American Rationalism Analysis

Lawson Traylor
Instructor Kevin Kerr
History 201-002
25 November 2012
Key Points on the Defense of American Exceptionalism
American Exceptionalism is the idea that America is founded on a creed. That creed is to spread liberty, freedom, and democracy to the rest of the world. G.K. Chesterton stated, “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.” The creed he mentions is stated in the Declaration of Independence. In the preamble, it is said that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In saying this, we affirm that everyone should be treated
The American people are also spreading the creed of liberty, freedom, and democracy. For example, the American government is not the only source of supplies for African refugees. The Red Cross is also a huge source of supplies for refugees. They accept donations to buy massive quantities of relief foods and other supplies to help people around the world. The Red Cross also provides relief for people affected by natural disasters. An example of this would be the tsunami that affected most of the countries on the Indian Ocean in 2004. Another one would be when the tsunami hit in Japan 2011 and caused the nuclear leaks along with the regular affects. In both of these cases American citizens sent support to the rest of the world through donations and direct volunteering for the Red Cross. Americans also go on many mission trips throughout the world. These people are usually on missions for churches to spread their religion with people in other countries. However, while they are over there, they also typically help improve the quality of life for the natives as much as they can. This involves building schools, washing them, and many other things like
Many people decided to come to the United States because they heard about how great it was. They would come on huge ships from Europe and be greeted by the Statue of Liberty when they arrived. If American Exceptionalism did not exist, then what reason did they immigrants have for taking the dangerous journey across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in a rickety ship? When the immigrants arrived, there were some cases where they were treated rudely, but for the most part, the immigrants were accepted into the society. Most people went into the society and mixed right in. This is the reason that America is called the “mixing pot of the