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American exceptionalism is the term given to the claim that the United States and the American people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from its unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom.
The phrase is thought to have originated by Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous book Democracy in America. Some interpret the term to indicate a moral superiority of Americans, while others use it to refer to the American concept as itself an exceptional ideal, which may or may not always be upheld by the actual people and government of the nation. Dissenters claim "American exceptionalism" is little more than crude propaganda, that in essence is a justification for a America-centered view of the world that is inherently chauvinistic and jingoistic in nature. Historians may use the term to simply refer to some case of American uniqueness without implying that an innate superior of Americans resulted in the development of that uniqueness.
Fundamental differences exist between exceptionalism as it was originally described in the 19th century, and how it is used today. Shifts in the both general concept and its common use can be seen in relation to the stages of American development; from colonial outpost to an established nation with institutional wealth and power. Perhaps the most telling landmarks for this change are the points where imposed practical and race-based limitations on immigration to America; signalling the country's change from the world symbol of welcoming and opportunity, to one of established power and protectionism.
As it is used today, American exceptionalism refers to claims that the earlier welcoming symbolism of America has a direct and inheritance to its current policies and ideologies, regardless of any conflicts and differences between past and present. This duality can also be seen in the difference between a government's policy and its culture, for example. Because the United States is relatively new, its culture has largely grown to conform to its government; exceptionalism is a perpetuation of this link in the form of both a state-academic assertion and the common nationalism. In societies where a culture is much older than its current government, this propaganda tends to be rejected.
In the wider historical view, American exceptionalism is the term for a popularized cultural mythos that delivers a benevolent explanation for why and how American society succeeded. It replaces the original phrase "Manifest Destiny" which was commonly employed at a time when it became apparent that the absolute destruction of the native American Indian was unstoppable. "Manifest Destiny" cast an esoteric righteousness over the reality of ethnic cleansing that was being enacted on the ground. In one way or another, "exceptionalism" (and ideas like it) attempt to assert either a "divine destiny" of American history (see US nationalism ) or are otherwise (for sake of discussion) simply focusing on subjective and ideological factors, while avoiding the material ones; particularly if they seem too obtrusive or general.
What began as the collective reflections of a number of 19th century academics and writers on American culture, grew into an cornerstone of the USA's internal self-image, its propaganda, and its collective social views. While more objective analysis for the apparent success of the United States have arisen, "exceptionalism" and its related views are often unburdened by facts and logical arguments, and are hence quite resonant among common Americans as the academic formulation of the collective American idealism . Proponents of an exceptionalism doctrine are less concerned with historical details, rather the continuity of a posivive social ideology (See positivism). Maintaining a positive, forward-looking ideology is considered by a number of influential thinkers as an important component of social doctrine and propaganda. In this light, exceptionalism can be viewed as the academic parallel to the common cultural mythos; the two very different syntaxes interface with a more abstract common language wherin Americans discuss issues their collective point of view. In the current age of global communications, doctrines of American exceptionalism are widely seen to be losing steam.
Exceptionalism attempts to assert a philosophical basis for why development occurred, in contrast to a number of theoretical opposites; some of which were not yet in existence during earlier stages of America's development, and thus not at all in question. For example, there was very little disagreement at all on the issue of private property as a fundamental right of (privileged) citizens. While public ownership ideas were raised, they were not taken seriously, hence the premise of "exceptionalism," as an alternative to later incarnations of socialism, rests on an assumption of a choice that did not in fact exist at the time. By claiming that "privatization" and "property rights" are largely due the credit, "exceptionalism" carries the implication that communist-style "socialization" and "public property" were actual material options debated within the new United States. "Democratic rule" (originally, for the privileged) simply meant a civil system by which the new American aristocracy could maintain order amongst themselves through their representatives. At the time, the issue was avoiding the problems inherent to feudalism.
The prime factor in American development from Native nation-feudalism to European-based culture and society was, in a nutshell land incentivization (material rewards for citizenship and service), of which newer incarnations continue; American consumer capitalism being largely geared toward the artificial creation of new materialThis article primarily focuses on the general concepts of matter and existence. For usage related to the prioritization of spending resources, see economic materialism. In one view, materialism expresses the view that the only thing that exists is matter; incentives. To avoid or take for granted all objective views makes "exceptionalism" less a term of substance as it is of academic fancy.
There are a number of events that one can point to which would contradict "exceptionalism," particularly the calamities and near-calamities of Wars, civil unrest, and political fracturization that exposed very dissenting views to the happy picture that "exceptionalism" attempts to describe. Aside from events, the exceptionalist view is contradicted by ideological exceptions and differences among its various claimed ideological components. The American Civil WarThe American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the northern states, popularly referred to as "the U. the Union," " the North," or "the Yankees"; and the seceding southern states, commonly referred to as "the Confederat represents a refutation of the "exceptionalism" explanation, both for the basic fact that it threatened to destroy the country, and its causes did not fall along the ideological lines that "exceptionalism" explains. In fact, the Civil War represented a division between two largely agreeing camps; the important difference being over the finite boundaries of federalism, to supersede national authority, and the question of slaverySlavery is involuntary servitude, enforced by violence or other, clear forms of coercion. It is sometimes regarded as an expectation associated with other relationships, such as marriage and/or other family relations, military service, or debt relationshi; the abolition of which would fundamentally alter the Southern economic system. Because federalism is simply the governmental philosophy of apportionment (land division), both sides were at least in complete agreement that land and its ownership should lean toward the private; without slaves, private land ownership in the South was thought to lose its "self-sustainability."