American exceptionalism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Progress of America, 1875, by Domenico Tojetti
Progress of America, 1875, by Domenico Tojetti

American exceptionalism (cf. "exceptionalism") refers to 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.

Certain persons view American exceptionalism as a product of veiled nationalistic chauvinism. The term can also be used in a negative sense by critics of American policies to refer to a willful nationalistic ignorance of faults committed by the American government.[1]

Contents

[edit] Overview

Dorothy Ross, in Origins of American Social Science (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 "city 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.[2] American exceptionalism is close to the idea of Manifest Destiny[3], a term used by Jacksonian Democrats in the 1840s to promote the purchase of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory, the Texas Annexation, the Gadsden Purchase, and the Mexican Cession). The concept of "manifest destiny" was later used in the 1890s by Republicans as a theoretical justification for the Spanish-American War and the short-lived phenomenon of classical colonial imperialism (quite limited in time and scope compared to that of, say, the United Kingdom, France, Japan or practically any other colonial power)[4] during a period from around 1898 to 1913 in the U.S. expansion outside of North America.

The basis most commonly cited for American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and its people differ from (note: "differ from", not "are superior to") most other nations as an association of people who came from numerous places throughout the world but who hold a common bond in belief in certain values, like democracy, the rule of law, civil liberty, the common good, fair play, human rights, private property, and Constitutional government; and that through these values America diverged from the rest of the world during its early years.[citation needed]. It is used by United States citizens to indicate that America and Americans have different states of mind, different surroundings, and different political cultures than other nations. Others use it to refer to the American dream and the slow yet continuous journey of the people of the United States, sharing a nation and a destiny, to build a more perfect union, to live up to the dreams, hopes, and ideals of its founders. Of course, America as it is does not reflect the fulfillment of these ideals in whole, but most Americans throughout history have viewed these as goals to work for, to live for, and to fight for. 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.

Persons who choose to use the term "American exceptionalism" as a pejorative often imply that it is equivalent to ethnocentrism and propaganda.[5] [6] 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.

However, it is also claimed that this view of American exceptionalism as veiled nationalistic chauvinism is markedly incorrect: American exceptionalism, as a phenomenon, means difference from other nations, not superiority over them. One example of the nature of this exceptionalism (as in difference) is that all of the nations mentioned in the previous example were societies based on an exclusive ethnic group, or an exclusive ethnic group as first-class citizens within those societies: the Romans, in the case of Ancient Rome; the British, in the case of the British Empire; Israelis, in the case of Israel, "Aryans" in the case of the Nazi entity; etc. Compared to these states, the United States is fundamentally different; it may be British in origin[7], but is not very British today, aside from the more (or less) shared language, and certain shared, ancient, traditional customs and structures. Today the U.S. is a amalgamated pluricentric multiethnic polity, consisting of citizens of many ethnicities: Native American, British, African, Scottish, Welsh, French, German, Irish, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Arabic, Russian, Balkan, Latin, South American, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australasian, Indian--in essence, a sample of all mankind, who are proud to call themselves Americans, and share a common citizenship and a land. This kind of exceptionalism as difference extends even beyond the synthesis of ethnicities that America represents: it also speaks to a shared experience. Unlike the empires of the past, it can be said Americans do not believe they are the "Chosen People"; they believe that they are a people who chose. When famine, oppression, warfare, religious persecution, tyranny, or stagnation threatened their old country, unlike those who remained behind, they chose to not be the passive victims of history, they chose to get on a boat or a plane, they chose to seek a new life in a new land. Whether that is exceptional, in terms of difference, or exceptional, in other ways, is a matter for history and the reader to determine.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

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.

[edit] 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 were closely tied to republicanism, the belief that sovereignty belonged to the people, not to a hereditary ruling class.

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.

[edit] 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 unusually high, and that the United States possesses a high degree of social mobility. Since its founding, immigrants such as Andrew Carnegie and Carl Schurz have risen to the top layers of the economic and political system. The "American Dream" describes the perceived abundance of opportunities in the American system. Second, unlike many old world countries, immigrants can become Americans by adopting American culture and values.

Critics point out that America is now hardly unique in its appeal to immigrants, and that many countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand are at least as popular and welcoming to immigrants.[8][9]

[edit] Cold War

American exceptionalism during the Cold War was often cast by the mass media as the American Way of Life personifying "liberty"[citation needed] 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 an 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.

[edit] Aspects of arguments

[edit] 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.

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 Proponents of the theory of American exceptionalism argue that this system and the accompanying distrust of concentrated power prevent the United States from suffering a "tyranny of the majority", are preservative a free republican democrat, 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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:

  • 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. This aspiration is commonly called living the American dream. 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 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[10].

[edit] 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, with a limit on ecclesiastical powers. 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 but was much more bloody.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Frel, Jan (2006-07-10). "Could Bush Be Prosecuted for War Crimes?". AlterNet. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  2. ^ Foreword: on American Exceptionalism; Symposium on Treaties, Enforcement, and U.S. Sovereignty, Stanford Law Review, May 1, 2003, Pg. 1479
  3. ^ Feb 15, 2007, NYT Manifest Desitiny: A New Directionhttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/19879]
  4. ^ This arguably aberrational (and certainly colonialist) behavior by the United States involved the occupation of former Spanish colonies, such as the Philippines, as well as Puerto Rico, in addition to the establishment of a protectorate over Cuba, and an imperial adventure in Panama. Puerto Rico and the Philippines were granted self-government in 1927. The Philippines became fully independent in 1946, following the Second World War. Puerto Rico received nearly complete home rule in 1948; in addition, its people have voted in numerous referenda on options for their status, including the options of independence from the United States, statehood in the United States (as a sovereign and equal State thereof), as well as to remain freely associated with the United States; thus far, all votes have been in favor remaining freely-associated with the United States. This has normalized Puerto Rico's status from colony to self-governing area. The removal of the Cuban protectorate took place in phases stretching from the mid-1930s until the U.S.-supported overthrow of the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro, who was believed to be a democrat, but subsequently made Cuba a protectorate of another major power from 1959 to the end of the Cold War. Decolonization of the Panama Canal took place over a period of some 30 years, ending in 2000 with the return of the American-built canal to the Panamanians.
  5. ^ Jacobs, Ron (2004-07-21). "American Exceptionalism: A Disease of Conceit", Counterpunch. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  6. ^ Howard Zinn, The Myth of American Exceptionalism, <http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/258/>. Retrieved on 21 October 2007 
  7. ^ Britain was the original sponsor of the American colonies who became the United States. From the British, the U.S. inherited a shared language, traditions of civil liberty and democracy, along with the structure of the common law, whose importance cannot be overstated, being a superior foundation on which to build a democracy compared to the Continental civil legal system. Though, in the beginning, the United States was a British colony, there was a public falling-out between the motherland and her American colonies, leading to the termination of the colonial relationship, a termination that took place with extreme prejudice. But over the years since the independence of the United States, both nations have discovered that they get along well together, in peace and in war, and have developed a special relationship, of friendship, cooperation, and alliance on a level that few nations share with other.
  8. ^ "Migration to European Countries. A Structural Explanation of Patterns, 1980-2004". Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  9. ^ "New citizenships (per capita) (most recent) by country". Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
  10. ^ "As rich-poor gap widens in US, class mobility stalls", Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved on 2007-10-22. 

[edit] 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. "The First New Nation." Basic Books, 1955.
  • 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. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism"
Personal tools