evolved from the beginning of it’s time to now, is quite astounding. America went from a nation that held slavery to a nation that fights for equality. Although many use the word exceptionalism in various forms. Some say that exceptionalism is deemed as wonderful, others might say that it’s a mission. The concept of exceptionalism is seen as a great thing, one that many feel so patriotic about. While those against American exceptionalism might argue that America is not its own, and is quite in fact like the other nations before them. Even though for many the concept of American Exceptionalism might vary, America for the most part has evolved since the beginning of it’s time till now. And the changes are quite evident.

American exceptionalism is the idea that America is fundamentally different than any other nation. The term “American exceptionalism” is fairly new; it is recently popularized through political campaigns and speeches. According to Terrence McCoy’s article for The Atlantic, “How Joseph Stalin Invented ‘American Exceptionalism,’” Joseph Stalin invented the term “American exceptionalism.” Stalin did not use the term how politicians use it today; he used the term to describe America as inferior to the rest of the world’s nations, not vice versa as implied today. However, though the creation of the term was derogatory, the use today does not reflect that view. Rather, the view today implies that America is a fundamentally different nation that is

While some find us arrogant, condescending and imperialistic, those who have come to join us in America find that there is some truth in the notion that our country is unique. Nowhere else is the freedom to express and improve yourself so widespread, and no other country welcomes those seeking that freedom so openly. Assimilation to our culture is not forced, but it is the rare individual who does not welcome it once they are here. Many people consider themselves to be the best humans on the planet, or maybe the only ones chosen by their god to succeed, but nobody can claim to be as powerful and prosperous as Americans are. To us the idea of American Exceptionalism is not propaganda or a myth; it is the understanding that the only way to the make the most of oneself is to have the freedom to do so.

These three ideas have led to many defining events of American history, like the Revolutionary War; the Westward Expansion and the Vietnam War. Now, in Hilde Eliassen Restad’s article on American exceptionalism, she believes that American exceptionalism is dying. On the contrary,

\Throughout the 20th century, the United States has built and maintained hegemonic superpower status. Since its birth, America has transformed from a limited constitutional republic based on protecting and respecting individual rights, to a modern day empire based on majority rule, seeking to dictate to the rest of the world. The testament of history is that empires do not and cannot last indefinitely. The graveyard of empires is littered with great powers who did not understand this very fact. The most recent empire to join this historical path to failure was the Soviet Empire, and the American Empire is well on its way. Many Americans are oblivious to this fact and think that somehow America is inherently different and protected from all of the ills that have come to other nations throughout history. They speak of American exceptionalism, the idea that America is the greatest nation ever conceived in history, the superior exception in the world; however, this is a flawed definition of American exceptionalism, and the very psychological atmosphere is what leads to the collapse of empires. America was exceptional, not because of a superiority complex, but because it recognized its human nature, the fact that it was not an exception to historical, natural, or economic laws to which all nations are subject to. This lack of proper understanding of American exceptionalism is leading America towards a collapse. America will cease to be exceptional if it joins other nations

In the contemporary world, different people from various nations hold varying ideas about the United States of America. The American citizens view their nation as an exceptional country while the rest of the world consider America a unique society, standing out on its own from other great nations. There are several factors, great people, numerous outstanding laws and exceptional culture that make America unique among nations. Apparently, persons of political class boundlessly speak of active of their nation to attract and win the masses. However, the American exceptionality is beyond the political standard, as it traces back to the US history, and plenty of tangible evidence to support the claims.