American Exceptionalism In The New World

2 Pages 586 Words

American’s as a whole would like to think that the United States is the greatest nation on the planet, and for the most part we do. It has been driven into our heads, seen on television and cheered at sporting events. Whether or not this assumption is true, it is easy understood that Americans have an egotistical mindset as a whole. This “mindset” is often referred to as American Exceptionalism and its roots can be drawn from as far away as Europe and chronologically dates back to our nation’s birth.
During the seventeenth century Europe was becoming a difficult and unattractive place to live for many of its inhabitants. Overcrowding of major cities, disease, and tyrannical rule allowed Europeans to dream of a better life, a life which would allow them to follow their religion and apply themselves for their own good and prosperity. Europe’s social order was the major concern for those looking to further themselves. Two groups usually formed Europe’s social order, this being the rich and poor. As the saying goes “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”, leaving false hopes for those born in to a poverty stricken community.
The law of the land was actually the law of the church leaving no separation between church and state, or government. Although this may sound quite confining for today’s citizens it was the norm not only in Europe but all over the world. As is human nature many non conformists were looking for something better, a place where they could attain a pure civilization removed from corruption and deception. A community where people were treated equally, could practice any religion, and further themselves with hard work and dedication. A new form of government was also a major concern to deserters of Europe. They no longer wanted a single monarch to control all aspects of their day to day lives. The idea of democratic rule had been brought forward by Montesquie, and was gaining popularity and under...