Exceptionalism In America

Charles Murray’s American Exceptionalism invokes ideas I had not considered before. The way he describes America in its early life is unrecognizable to me. Murray discusses the geographic setting, American ideology, the traits of the American people, and the operation of the American political system. Now, centuries later than the time he described, it is like America had gone on a rapidly fast down torrent. I agree with Murray’s ideas of the exceptional traits America exuded, however, the traits I observe now, and as Murray talks about later on in the book, have taken on a different meaning. It is almost as if the once amazing concepts have been reduced to nearly half their worth. I am in no way stating America is no longer exceptional, but

“The Power and the Glory: Myths of American Exceptionalism” by Howard Zinn brings light to American exceptionalism which is the perception that the United States differs from other countries. He starts off by providing an example of when this idea of exceptionalism started; using the phrase a “city upon a hill” creates an image of liberty and democracy in which others can look to as an example. This image is slandered when the morality of past actions such as the massacres of Native American villages throughout the country are brought into the picture. Conquering territory and the mistreatment of the occupants who choose to resist are constant throughout history. The justification that goes into expansion is seen as “divinely ordained”; such

There are many misconceptions of American exceptionalism that causes the belief to grow. In the article, “The Myth of American Exceptionalism” by Stephen M. Walt, the author explores five myths of the belief and how America may not be as exceptional as one might believe it to be. One of these misconceptions is that America is more well behaved than other nations thus making the country more special and allowing their morals to spread as they please. People, especially most American citizens, see the US as a country that sets the standard and can do no harm or wrong in the world as it always follows the rules. While we might wish that were true, it is not as throughout history there have been many blunders by the US which have gone against their ideals and main principles. For example, when the US first was established

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

The term “American Exceptionalism” means that the United States has held on to great stability throughout its 230 years in contrast with other nations, who have succumb to civil unrest and revolution more frequently throughout their respective national histories. The term arose in the 1830s and was coined by Alexis DeTocqueville. As DeTocqueville traveled throughout the nation, he discerned America was quite exceptional due in part to it being founded on democracy, liberty, particularly individual liberties, and equality.

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.

Politics was also central in American labor movements. In the book, The Making of American Exceptionalism: The Knights of Labor and Class Formation in the Nineteenth Century, author Kim Voss shows how and why a successful labor movement never gained political strength as it did in England and France. The United States had similarities with its labor movements with its European counterparts. However, it was mainly because of the failure by the Knights of Labor that caused the American labor movement to go a different route. Unlike Europe, where labor movements were often supported, the United States did not support these groups. It did not witness the rise of a powerfully large socialist party either. The Knights of Labor emerged as a labor organization that welcomed all

In order for something to be exceptional, it must be different than the rest of a group, and this is how America can be viewed as – different from the rest of the world. America is exceptional because it has the freedom of religion, an excellent educational system, and various aspects of individualism. One reason as to why America is exceptional is that it enables its citizens to have the freedom of religion. America is one of few countries that has sectarianism, or the devotion to a certain sect of a religion (Lipset). Sectarianism gives American citizens the freedom and choice of developing a relationship with their god.

It is important as a powerful, developed nation in the world to understand where we might do the most good. Some argue that American Exceptionalism is part of what makes our country great, but they are not seeing how significantly it holds us back. Likening exceptionalism to nationalism, some argue that without it, support for our nation would cower, but this is naïve. Nationalism is the proper way to have pride in your nation; nationalism coupled with a healthy level of cultural competency is how we will accomplish great things in the future. Exceptionalism, on the other hand, is the crutch that we have outgrown; the hand we once perceived as helpful that has actually been doing quite the opposite. A “unique American mission” has turned us

The ideals of American Exceptionalism have been on display and ever-changing since the United States became a country. American Exceptionalism, is a historical attitude differentiating both the American regime and its citizens from the rest of the world. Historically, the difference also implies being better; this can be exemplified by much of what we regard as patriotism. In 1764, amongst a brewing revolution, John Adams formulates a critique of the connection between canon and feudal law, or church and state, which had long been in cahoots to oppress common people (CITE). Thus, America would be a nation to offer freedom of religion which was almost unheard of; therefore

I thought this post was interesting, because it calls into question our own romanticization of the past as Americans through the commercialization of heritage.

American Exceptionalism is defined in literature as Americans’ deprecation of power politics and old-fashioned diplomacy, mistrust of powerful standing armies and entangling peacetime commitments, their supposedly moralistic judgements about other people’s domestic systems, and belief that liberal values transfer readily to foreign affairs. The reason for American Exceptionalism could be chased back to American Culture and American Spirit. Even though the United States system is not subject to the same contradictions and influences as other countries. The belief in American superiority finds its foundation in some of their culture’s basic religious and cultural constructs. And it’s being confirmed that the mental and moral superiority of Americans being actively reiterated by American culture to the American public via movies, television and political rhetoric. The American Spirit is being realized for all Americans are told in media that only they know how the world really works, and only they know how it should be worked. So the American Exceptionlism is the result of American culture and spirit.

The United States, on the other hand, has seen a decrease in their global status since the 1980’s. Although it remains a Superpower, more and more American citizens believe that their days as a hegemon are behind them and that their leadership on the world stage is diminishing. This dying belief in American exceptionalism is a problem for the US. In order to achieve many of its domestic and international goals, a democratic government needs the support of its people, and if the people decide they are no longer capable of, or interested in, being the world leader, their position at the “top” is unsustainable. In the future, this waning attitude of exceptionalism is likely to change the way that America interacts with both its allies and its adversaries.

Our nation’s history plays an important role in American society, it sets forth the foundation on which our morals and values are based on as Americans. If we truly are one united nation under God, and our morals and values are based on what history tells us, why is it then that there is so much disparity among the American people. One reason is that our history textbooks and what we are taught by educational leaders only emphasize American Exceptionalism. The history of our nation is not fully disclosed, it omits the nasty and ugly parts. It is time that the U.S. let their skeletons out of the closet, the truth needs to be told no matter how ugly or nasty it is. The period in history known as the Nadir of Race relations, 1890 through the1960’s between whites and blacks is a prime example of American Exceptionalism.

Taking a look at the three features of American foreign policy, exceptionalism is most likely the first that would be attributed to the U.S., maybe a little bit too quickly in the present day. There is a resolute understanding that Americans have more national pride than other nations are quick to say it and show it. However, the amount of impact which that idea of exceptionalism plays in foreign policy, and even the level of personal belief of exceptionalism, is lower than what is believed by the international population. The article “The Problem with American Exceptionalism” provides good information on this issue by showing that “little hard data support the idea that… nationalism plays a significant role in Americans’ actual opinions about how the United States should relate to the world” (Kohut and