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What is American exceptionalism? To many Americans, it’s the relative and historical greatness
of the United States of American as a global economic, military and cultural superpower. To
some Americans, it’s the epitome of hubris, an arrogance that disrespects other nations. To
foreigners, it’s a slogan which underscores America’s hegemony, its desire to impose its will on
the world.
In truth, while these may be the consequences of American exceptionalism, good or bad, they do
not, in fact, define American exceptionalism. Sociologist, historian and author Charles Murray,
in his monograph American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History, sets the record straight
on the origins and the meaning of American exceptionalism, making four points:
“American exceptionalism is a concept that was shared by observers throughout the
Western world, not just Americans.” In other words, commentators from other nations,
especially Europe, were the ones who took note of America as an exception in
governance and culture to what they had witnessed and experienced in other parts of the
globe. One of the most famous was Alexis de Tocqueville, the French nobleman who
wrote Democracy in America, a book that Dr. Harvey C. Mansfield of Harvard University
describes as "at once the best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever
written on America."
“American exceptionalism does not imply American excellence or superiority.” This is
perhaps the biggest misconception about the term, and it is where domestic and
international critics of America reside. While the word “exceptional” can mean
“unusually good; outstanding”, it also means “unusual; not typical”. Those early
observers of America took note of the fact that America was “not typical” of the nations
in existence at the time, and that was the basis for calling it exceptional. Alexis de
Tocqueville wrote, "The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it
may be believed that no other democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one."
This was the first known, and perhaps the best known, use of the word “exceptional” to
describe America.
“American exceptionalism is a fact of America’s past, not something that you can choose
whether to ‘believe in’ any more than you can choose whether to ‘believe in’ the battle of
Gettysburg.” That America is unique in its founding, political institutions and culture is
observable, measurable and verified by independent witnesses.
“American exceptionalism refers to qualities that were first observed in the opening
century of our history. Murray makes the observation that these qualities do not
necessarily apply today, and the question of whether or not they still apply, and why they
do or don’t, is critical to America’s future.
The influence of the Bible is apparent in the system of government designed for us by our
founders. At the center of American exceptionalism is the principle that our rights do not come
from man, but from God, our Creator. The belief that man is made in the image of God led our
founders to design a system of governance that acknowledged the people, not the state, as
sovereign. This stood in stark contrast to “the divine right of kings” prevalent in the European
nations from which they came.
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Their awareness of man as a fallen creature, however, is what moved them to create a system of
limited government with separation of powers, checks and balances, enumerated powers in the
Constitution, and the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights, which delegated to the states and the
people all powers not specified for the federal government in the Constitution, or forbidden to
the states. The dispersion of power so that no one institution could hold dominion over the
others, and so the people’s liberty was preserved, was an acknowledgement that “all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
James Madison, “the father of the Constitution”, wrote, “If men were angels, no government
would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on
government would be necessary.” One could say that the Book of Genesis, with its account of
man’s creation as the image-bearer of God and his fall into sin, was the philosophical foundation
of our political system, at least in its original design.
The founders also recognized that, for government to be good, the people must be virtuous.
Ultimately, the dispersion of power meant that the people, through responsible citizenship,
governed themselves and only loaned power to the state for the purpose of defending their rights
and liberties. If the people were lazy, corrupt or indifferent, then there was no oversight of the
state, and it could act as it pleases. John Adams wrote:
…[B]ecause we have no government, armed with power, capable of
contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice,
ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our
Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only
for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of
any other.
Murray notes that the early Americans were known for their industriousness, egalitarianism,
religiosity, and community life. These traits enabled the people to govern themselves through
their families, churches and communities. Prosperity, respect, virtue and charity grew from the
bottom up, and not only helped America to thrive, but kept the state in its proper place. As these
traits became increasingly less prevalent over time, the state moved in to fill the vacuum,
bringing us to the present day and the question, “Is America still exceptional?”
The answer to that question lies in civic engagement. We must accept our responsibilities to God,
to one another, and to our government as its primary agents of accountability. Tyranny gains a
foothold when the citizens are not involved, and if we, especially as Christians, don’t exhibit
responsible citizenship, then others who do not share our beliefs will fill the void, and history
will record that, however exceptional we may have been at the beginning, we eventually
succumbed just like all empires built by man.
We may not be of this world, and the times may even make us feel like we are outcasts, but as
the Lord told the people of Israel, even as they were sent into exile in Babylon, we have an
obligation to be good citizens and influence the nation in which He has placed us:
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