Exceptionalism In The United States

For most Americans over the majority of the Nations existence has held the United States of America to a high standard. Americans expect the government to do a vast number of jobs that benefit the individual. With such high standards over the past 241 years the United State of America has progressed at attaining the goals of the general public, or atleast it seems that way. Globally, the United States of America has the strongest economy, 3rd wealthiest gdp per capita and the strongest most advance military to date. To those whom live here and foreigners looking at the United States of America there is a strong presence of global domination that the United States gives off which has not always historically been there. However, many Americans
whether it be a young man in the colonial era to a business woman in modern America have a strong sense of pride in their nation. This pride has only increased as America began entering the world stage arguably in world war one and becoming the worlds leading superpower as the dust settled after world war two. This pride and the facts to back this ego Americans developed helped institutionalize the concept of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism the belief that the United States of America is unique amongst other nations due to its ideals based around personal freedom and democracy.
It can also go even further with traditional American exceptionalism stating that the United States of America is closer to perfection than any other country and is uniquely superior due to its role on the global stage. This term has had many debated origins while some say it was coined during the age of our founding fathers, some see it from a translation in Joseph Stalin’s messages to members of the Socialist party in America during the nineteen twenties. Some claim it took off in the early eighteen hndred when America was rapidly growing, especially after President Thomas Jefferson bough the Louisiana purchase ad the rise of westward
expansion. Westward expansion is probably one of the largest areas where American exceptionalism boomed. The quintessence of westward expansion and the rise in American exceptionalism is wrapped into the idea called “Manifest Destiny”. The belief that the (European) American people had the right to control all the land from “sea to shining sea”. Not only politically motivated, it was highly religious too where “Americans are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world” (Herman Melville). This analogy to the Jewish peoples God given right to Israel is very strong. Saying that it is Americans God given right to control and dominate the Western Hemisphere is extremely motivating. We can see this in legal documents such as the Monroe doctrine (1823) that states that any external intervention in the Western Hemisphere is a hostile act towards the United States of America. Fast forward 23 years from that document, America in eighteen forty six fighting the newly formed Mexican government and claims victory to the United States of America’s southwest. There also was plans to conquer Mexico but were dropped for many reasons. This may seem like the only case but American exceptionalism is very intertwined with our global status.
Take for instance Manuel Noreiga, a drug trafficker whom worked for the CIA and became president of Panama. The American-Panamanian conflict of George Bush sr. administration was an attempt to capture panamas sitting president, bring him to American courts and hold a trial. The only reason it failed was because Noreiga died in a supposed plane “crash” before U.S forces could capture him. This totally destroys the idea of national sovereignty and is a common occurrence in the early two thousands with Latin America drug smugglers whom are deemed a threat to America. Instead of waiting for Latin American governments to capture drug lords and turn them over to the United States, America skips the involvement of these Latin American governments. This exerts power and superiority that so far has been uncontested on the world
stage. American exceptionalism has been and always will be in politics and America’s foreign relations. It is not case by case but fundamental to our nature because of the pride and muscle to back it up. Some argue that American exceptionalism goes to far or should not be a thing. Personally I believe American exceptionalism should be a huge part of our foreign diplomacy. Of course there should be give and take but the concerns of the American people should be paramount to the American government. That is just common sense in my opinion. If our policies are not based in this we can loose our cultural identity as Americans. With a short history it still managed to produce the longest standing social contract to ensure personal freedoms and liberties. No country is perfect but no other country has as much power economically, militarily and socially on the global stage as the United States of America. We became this way because of American exceptionalism. To abandon it as our policy means we slip on the global stage. This does not just tarnish the reputation of our government but it can severly hurt our people. It will cause less faith in our nation. It will damage our economy and leave Americans wondering why their country has abandoned them. With this mentality we are even more diveded, confused and out of touch from what our founders intended. To remind ourselves that “yes, We are Americans” develops stregth and unity that should be reflective of our foreign policies to remain well seated in our position of power. This power balance is key because the concerns of our people are of utmost importance. If we foreign policy loses this ideology then we are no longer a government for the American people, we would just be another global entity domesticated by global elites. Our Constitution protects us from our own government and domestic threats. There is no reason for us not to protect ourselves from other nation’s governments trying to assume more power than us.