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                 Introduction

               French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, was the first person to refer to America as exceptional and while he may not have defined ‘exceptional’ as good or bad. His theory has morphed so that American exceptionalism is now synonymous with uniqueness, freedom, democracy and personal liberty that need not conform to normal rules and general principles.[1] To examine this phenomenon, one must analyze the facets that presumably make America exceptional.

                                                           History

               Americanism decries that the nation is founded on ideology rather than history but the place of George Washington in the culture shows that history is as important as ideology. McClay is of the opinion that there is no document of civilization that is not at the same time a document of barbarism and that holds true for the American constitution and proclamation of emancipation.[2] The constitution was created in 1787, after America achieved independence and almost thereafter, the Americans ventured to the western frontier in a bid to expand their boundaries thus igniting the American-Indian wars. The history of the United States is riddled with wars upon wars which makes it no different from most other nations.

                                                          Ideology

              The American ideology can be described in five words: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire.[3] The state of the nation at founding was different in comparison to present days and the scope of ideology during that time was narrower but that scope has, widened so much that Lipset now believes that ideological issues dividing left and right have been reduced to a ‘little less government ownership and economic planning’ and that it really makes little difference which political party controls domestic policies of individual nations.[4] He cites this as a result of resolution of many issues prevalent at the time of the revolution. Questions regarding limits to liberty and other ideologies have arisen because of the contradictory sentiments surrounding the issues. Most of these ideologies are governed by culture, religion and other such factors which are subject to change with the passage of time therefore there is constant need to redefine them.[5] The U.S is a developing, developed nation not so far removed from the other developing nations is what opponents of exceptionalism would say about it.

Bibliography

Lipset, Seymour Martin. “American Exceptionalism: A Double Edge Sword.” The Washington Post. Last modified 1996. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/americanexceptionalism.htm.

McClay, Wilfred M. “The Founding of Nations.” First Things. Last modified March 2006. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/03/the-founding-of-nations.

Zinn, Howard. “The Power and the Glory.” Boston Review, June 1, 2005. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://bostonreview.net/zinn-power-glory.

[1] Howard Zinn, “The Power and the Glory,” Boston Review, June 1, 2005, accessed November 24, 2015, http://bostonreview.net/zinn-power-glory.

[2] Wilfred M McClay, “The Founding of Nations,” First Things, last modified March 2006, accessed November 24, 2015, http://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/03/the-founding-of-nations.

[3] Seymour Martin Lipset, “American Exceptionalism: A Double Edge Sword,” The Washington Post, last modified 1996, accessed November 24, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/americanexceptionalism.htm.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Zinn, “The Power and the Glory.”