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American Industriousness
Eric Chacon
Liberty University Online
GOVT- 320 American Exceptionalism
Professor Ron Miller
July 1st, 2021
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Abstract
The topic I chose to write about in my research paper is about American industriousness
and how it paved the road to American exceptionalism. I chose this trait because for a couple of
reasons. First, growing up, I always saw my parents working hard and they always told me that
work ethics were the most important thing in a job regardless of what the job was. Second, the
reason I chose this trait is because Americans are starting to lose that trait that had always made
us exceptional. However, there’s still a lot of jobs that still happen in American but sadly we do
not celebrate them as we did. As a nation with high technology, we have created a culture in
where instead we celebrate famous people, influencers and youtubers. We have shifted from
celebrating hard working jobs, to thinking that the working class are lesser than human being for
not having a known name.
Also, doing research I found an article in where they compared Europeans to Americans, and
how American’s live to work and Europeans work to live. Also, how Republican politicians have
always said that in order to maintain American exceptionalism we have to make sure that the
United States stays a powerful country across the globe. I will be defining the term of American
Exceptionalism and the origins an industriousness society in where work ethics have always
been part of the American culture since its independence from Britain.
Defining Terms
In the Merriam-Webster dictionary Noah Webster describes American as, “Of or relating to
America”. He also describes exceptionalism as, “The condition of being different form the
norm”. In plain words Noah Webster is describing both words, but when we combined both
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words, American Exceptionalism it is simply referring that America exceptionalism is a unique
term. Although, I will be discussing the term industriousness and according to the Merriam-
Webster dictionary the meaning of the word is, “Constantly, regularly or habitually active or
occupied”. In simple words the dictionary is saying that the meaning of industriousness can be a
characteristic or habitual devotion to work.
Spirit of Industriousness
Such devotion of work ethics in America has created a country that is exceptional. For
example, in the article Europeans work to live and Americans live to work. The author Adam
Okulics describes both cultures and goes into detail in how in Europe the government has
stepped in and have shorten the hours, days, and added holidays in order to have a happy society.
In America, however Americans pride themselves with work ethics, and the author basically says
that American live to work, as we would much rather cut time with family and work late and
long days. Even through troubling times such as 9/11 and the financial crisis of 2002, the
American people still worked hard and according to Amy McCortney in her article Revisiting the
Work Ethics in America she explains that productivity of Americans instead of decreasing it
increased. The freedoms we have now in the 21st century we can enjoy those to the early colonist
as well as the spirit of industriousness.
What makes industriousness different is that any other virtue is that with this virtue it is a
necessity to keep innovating. John Adams one of the founding fathers understood the importance
of industriousness and how it would be a great danger if we ever lost such spirit, “We must be a
virtuous people for self-government to succeed”. The virtue of industriousness is the idea that
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any problems we faced can be fixed through hard work and the innovation of a free society. If we
ever lose sight of this virtue and let government decided for us, then we will be in deep trouble as
such virtue only comes from innovation from citizens and if people rely too much on
government programs such as welfare it would be a declined of industriousness.
Early Examples
Edwin Drake was one of the first entrepreneurs in the young America age. His story is not
much talked about, he is one the first ones to start in the energy industry. The world used to run
on whale oil for purposes to light their houses and heating them, in the 1850s, Drake had a
conversation with a couple of wealthy men in where they came with an idea and called it rock oil
that had just recently been found in the state of Pennsylvania. The story if Edwin Drake can be
drawn to be one the first in the virtue of industriousness in the America.
There are plenty of other cases such tobacco industries, the steamboat, and early
psychological studies. Such examples are virtue by industriousness, as government does not
dictate how the American people should live as a free country there will always be innovations.
From early examples to being the first country to flight, to creating Ford and other big
technological has brought us to a modern American society and if it wouldn’t had been because
of industriousness and the work ethics of Americans we would not have what we have today.
Another example of American industriousness would be Noah Webster. It was during the
early beginnings of America where the country wanted to separate their English from the British
English. The grammar and vocabulary of the American English would change when Noah
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Webster took his dictionary out, the difference he made with such popularity it would give
America literature credibility and become the first writer to the first newspaper in New York.
Criticism to American Exceptionalism
Godfrey Hodgson has been one of the few to critized the virtue of American Exceptionalism
and its industriousness. Hodgson argues that the United States has not created an exceptionalism
system but rather the government has created a system for itself in where they explode the
citizens. In plain words, since the United States was a new country with so much land,
immigrants would have to come from European countries to start their fortune and create a
system that would work for them. The expansion of the western hemisphere was only able to
happen because of Europe. Hodgson argues that the transcontinental railroads were mostly paid
by the British and European capital. The attribution of American Exceptionalism was only due to
the many wars that happened in Europe that left them devastated, therefore since the United
States was a new country, they were able to catch up to those European countries.
Doing further research, modern Americans can see the elements that the European
immigrants were building on American industriousness. Many of them had left their fortunes and
land back in Europe and had to start all over in America but they were able to catch up and
rebuild their fortunes here. Toqueville in 1840 said that even though there were fortunes being
created in the new America, the capital of those fortunes was small and still scarce. With such
environment land and agricultural stuff were cheap. Such low prices led to the growth of the
economy in the United States and farmers were now able to start exporting and selling good to
Europe. Even during the American civil war, America’s best exports were all agricultural goods.
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Such innovation led to American industriousness because even in hard times American’s
invectives and innovators led to its own people to sell and buy when the rest of the world still
depended heavily in Europe’s money.
Industriousness Today
In the recent past years, the work ethics of America’s has seen a declined. Many attributions
have to do government incentives such as welfare programs, housing and other programs that
enable people to not work but rather live off the government. Although medicine has improved,
meaning people can be healthier, the have somehow fool the American government into
believing they can’t work therefore receiving incentives from the government. In the 60’s the
number of Americans receiving disability was very low, compared to 2010 it had grown
tremendously. Since government had grown so much so had the programs to keep people from
working.
Conclusion
Industriousness has played a big role in the creation of American Exceptionalism. From
immigrating to a new land, meeting people from different countries and cultures has unified
those people and have been able to create an industrious America. From those American
traditions that make us different from European countries, and our dedication to wanting to better
ourselves and a culture in where the world knows Americans are hardworking people that has
been thankfully to those first immigrants from Europe that decided to pass their work ethics
down to some modern American. Even from those Europeans that fled Europe and had to leave
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all their stuff behind to start all over. This the best explanation for American Industriousness and
how it was born. Even though big government is intruding in today’s Americans and such virtue
that was passed down to us is being left out some of us still have those work ethics.
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Citation
Murray, Charles. American Exceptionalism: An American Experiment in History. Lanham:
Rowman &Littlefield Publishing, 2011.
Okulicz-Kozaryn, Adam. "Europeans Work to Live and Americans Live to Work (Who is
Happy to Work More: Americans or Europeans?)." Journal of Happiness Studies, 225-
243: 2011.
Rodgers, Daniel T. The Work Ethic in Industrial America: 1850-1920. Seconded.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.
Rubin, Leslie G. America, Aristotle, and the Politics of a Middle Class. Waco, TX:
Baylor University Press, 2018.
Zabel, Keith L., Benjamin B. J. Biermeier-Hanson, Boris B. Baltes, Becky J. Early, and
Agnieszka Shepard. “Generational Differences in Work Ethic: Fact or Fiction?” Journal
of Business and Psychology.
Gingrich, Newt. A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters. Washington
DC: Regnery Publishing, 2011
McCortney, Amy L., and Dennis W. Engels. “Revisiting the Work Ethic in America.” The Career
Development Quarterly 52, no. 2 (2003): 132–40.
Alesina, Alberto, Edward Glaeser, and Bruce Sacerdote. "Why do Americans Work So
Hard: Work and Leisure in the USA." Public Policy Research, Harvard University, 2005:
148-158.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merrian-webster.com
