Charles Murray's American Exceptionalism

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

American exceptionalism is a conviction that the United States is special or exceptional if comparing with the historical advancement of other nations. In fact, It would be easy to categorize as nationalism if it was not more wide-ranging and more intense than that. Proudly, the American nation truly believes in the one-of-a-kind nature of their nation. Even country’s President Barack Obama had proclaimed: “I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being”(). Despite such affection, there is abundant evidence that American exceptionalism has recently collapsed.

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

In Charles Murray’s journals he examines the changing American landscape and how it evolves from 1960 to 2010. He looks at marriage, honesty, industriousness, religion, and crime. The first journal to examines is titled “Belmont and Fishtown— On diverging classes in the United States”. He begins the journal talking about American exceptionalism and many different qualities that make up Americans. American exceptionalism is the idea that americans are exceptional. More specifically it is the idea that the way of American life is exceptional when compared to others around the world. He describes Americans has a group of hard working people always striving for something better. He talks about American neighborliness. He talks about how generosity

The United States of America that we know today is a colossal powerhouse. However, the forces and ideologies that went into securing it’s formidable status in the present day as one of the most influential nations in the world cannot be ignored. Towards the end of the 19th century through to the early 20th century, the US underwent so many radical changes in such a condensed period of time regarding it’s economy, technology, and social structure, that there can certainly be no question about the frequently dubbed “Progressive Era” of American society. The level of drastic progression in this time period is arguably attributed to it’s social reforming, industrialism, and imperialism.

The ‘American way’ does not offer the commonly liked idea of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The ecosystem aches the same sad fortune. Post-World War II government delays in handling foreign policy and the Civil Rights movement are exposed as glowing government accomplishments, while Vietnam and other near-current events slip into oblivion so the story can end with uplifting, super-patriotic prophecies of ongoing American progress. The result is that history, as a subject, appears extraneous. Having a skewed view of facts has left each of us with conflicting conclusions and behaviors, one against another.

Martin Van Buren once said, “Our country presents on every side the evidences of that continued favor under whose auspices it, has gradually risen from a few feeble and dependent colonies to a prosperous and powerful confederacy.” America wouldn’t have prospered into the powerful confederacy Van Buren describes it to be without the values and ideas of America’s colonial past. America’s present is best understood to be based upon British culture and government. However, colonists fought for freedom from the suffocating British throne, they tolerated religious freedom, and their government was founded on republican views. Therefore, America’s present is constructed of values and ideas opposite of what the British taught.

American Exceptionalism in the US Political Culture When it comes to American Exceptionalism, there are two major views on how people see America in comparison to other countries around the world. One opinion is based on the theory of America being different and superior to other countries, just wanting the power and control over everyone. In a different view, people see it as a theory that represents our nation’s past and how America is a role model for other countries to follow based off our history’s success. I believe that America does stress the theme of “American Exceptionalism” when it comes down to our political culture because it represents America’s past and what it means to be an American by the freedoms and opportunities that we

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.

The United States of America has been a United Nation for more than two centuries. America has been through history for more than two hundred years and has changed tremendously ever since the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776. As times changed, so did America. The principles of the union for this nation were defined and viewed differently in the past. These principles demand change and new responses as time goes by.

In Crèvecoeur’s letter, “What is an American?”, he attempts to set America apart from other countries, especially those in Europe. However, several of his assertions regarding what makes America remarkable turn out to be rather incongruous with the current state of American society and politics.

American ‘Exceptionalism’: Superiority or A Novelty? In order to properly examine the weight of the term “American exceptionalism”, one must first evaluate the meaning of the words separately. The word ‘exceptional’ is often defined in two manners: superior or unusually atypical. When coupled with the word ‘American’, it is easy to assume that this term translates to American superiority.

I am glad to note you have a similar view of the book as I do. In my opinion, Murray is very insightful and well-spoken. You stated, "... The two sections on America's exceptional setting and ideology are the sections I will focus on." You did state part of what made America exceptional in the past; I'd be interested to hear whether you still believe America's setting is still exceptional. I believe it has declined with use of modern technology and transportation, but the fact we're still known as "The melting pot" is incredible.

This then bring us to the ideological stance regarding empire, here again we are confronted with two sides. Firstly, the ideological stance of the American people is very much inclined with that of an empire. This is what we would call ‘American Exceptionalism’, the belief that we must put ‘America first’ and there has never been anything like it in the past. Of course, this is a myth. There is nothing particularly exceptional about American exceptionalism. It is not unique for great powers to believe themselves superior to their rivals, indeed, among great powers of the past and present, thinking your nation is ‘special’ is simply the norm. It is a self-destructive ideology, an ideology of ignorance even. However, ideology is certainly an

Understandably, significant historical debate flourishes around any relative or ambiguous terminology; therefore, it should be of no surprise the topic of the ‘modernization’ of the United States garners little consensus. While some historians see elements of modernity in the widespread political participation of the initial decades of colonial settlement, others focus on the economic and demographic diversity of the eighteenth century as their focal point. Contrasting historians insist the American Revolution became the catalyst for permanent change, while still more contend westward expansion and the conclusion of the Civil War mark the time of the United States’ ‘arrival.’ The innate relativism of ‘modernity’ insures from the outset of debate that no one will be right, and that no one can be wrong. One historian’s vision of ‘modern’ will inherently be distinct from the next. However, as futile as the debate over the beginnings of modernity may be, readers can still gain much from such research.