American Exceptionalism
The phrase “American Exceptionalism” gets thrown around a lot these days. For many people, it is a unsavory expression that denotes an air of American superiority, hubris, and as a rationalization to perpetrate violence. To be fair, lots of people have invoked exceptionalism to do some awful things. Still, I think it’s important to understand what it means from an 18th century perspective, when the founding generation embraced it and created the United States. From their perspective, American Exceptionalism includes three fundamental parts:
The United States, in the context of western monarchies and hereditary aristocracies, is unique - in that such institutions do not exist and in principle, a man’s merit determines his station.
With this in mind, America serves as a beacon for the world’s oppressed to come and enjoy liberty and opportunity
All of this, in a Messianic sense, is guided by Divine Providence
So in short: the US is different, it’s better, and it’s part of God’s plan. Okay so I think you can see fairly quickly that these principles fall short when one considers just how many people in the early United States shared in all of this. But on the other hand, maybe it’s the principles that are important as more and more people from marginalized groups latch on to them in an effort to secure their freedom and seize opportunities.
Also keep in mind, that during the antebellum period (before the Civil War) many in the United States had conflicting interpretations of exceptionalism, who had access to it, and where enslaved people fit into the equation. Believe it or not, some saw the institution of slavery as a guarantor of their liberty. Go figure.
Lots to discuss here so feel free to chime in.