American exceptionalism meant that men were to be free of prosecution, tyranny, and have freedom of religion.
I would like you to respond to two discussion posts by giving your opinion on it and also using 1 quote for each of the discussion posts from specific articles you also must cite the quote and explain the background of it.
DISCUSSION POST 1:
American exceptionalism meant that men were to be free of prosecution, tyranny, and have freedom of religion. This news spread through out the world, as the new nation was being born. While governments were being formed, especially in Washington. Thomas Paine said, “Whenever I hear the words freedom or rights, I desire to be understood to mean a perfect equality of them.”(1) After the Revolutionary War, the ideal of the new nations was to establish a utopia where each person may live their lives as they best see fit, without any imposition of a King or Emperor. Coming out of the Enlightenment Age, the early politicians looked to the Greeks for their Republican democratic society.
During this time, early 18th century, democracy had three different meanings, the first meaning was from Aristotle, “in which the entire people governed directly.” (2) the second meaning, “in which democracy was the condition of primitive society, which was not appropriate for the complex modern world.” (3) and the third meaning which was “the structure of government than the principle that government should serve the interest of the people rather than an elite.” (4)
This meant, that the colonist, the uneducated, free man could strive to be part of the new governmental process. This is why the United States (America) was destined to be something great, something that all persons, no matter their race, color, sexual orientation could be free. They could be free to practice their religion they way they wished it. They could be free to vote. “Overall, the Revolution, led to a great expansion of the right to vote. By the 1780s with the exceptions of Virginia, Maryland and New York, a large majority of the adult white male population could meet voting requirements.” (5) This gave people hope.
The white man could be free to own land. They could be free to run for office. They could be free to be themselves. This would be why so many people came from around the world to America. This vision is what made America so special.
DISCUSSION POST 2:
Forged from the improbable success of the Revolutionary war, many Americans exhibited a set of beliefs imbued with strong confidence in the inevitability of American supremacy. This new nationalism posited America as a force operating under the divine supervision of God: where its borders would expand from sea to sea. During the post-war period, these beliefs brought interest in the new nation’s unique destiny. I argue that this new kind of nationalism can best be understood in two ways: how it impacted Americans’ view of the inevitability of their country, and how it increased their desires for more rights. Illustrating this latter point, as one letter states, “the struggle for American liberty emboldened other colonists to demand more liberty for themselves” (1). This shows that the Revolutionary war increased the desires of certain individuals to obtain more rights. American’s viewed their government as unique, and destined for success, and these ideas of exceptionalism also influenced their political desires. The state was exceptional, why would its structure (and the rights this structure bestows) be equally exceptional? Further revealing this point, one scholar notes that the “long-accepted relations of dependency and restrictions on freedom suddenly appeared illegitimate—a process not intended by most of the leading patriots. In political, social, and religious life, Americans challenged the previous domination by a privileged few” (2). Coupled with this new found demand for political rights, Americans also began to view America as an inevitable force during this time. Most likely stemming from the unlikely success of America in the Revolutionary war, many Americans developed a belief that their country must, in some way, be destined for glory (for how else could they have overcome the power of Britain). These beliefs were evident in the bourgoing idea of manifest destiny: that America would spread from the Atlantic all the way to the Pacific. America’s expansion was viewed as inspired by God himself– with American’s spreading their exceptional governance to other groups. American exceptionalism manifested itself in the beliefs that the government was both inevitable and prepossessed God’s blessing, and that the citizens of this nation should be endowed with more political freedoms.
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