Progress of America, 1875, by Domenico Tojetti

American exceptionalism (cf. "exceptionalism") has been historically referred to as the belief that the United States differs qualitatively from other developed nations, because of its national credo, historical evolution, or distinctive political and religious institutions. The difference is often expressed in American circles as some categorical superiority, to which is usually attached some alleged proof, rationalization or explanation that may vary greatly depending on the historical period and the political context. Image File history File links Progress_of_America,_by_Domenico_Tojetti. ... Image File history File links Progress_of_America,_by_Domenico_Tojetti. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Exceptionalism is the perception that a country, society, institution, movement, or time period is exceptional (ie. ... A developed country is a country that is technologically advanced and that enjoys a relatively high standard of living. ... The credo (Latin for I believe; pronounced ) is a statement of religious belief, such as the Nicene Creed (or, less often, another creed, such as the Apostles Creed). ... Look up superior in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

However, the term can also be used in a negative sense by critics of American policies.

Overview

Ross (1991) argued that there are three generic varieties of American exceptionalism:

1. supernaturalist explanations which emphasize the causal potency of God in selecting America as a "citty (sic) on a hill" to serve as an example for the rest of the world,
2. genetic interpretations which emphasize racial traits, ethnicity, or gender, and
3. environmental explanations such as geography, climate, availability of natural resources, social structure, and type of political economy.

The term was first used in respect of the United States by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831.^[1] American exceptionalism is close to the idea of Manifest Destiny, a term used by Jacksonian Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory, the Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cession). The term was later used in the 1890s by Republicans as a theoretical justification for U.S. expansion outside of North America. This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... Christopher Columbus 1492 voyage is seen by many Europeans as the discovery of the Americas, despite the fact that humans first reached it some 12,000 years prior. ... Tocqueville redirects here. ... This article is about the history and influence of the concept. ... Jacksonian Democracy refers to the political philosophy of United States President Andrew Jackson and his supporters. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... The Oregon Territory is the name applied both to the unorganized Oregon Country claimed by both the United States and Britain, as well as to the organized U.S. territory formed from it that existed between 1848 and 1859. ... Republic of Texas The Texas Annexation of 1845 was the voluntary annexation of the Republic of Texas by the United States of America as Texas, the 28th state, and additional land that later became major parts of the states of New Mexico and Colorado, where the headwaters of the Rio... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. ... GOP redirects here. ... After expanding across North America in the early and mid-nineteenth century, the United States soon began to expand overseas, emerging after World War II as a leading world power. ...

The term has also come to describe the belief that the United States has an exceptional position among countries, and should not be bound by international law except where it serves American interests. This position is driven by a (usually implicit) premise that the United States cannot violate international law (and in particular international human rights norms) because of the view that America itself was largely responsible for instigating those norms in the first place. This view has come under stress due to international condemnation of U.S. human rights practices under the doctrine of War on Terror. (Also see: Human rights and the United States.) This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Criticism of the War on Terrorism addresses the issues, morals, ethics, efficiency, economics, and other questions surrounding the War on Terrorism. ... This article is about U.S. actions, and those of other states, after September 11, 2001. ... The Statue of Liberty. ...

The basis most commonly cited for American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and its people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from a unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom^{[citation needed]}. It is therefore used by United States citizens to indicate a moral superiority of America or Americans. Others use it to refer to the American concept as itself an exceptional ideal which gives the country a privileged position, and which may or may not always be upheld by the actual people and government of the nation. Researchers and academics, however, generally use the term to strictly mean sharp and measurable differences in public opinion and political behavior between Americans and their counterparts in other developed democracies. For other uses, see American Dream (disambiguation). ... An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal. ...

Part of American exceptionalism draws from the unique ethnic diversity of the United States.

Opponents of the concept of American exceptionalism believe it to be little more than ethnocentrism and propaganda.^{[2] [3]} In their arguments, they often compare the US to other countries that have claimed an exceptional nature or destiny. Examples in more recent times include Great Britain at the height of the British Empire, Israel, the USSR and Nazi Germany, while many historic empires such as Ancient Rome, China, and a wide range of minor kingdoms and tribes have also embraced exceptionalism. In each case, a basis was presented as to why the country was exceptional compared to all other countries, drawing upon circumstance, cultural background and mythos, and self-perceived national aims. Christopher Columbus 1492 voyage is seen by many Europeans as the discovery of the Americas, despite the fact that humans first reached it some 12,000 years prior. ... For other uses, see Propaganda (disambiguation). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Exceptionalism is the perception that a country, society, institution, movement, or time period is exceptional (ie. ... Look up muthos in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Causes in their historical context

In essence, it characterizes the course of American history as a "deliberate choice" of "freedom over tyranny" which was properly made, and was the central reason for why American society developed "successfully."^{[citation needed]} With this in mind, American exceptionalism is just one of many national exceptionalist movements.

Puritan roots

The earliest ideologies of English colonists in the country were embodied by the Protestantism of Puritan settlers of New England. Many Puritans with Arminian leanings embraced a middle ground between strict Calvinist predestination and a less restricting theology of Divine Providence. They believed God had made a covenant with their people and had chosen them to lead the other nations of the Earth. One Puritan leader, John Winthrop, metaphorically expressed this idea as a "City upon a Hill" — that the Puritan community of New England should serve as a model community for the rest of the world. This metaphor is often used by proponents of exceptionalism. Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. ... For the record label, see Puritan Records. ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... Arminianism is a Protestant Christian theology founded by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in peoples lives and throughout history. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) led a group of English Puritans to the New World, joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 and was elected their first governor on April 8, 1630. ... City upon a hill is phrase often used to refer to John Winthrops famous sermon, A Model of Christian Charity,, of 1630, based on the one of the metaphors of Salt and Light in the Sermon on the Mount (You are the light of the world. ...

Although the world-view of New England Puritans changed dramatically, and the strong influence of other Protestant traditions in the Middle Colonies and the South, the Puritans' deep moralistic values remained part of the national identity of the United States for centuries, remaining influential to the present day. Parts of American exceptionalism can be traced to American Puritan roots. This article is about the region in the United States of America. ...

The American Revolution and Republicanism

A milestone in the history of American Exceptionalism is the American Revolution. The ideas that created the American revolution were derived from a tradition of republicanism that had been repudiated by the British mainstream. Thomas Paine's Common Sense for the first time expressed the belief that America was not just an extension of Europe but a new land, a country of nearly unlimited potential and opportunity that had outgrown the British mother country. These sentiments laid the intellectual foundations for the Revolutionary concept of American exceptionalism and was closely tied to republicanism, the belief that sovereignty belonged to the people, not to a hereditary ruling class. John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... Republicanism is the political value system that has dominated American political thought since the American Revolution. ... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Common sense (disambiguation). ... Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule by the people, and the civic virtue practiced by citizens. ...

Alexis de Tocqueville stressed the advanced nature of democracy in America, arguing that it infused every aspect of society and culture, at a time (1830s) when democracy was not in fashion anywhere else. Tocqueville redirects here. ...

Immigration

A core argument of exceptionalism is that America is unusually attractive to immigrants from all parts of the world for two reasons. First, advocates of American exceptionalism say that economic and political opportunities are unlimited,^{[citation needed]} that the United States possesses an unusually high degree of social mobility^{[citation needed]}. Since the late-19th century days of Andrew Carnegie and Carl Schurz, immigrants have risen to the top of the economy and the political system. The "American Dream" describes the perceived abundance of opportunities in the American system. Secondly, immigrants can become Americans by accepting American values.^{[citation needed]} Social mobility is the degree to which, in a given society, an individuals social status can change throughout the course of their life (known as intragenerational mobility), or the degree to which that individuals offspring and subsequent generations move up and down the class system (intergenerational mobility). ... Andrew Carnegie (last name pronounced IPA: )[1] (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of Pittsburghs Carnegie Steel Company which later became U.S. Steel. ... Carl Schurz (March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army general in the American Civil War. ... For other uses, see American Dream (disambiguation). ...

The Cold War

American exceptionalism during the Cold War was often cast by the mass media as the American Way of Life personifying liberty engaged in a battle with tyranny as represented by communism. These attributions made use of the residual sentiment that had originally formed to differentiate the United States from the 19th century European powers and had been applied multiple times in multiple contexts before it was used to differentiate capitalist democracies (with the United States as a leader) from communist nations. American exceptionalism during this period also manifested itself in a virulently anti-internationalist streak as part of which the United States rejected participation in international institutions which it could not control. The Bricker Amendment movement, for instance, rejected the adoption of international human rights conventions by the United States. For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Popular press redirects here; note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint The Popular Press. Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. ... The American way of life is an expression that refers to the lifestyle of people living in the United States. ... For other uses, see Liberty (disambiguation). ... This page is about the religious concept of Tyranny. ... This article is about the form of society and political movement. ... Senator John W. Bricker, the sponsor of the proposed constitutional amendment to limit the treaty power of the United States government. ...

Aspects of arguments for American exceptionalism

Republican ethos and ideas about nationhood

Proponents of American exceptionalism argue that the United States is exceptional in that it was founded on a set of republican ideals, rather than on a common heritage, ethnicity, or ruling elite. In the formulation of President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address, America is a nation "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal". In this view, America is inextricably connected with liberty and equality. It is claimed that America has often acted to promote these ideals abroad, most notably in the First and Second World Wars, in the Cold War and today in the Iraq War. Critics argue that American policy in these conflicts was more motivated by economic or military self-interest than an actual desire to spread these ideals, and point to an extensive history of using South American nations as slave economies, suppressing democratic revolutions against US-backed dictators when necessary. Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule by the people, and the civic virtue practiced by citizens. ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ... The only confirmed photo of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg (seated), taken about noon, just after Lincoln arrived and some three hours before he spoke. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... There have been two World Wars, now more commonly known as World War I or First World War (from 1914 to 1918), and World War II or Second World War (from 1939 to 1945). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ...

The United States' policies have been characterized since their inception by a system of federalism and checks and balances, which were designed to prevent any person, faction, region, or government organ from becoming too powerful. Some American exceptionalists argue that this system and the accompanying distrust of concentrated power prevent the United States from suffering a "tyranny of the majority", and also that it allows citizens to live in a locality whose laws reflect that citizen's values. A consequence of this political system is that laws can vary greatly across the country. Critics of American exceptionalism maintain that this system merely replaces the power of the national majority over states with power by the states over local entities. On balance, the American political system arguably allows more local dominance but prevents more national dominance than does a more unitary system. A map displaying todays federations. ... The doctrine and practice of dispersing political power and creating mutual accountability between political entities such as the courts, the president or prime minister, the legislature, and the citizens. ... Look up tyranny in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A map showing the unitary states. ...

Frontier spirit

Proponents of American exceptionalism often claim that the "American spirit" or the "American identity" was created at the frontier (following Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis), where rugged and untamed conditions gave birth to American national vitality. However, this 'frontier spirit' was not unique to the United States - other nations such as Canada, South Africa, Argentina and Australia had long frontiers that were similarly settled by pioneers, shaping their national psyches. In fact, all of the British Imperial domains involved pioneering work. Although each nation had slightly different frontier experiences (for example, in Australia "mateship" and working together was valued more than individualism was in the United States), the characteristics arising from British attempting to 'tame' a wild and often hostile landscape against the will of the original population remained common to many such nations. Of course, at the limit, all of mankind has been involved, at one time or another, in extending the boundaries of their territory. Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was, with Charles A. Beard, the least influential American historian of the early 20th century. ... Frederick Jackson Turner, author of the Frontier Thesis The Frontier Thesis or Turner Thesis is the conclusion of Frederick Jackson Turner that the wellsprings of American exceptionalism and vitality have always been the American frontier, the region between urbanized, civilized society and the untamed wilderness. ...

Mobility

For most of its history, especially from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries, the United States was exceptional in its occupational and physical mobility. America is known as the "land of opportunity" and in this sense, it prided and promoted itself on providing individuals with the opportunity to escape from the contexts of their class and family background. Examples of this social mobility include: The name Opportunity may refer to: Opportunity Asset Management , a Brazilian investment bank based in Rio de Janeiro Opportunity, Washington, a city in the U.S. Opportunity rover (MER-B), one of the two rovers of NASAs Mars Exploration Rover Mission. ... Social mobility is the degree to which, in a given society, an individuals social status can change throughout the course of their life (known as intragenerational mobility), or the degree to which that individuals offspring and subsequent generations move up and down the class system (intergenerational mobility). ...

• Occupational - children could easily choose careers which were not based upon their parents' choices.
• Physical - that geographical location was not seen as static, and citizens often relocated freely over long distances without barrier.
• Status - As in most countries, family standing and riches were often a means to remain in a higher social circle. America was notably unusual due to an accepted wisdom that anyone - from impoverished immigrants upwards - who worked hard, could aspire to similar standing, regardless of circumstances of birth. Birth circumstances were not taken as a social barrier to the upper echelons or to high political status in American culture. This stood in contrast to other countries where many higher offices were socially determined, and usually hard to enter without being born into the suitable social group.

The United States still has remarkable class mobility, however, a 2005 study showed that children born into poverty in Europe and Canada were more likely to find prosperity than children born into poverty in the United States^[4]. However such studies are often based on flawed statistics, the same study concluded that both Britian and the United States had more class mobility in the 1800s, an obviously flawed result.

The American Revolution

The American Revolutionary War is the claimed ideological territory of "exceptionalists". The intellectuals of the Revolution, such as Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, arguably shaped America into a nation fundamentally different from its European ancestry, creating modern constitutional republicanism as we know it. Others counter that there is nothing unique about the revolution — the English "Glorious Revolution" was nearly a century prior to the American revolution and led to constitutional monarchy. The French Revolution also arguably led to a form of modern democracy. This article is about military actions only. ... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 N.S.–4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–09), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. ... A constitutional republic is a state where reprentatives of the people are elected who govern according to law provided by constitution that protects individual liberty. ... The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland) in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange), who as a result ascended the English throne as William... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an elected or hereditary monarch as head of state, as opposed to an absolute monarchy, where the monarch is not bound by a... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on...

See also

• American civil religion
• American Revolutionary War
• Anti-Americanism
• exceptionalism
• Manifest Destiny
• Neoconservatism
• Ugly American

American civil religion is a term coined by sociologist Robert Bellah in 1967, it became one of the most debated and controversial essays in United States sociology. ... This article is about military actions only. ... Anti-Americanism, often Anti-American sentiment, is defined as being opposed or hostile to the United States of America, its people, its principles, or its policies. ... Exceptionalism is the perception that a country, society, institution, movement, or time period is exceptional (ie. ... This article is about the history and influence of the concept. ... This article is about neoconservatism in the United States, for neoconservatism in other regions, see Neoconservatism (disambiguation). ... For other uses of the term, see Ugly American (disambiguation). ...

Notes

1. ^ Foreword: on American Exceptionalism; Symposium on Treaties, Enforcement, and U.S. Sovereignty, Stanford Law Review, May 1, 2003, Pg. 1479
2. ^ Jacobs, Ron. "American Exceptionalism: A Disease of Conceit", Counterpunch, 2004-07-21. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. .
3. ^ Howard Zinn, The Myth of American Exceptionalism, <http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/258/>. Retrieved on 21 October 2007. .
4. ^ "As rich-poor gap widens in US, class mobility stalls", Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved on 2007-10-22. 

is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Counterpunch can refer to: In traditional typography, a counterpunch is a type of punch used to create the negative space in or around a character. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the PG, is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• Dworkin, Ronald W. (1996). The Rise of the Imperial Self. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-8476-8219-6. 
• Madsen, Deborah L. (1998). American Exceptionalism. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-108-3. 
• Glickstein, Jonathan A. American Exceptionalism, American Anxiety: Wages, Competition, And Degraded Labor In The Antebellum United States (2002)
• Ferrie, Joseph P. The End of American Exceptionalism: Mobility in the US Since 1850, Journal of Economic Perspectives (Summer, 2005)
• Hellerman, Steven L. and Andrei S. Markovits (2001). Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-07447-X.  online version
• Ignatieff, Michael ed. (2005). American Exceptionalism and Human Rights. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11647-4. 
• Kagan, Robert (2003). Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order. Knopf. ISBN 1-4000-4093-0. 
• Lipset, Seymour Martin (1997). American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-31614-9. 
• Lipset, Seymour Martin. "Still the Exceptional Nation?." The Wilson Quarterly. 24#1 (2000) pp 31+ online version
• Lloyd, Brian. Left Out: Pragmatism, Exceptionalism, and the Poverty of American Marxism, 1890-1922. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
• Ross, Dorothy. Origins of American Social Science. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
• Ross, Dorothy. "American Exceptionalism" in A Companion to American Thought. Richard W. Fox and James T. Kloppenberg, eds. London: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1995: 22-23.
• Shafer, Byron E. Is America Different?: A New Look at American Exceptionalism (1991)
• Rick Tilman. "Thorstein Veblen's Views on American 'Exceptionalism': An Interpretation." Journal of Economic Issues. 39#1 2005. pp 177+. online version
• Turner, Frederick Jackson Richard W. Etulain ed. (1999). The Significance of the Frontier in American History, in Does The Frontier Experience Make America Exceptional?. 
• Voss, Kim. The Making of American Exceptionalism: The Knights of Labor and Class Formation in the Nineteenth Century (1993) online version
• Wilentz, Sean. Against Exceptionalism: Class Consciousness and the American Labor Movement, 1790-1820, 26 Int'l Lab. & Working Class History 1 (1984)
• Wrobel, David M. (1996). The End Of American Exceptionalism: Frontier Anxiety From The Old West To The New Deal. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0561-4. 

External links

• How the World Sees America - Washington Post Feature

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

American exceptionalism

• "The American Creed: Does It Matter? Should It Change?" "Summary: Seymour Martin Lipset explains why the United States is exceptional. Michael J. Sandel blames its individualistic tradition for the country's ills and says America should return to the New England town square. But it isn't exceptional, and it shouldn't return." [1]
• The right to be different Debate between Grover Norquist and Will Hutton
• Edwords, Frederick (November/December 1987). "The religious character of American patriotism". The Humanist magazine: 20-24, 36.

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