Since the founding of the United States, “American Exceptionalism” has served as a guiding principle for individuals seeking to lead this country. Second only to an Anglo belief in god, a solid―if often tenuous―insistence in our benevolent and altruistic superiority over all other countries and cultures seems compulsory for the high office. But what is so exceptional about America and why is it such a fundamental underpinning of the American ethos and its political fabric?
“In its classic forms, American exceptionalism refers to the special character of the United States as a uniquely free nation based on democratic ideals and personal liberty,” defines historian Ian Tyrrell. “Exceptionalism” then must entail being both exceptional and unique, …show more content…
The British philosopher John Locke articulated this premises in his Second Treatise of Government, “that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” Firstly, Locke believed as a fact, that there are no inherent inequalities of human worth, and that thinking and feeling occur individually. Secondly, from the biological premises of equality and independence, “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it.” Heavily influenced by Locke, the founders of the United States Constitution inscribed the acknowledgement and recognition of such preexisting and natural law and rights into the Constitution with the 9th …show more content…
The constitutions of other countries do in fact proclaim a bill of rights. However, the American exception is not in the particular declaration of rights, but rather the recognition that such natural rights are not established or granted by the constitution, that rights existed prior to the establishment of the constitution, and are recognized by the constitution, thereby making them effectively constitutional rights. A recognition of human rights implies that as well, but American exceptionalism I believe could only be rejected if another country’s constitution had similar wording to that of the 9th Amendment. It is not enough to recognize that there are moral or human rights; they need to be recognized as natural rights, derived from natural law and not the
“In its classic forms, American exceptionalism refers to the special character of the United States as a uniquely free nation based on democratic ideals and personal liberty,” defines historian Ian Tyrrell. “Exceptionalism” then must entail being both exceptional and unique, …show more content…
The British philosopher John Locke articulated this premises in his Second Treatise of Government, “that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” Firstly, Locke believed as a fact, that there are no inherent inequalities of human worth, and that thinking and feeling occur individually. Secondly, from the biological premises of equality and independence, “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it.” Heavily influenced by Locke, the founders of the United States Constitution inscribed the acknowledgement and recognition of such preexisting and natural law and rights into the Constitution with the 9th …show more content…
The constitutions of other countries do in fact proclaim a bill of rights. However, the American exception is not in the particular declaration of rights, but rather the recognition that such natural rights are not established or granted by the constitution, that rights existed prior to the establishment of the constitution, and are recognized by the constitution, thereby making them effectively constitutional rights. A recognition of human rights implies that as well, but American exceptionalism I believe could only be rejected if another country’s constitution had similar wording to that of the 9th Amendment. It is not enough to recognize that there are moral or human rights; they need to be recognized as natural rights, derived from natural law and not the