American exceptionalism

American exceptionalism is one of three related ideas. The first is that the history of the United States is inherently different from those of other nations. In this view, American exceptionalism stems from its emergence from the American Revolution, thereby becoming what political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset called 'the first new nation' and developing a uniquely American ideology, 'Americanism', based on liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, republicanism, democracy and laissez-faire economics. This ideology itself is often referred to as 'American exceptionalism.' Second is the idea that the US has a unique mission to transform the world. As Abraham Lincoln stated in the Gettysburg address (1863), Americans have a duty to ensure, 'government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.' Third is the sense that the United States' history and mission give it a superiority over other nations. The theory of the exceptionalism of the U.S. has developed over time and can be traced to many sources. French political scientist and historian Alexis de Tocqueville was the first writer to describe the country as 'exceptional' in 1831 and 1840. The actual phrase 'American exceptionalism' was originally coined by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin as a critique of a revisionist faction of American communists who argued that the American political climate was unique, making it an 'exception' to certain elements of Marxist theory. U.S. president Ronald Reagan is often credited with having crystallized this ideology in recent decades. Political scientist Eldon Eisenach argues in the twenty-first century American exceptionalism has come under attack from the postmodern left as a reactionary myth: 'The absence of a shared purposes ratified in the larger sphere of liberal-progressive public policy....beginning with the assumption of American exceptionalism as a reactionary myth.' The exact term 'American exceptionalism' was occasionally used in the 19th century. In his The Yale Book of Quotations, Fred Shapiro notes 'exceptionalism' was used to refer to the United States and its self-image by The Times of London on August 20, 1861. Its common use dates from Communist usage in the late 1920s. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin chastised members of the Jay Lovestone-led faction of the American Communist Party for its claim the U.S. was independent of the Marxist laws of history 'thanks to its natural resources, industrial capacity, and absence of rigid class distinctions'. Stalin may have been told of the usage 'American exceptionalism' by Broder & Zack in Daily Worker (N.Y.) on January 29, 1929, before Lovestone's visit to Moscow. American Communists started using the English term 'American exceptionalism' in factional fights. It then moved into general use among intellectuals.In 1989, Scottish political scientist Richard Rose noted most American historians endorse exceptionalism. He suggests these historians reason as follows: However, postnationalist scholars have rejected American exceptionalism, arguing the U.S. did not break from European history, and accordingly, the U.S. has retained class-based and race-based differences, as well as imperialism and willingness to wage war.