The Evolution of American Exceptionalism

The meaning of American exceptionalism has evolved, but the era of American exceptionalism as a providential mission is drawing to a close.

The meaning of American exceptionalism has evolved from the two definitions of “unique” and “special” to include an appointed mission and has been used to justify action and consolidate people around ideas. The U.S. went from identifying itself as an exemplar nation for the world to emulate, to creating an interventionist mission of exceptionalism. Today “American exceptionalism” is a term of polarization that divides the right and the left in America.

Alexis de Tocqueville toured America in 1831, and wrote of the uniqueness of American in relation to other nations to differentiate what was American from what was democratic. He believed it was America’s Calvinist piety, commercial focus, and availability of free land in the West – not its democracy – that had caused Americans to neglect the pursuit of science, literature, and the arts. He meant that other countries could operate on democratic principles without giving up more learned and refined culture.

In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan combined American nationalism and messianic mission in the idea of Manifest Destiny to justify the annexation of Texas. He spoke of America as a nation in defense of humanity, of the oppressed, of all nations, of the rights of conscience. Universal freedom and equality became justification for disenfranchising former Mexican citizens and displacing Native American tribes. Manifest Destiny was used throughout the second half of the 19th century as justification for expansion to California, and the acquisition of territory in the Caribbean and the occupation of The Philippines. Europe’s reform movements o...

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...t and made a whole new start formed around the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence. The Puritan mission was to be the beacon the world would see as a Godly society – their mission to bring American exceptionalism to the whole world. When the sacred duty transformed into republican government as the root of American exceptionalism, the mission to bring it to the world continued. Instead of the “dollar diplomacy” and “gunboat diplomacy” that have come to epitomize American exceptionalism, a new diplomatic doctrine of cooperation with other nations will better achieve a peaceful and prosperous world, and better achieve national goals. The foundational notion of equality is the true basis for American exceptionalism, and in the next era, America can become the embodiment of our founding ideals again with dedication to making equality a reality.