Americans and foreigners may have contrasting interpretations of what is American
exceptionalism. Some may believe it is contemptuous to believe one’s country is superior over
the other and view them as arrogant jingoists. Others may believe it is about pride in one’s
country and believe there is no other country superior to their own. The word exceptionalism
often gets misconstrued, leading to some of these subjective opinions about what American
exceptionalism is. Understanding the true meaning of American exceptionalism, allows an
individual to reach past the surface where subjective views are based, and realize there are
historical facts that make up American exceptionalism (Murray 2013, 6). The authors of this
week’s readings explain the breakdown of the meaning behind American exceptionalism. It is
imperative to decipher the true meaning of American exceptionalism between the subjective
views of American exceptionalism. Basing American exceptionalism on historical facts rather
than emotions, will open the mind to a better understanding on what made the creation of
America truly exceptional.
America is the only society in history to say power comes from God, to the individual
personally, making the individual personally sovereign (Gingrich 2018). In this example, the
term exceptional is meant to be the only one, at that time no other nation was like America. As
human beings, we have certain unalienable rights otherwise known as God-given rights. No
individual or government can take those rights away, because they are from God. It was this
belief that the Founding Fathers formed an exceptional nation. America was formed into a nation
in a way that no other nation had been formed. No other nation had embraced unalienable rights
and human equality as its fundamental organizing principle (Gingrich 2011, 18). America was
the only one, it was the exception.
Another core source to American exceptionalism is the rule of law and the system of
checks and balances the Founding Fathers artfully created (Cochrane 2017, 35). Due to the fall
of man, the Founding Fathers were aware of the temptations for overruling power and authority
one may take, potentially leading into tyranny. No one was free from sin and they were cognizant
of that. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and
so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, [ESV]). The founders also included
another exception in the foundation of America, freedom of religion. They observed something
new and different in America, the tolerance of all religions and denominations; these settlers
were not forced to adhere to a certain religion but had a choice in the matter (Metaxas 2016, 35).
The founders wanted to keep this unprecedented liberty in the foundation of America, they
recognized and believed true religion must be free religion for freedom to truly exist (Metaxas
2016, 35).
I do find the definition of American exceptionalism to be relevant based on my own
experience. I have not lived in another country, so I cannot say I have personally experienced any
constraints on the freedoms I have in America. I can only go by stories of first-hand accounts of
others who have experienced oppression in other countries due to various reasons such as
religion, gender, or race. To know America is the top country individuals immigrate to says a lot.
Many are seeking the freedoms America provides. For example, there are people overseas who
are persecuted and/or killed because they are Christians. There are individuals in certain areas of
the world who if they profess the love of Christ and believe He is their Savior, they are
persecuted and have a higher chance of being killed. To know I can freely profess my love for
Christ, practice my faith openly, attend a church of my own personal choice, and share the Good
News with others without severe limitations, is truly a luxury.
Bibliography
Cochrane, John H. “Make America Exceptional Again: The Rule of Law, the Centerpiece of
American Exceptionalism, is Under Assault. How to Halt the Predation of the Regulatory
State.” Hoover Digest: Research & Opinion on Public Policy, no. 2 (Spring 2017). 32-41,
accessed January 15, 2019,
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=9&sid=dc93124a-4ff0-4191-8136-fea9f751a5a0%40sessionmgr101
Gingrich, Newt. “What is American Exceptionalism?” Liberty University, May 15, 2018.
Gingrich, Newt, and Vince Haley. 2011. A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism
Matters. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Pub.
Metaxas, Eric. 2016. If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty. New
York: Viking Press.
Murray, Charles. 2013. American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History. Washington D.C.:
AEI Press.
Elizabeth, you have a great paper started here. Understanding what makes this country so great
certainly helps shed some light on why so many people come into America each year. This paper
is well organized. The introduction is clear and ends with a good thesis statement. The greatest
opportunity for this paper is to work to better prove the thesis statement throughout the body and
add a conclusion that neatly concludes the topic. One way to ensure that the thesis is well
supported throughout is to jot down a brief outline of what you have covered thus far. This will
help you see exactly how you supported your position. An outline will also allow you to more
clearly see what you have covered and where. You will likely see where you would like to add
some supporting material, move around some material, and possibly remove some material. I
have added some comments, suggestions, and resources that I hope are helpful. Finally, there are
a few resources that I recommend: the OWC Turabian Sample Paper (Author-Date Style), the
Turabian site, and the OWC General Turabian Formatting page. These are all great resources for
all Turabian formatting requirements, and I use them daily. The OWC Writing Aids page is also
a great resource that I use daily. I wish you all the best with this paper and all of your studies
this spring! – Mark.
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