American Exceptionalism On the first day of class, I wasn’t so sure what the term “American Exceptionalism” meant, but by the end I have figured it out. American Exceptionalism is the notion that America is uniquely different from the other nations. The reason America is “uniquely different” from the other nations is because, the world expects America to lead, have values, pursue freedom, be diverse and open, and also practice democracy. Being a democratic nation makes us the city upon the hill. America is like a big brother, other nations look to us for help, guidance, and prosperity. The values and beliefs about politics and the government shape our American culture. The stress on a distinct national identity is appropriate within an increasingly diverse nation state and ever globalizing world. I agree upon this statement, because America deserves to be known as the “it” nation. America is more accepting, we are like a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities. At first, we were a nation of immigrants that prospered in a way that people have never seen. America is known as the land of opportunity, we have innovativeness, and when you really work hard you can definitely make a change for yourself. Turner coins American development by the westward movement. Moving west, and tapping the resources given to us is what made us different. Turner’s thesis is, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain[s] American development. The idea that success came from moving west. This idea wraps up how America became the nation to be. From the movie episodes of, “America the Story of Us” I saw how America globalized to become the “unique nation” tha... ... middle of paper ... ...from the building of skyscrapers to the railroads, and imperialism. We have moved all the way westward and what there is to do is to globalize our nation and continue to help improve the nations that we help guide. We first need to make sure that we are practicing democracy, free trade, our values, freedom, and our beliefs. This is what it means to be an exceptional nation. Other nations look to us, and when we don’t respond accordingly or if we don’t practice what we preach, they will call us hypocrites. Works Cited America the Story of Us. History Channel, n.d. DVD. Foner, Eric. "Jimmy Carter on Human Rights." Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 307-09. Print. Turner, Frederick Jackson. "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." The Frontier in American History. New York: H. Holt and, 1920. 1-26. Print.
In Frederick Jackson Turner’s essay, he talked about how he thought the West was where true American character was formed and that the West was the birthplace of democracy. However, in my perspective I don’t only feel that Turner was inaccurate in his analysis, but also very racist and selfish. I believe that Turner wanted to justify why taking over the West would be so necessary and beneficial to Americans. He stated several things in his essay that were obviously undermined by many primary sources in Hollitz’s book. At the time Americans took on the ideology of Manifest Destiny, which basically was the belief that Americans were destined to expand from coast to coast in North America despite the fact that there was people already occupying land on
The myth of American(USA) superiority and exceptionalism has existed since the early foundation days. The rush towards the Pacific provided an easy way to sustain this theory, and for a long time it was assumed that westward growth was the best sign of success. In fact, some of the earliest films to hold captive the American citizens were spectacles of U.S. positivism, where good always triumphed over evil.
Turner’s thesis was to a wide extent based on this belief. Turners tried to convince people that American uniqueness is as a result of the constant contact with an open frontier for about 300 years. Turner’s conclusion significantly builds up on the American exceptionalism or uniqueness. He summarized his thesis by saying the most relevant aspect of the frontier was promotion of individualistic democracy. The ubiquity of opportunity and significance of individual labor restrained monopoly of political power from developing and led to American Democratic
While the US may have prided themselves in the fact that we didn’t practice imperialism or colonialism, and we weren’t an Empire country, the actions conquering land in our own country may seem to rebuff that claim. In the 19th century, the West was a synonym for the frontier, or edge of current settlement. Early on this was anything west of just about Mississippi, but beyond that is where the Indian tribes had been pushed to live, and promised land in Oklahoma after policies like Indian removal, and events like the Trail of Tears. Indian’s brief feeling of security and this promise were shattered when American’s believed it was their god given right, their Manifest Destiny, to conquer the West; they began to settle the land, and relatively quickly. And with this move, cam...
This supports Lipset’s claim of egalitarianism being one of the key components of American ideology as he gives a specific historical example of how the United States differed from the majority of other powerful nations at the time because these nations had very established social structures going back hundreds of years. While the United States was a new nation isolated from these other monarchial cultures, and that allowed America to mold its own unique independent path. This supports Lipset’s point of view concerning America being an exceptional nation as the country’s birth
The Bald Eagle soars across the land of the free, the strong, of beauty, and with longevity. It watches and caws as it calls for small, broken-wing pigeons if they need some help. He can fly high, but there is a limit to how high one can fly even for one of the greatest birds in existence. Once he reaches his breaking point, there is no going farther. He either stays there or flies lower. If he goes up more than he is supposed to, then he will crash and burn. The point here is that the Bald Eagle represents the United States of America, meanwhile the small, broken-wing pigeons represent the people in countries that are in need of assistance, such as Afghanistan and Israel. The United States can definitely take a huge part to helping others throughout the world, but there is a very fine limit that they can go. Although the US is very powerful, democratic, and influential, that does not make America exceptional. There is a difference between nationalism and American exceptionalism, with American exceptionalism being quite a narcissistic view. America, alone, does not have the moral responsibility to help the world through leadership and guidance, otherwise they would be dragged down. Basically, the entire world has this moral responsibility, therefore making all countries either “exceptional” or all being “non-exceptional”, which makes American exceptionalism an invalid concept.
He states, “... the frontier conditions prevalent in the colonies are important factors in the explanation of the American Revolution, where the individual liberty was sometimes confused with the absence of all effective government.” The frontier having an individualism of its own by promoting unique democracy does correlate to the American Revolution by how America created our own democracy separate from Britain. However, this type of individualism exists outside of the west. The east is an ever-changing democracy along with the west depending on how one chooses to view it. Turner states how our dependency on foreign nations [Europe] for imported good are lessened by the plentiful resources coming from the Great West. Nevertheless, “The Crisis from 1890’s,” discusses how America was under a financial collapse and depression involving the effects of the European market for imported goods. This proves that the United States was still dependent on other nations for goods and services and not simply the Great West. The assimilation of emigrants may be another concept one would consider when thinking of what defines America and Turner would
Exceptionalism of a country is the idea that it holds different, more ethical decisions, than all the other countries through time. Some believe the great experiment of america is one of these great exceptions. However, slavery, the industrial revolution, and the expansion of the federal government have all threatened this idea of greatness.
Americans through the years of existence have adapted well to the radical changes throughout the world. Technology, independence and social equality are some of the diverse concepts the United States have adapted to and developed in order to become a more unified country. Our nation believes that it is exceptional when it comes to other countries worldwide. As can be shown through the popular reference to America as the ‘shining city on a hill’. The term “American exceptionalism” is derived from ideals held by many Americans throughout history. Different people have analyzed American exceptionalism through multiple literary devices. Works such as A Model of Christian Charity, What is an American and Acres of Diamonds illustrate the sentiment that America is incomparable to any other country through different approaches. On the contrary, Democracy in America and How the Other Half Lives are two documents that argue against this theory through harsh yet meaningful remarks.
Why did Americans view themselves in such grand and venerable terms? Were they more superior than other nations and countries? Well, in fact, this is exactly how they felt. There were essentially three explanations why Americans held themselves in this regard: the virtue of the American people and their institutions; the mission to spread these institutions, thereby redeeming and remaking the world in the image of the U.S.; and the destiny under
American exceptionalism is a term suggesting that America was the best or superior; it was a term saying that it was different than any other place. Winthrop talks about the city upon the hill, which suggests America being a model or setting an example for other countries. We were supposed to be a beacon of liberty and freedom. During the founding of America, America was different than any other place. At its founding America was exceptional because it was different in the way people interacted with each other, different in the way the government worked, and different in its aspirations.
Since the birth of America many cultures came to find freedom and opportunity to accomplish the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that anyone who comes to America possesses the opportunity to succeed based on their merit. Through this different cultures diffused what America came to be. The influences of immigrant cultures gave America the name the land of the free. Cultural diffusion, migration, immigration, and transnationalism is important in relation to global economy based on the fact that through these countries we are granted many ideas, styles, religions, technologies, and languages from these different cultures. America became a melting pot of various cultures bringing their individuality in a country of many customs. The struggle between culture and identity is conveyed through the writings of Richard Rodriquez and Armstrong Williams to break stereotypes and be proud of who you are. People need to identify with their own culture first before identifying with America because a key American value is individualism and maintaining one’s own culture. America is a melting pot of different cultures making it necessary to remember one’s own culture in the flood of ideas and traditions within America. Through maintaining culture they are simultaneously upholding American beliefs and identifying with America.
Before World War II, it became very clear that the US would play a new, and important leading role in the world. Henry Luce, author of The American Century, wrote about the new roles he anticipated the US to have. His essay calls the US to action in leading the rest of the world in our ways. About a year later on May 8th, 1942, Vice President Henry Wallace proposed similar ideas in a speech. He and Luce both saw the US as leading powers but disagreed on how the leading should be done. Wallace portrays the US in a friendlier manner. He calls the upcoming era the century of the common man while Luce calls it the American century. This topic is relevant today. How much involvement should leading countries have in developing ones and how should
During the 1890s and 1900s America was seen as a thriving country when in actuality it was rotten. Mark Twain gave this period a title, “the gilded age”. Other countries saw America as an industrialized nation and a world power. America was thought to be a country that had advanced into a desirable place that was booming with work opportunities and offered a better life. America was a booming country with work opportunities, but those opportunities were not ideal. Although other countries saw America as an excellent country, the people in other countries did not know the truth of America at its core.
To begin with, a sense of duty was instilled in many Americans from the day they could first watch and hear the flag ceremonies held throughout the nation. A deep history of revolutionary blood and a restless search for inner-peace with our nation governed the formation of these 50 peaceful states. The emergence of the US as a dominant global power forced new responsibilities upon us as we entered the 20th century. It was the age of imperialism and the US jumped in headfirst in expanding her “empire without tears”, as William Cohen stated, into all parts of the global economy. This intrusion of US economic welfare and constraint angered many but it also helped many third world nations to regain their confidence in both their identity and in their people as a whole. It was from this period which we entered the World Wars and proved to many that we could be the guiding force in the spread of Democracy. The post War era saw the birth of the Marshall plan and one of the biggest restoration projects in the history of the world began in Western Europe as the US tried to right the wrongs that WWII ingrained in so many peoples heads.