American Exceptionalism

American Exceptionalism “America is different. It is the only peaceful multi-racial civilization in the world”. - Theodore White (1976)

Elements that contributed to the idea of exceptionalism • Religious dissent • The “new world” image (fresh beginnings) • Political fragmentation (as colonies of various origins) • The ideal of freedom • The resources of a continental empire

Religious Exceptionalism “when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when God shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: the Lord make it like that of New England: for we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us” John Winthrop on the establishment of Massachusetts colony Many Protestant groups saw the “new world” as a refuge from the “sins of Europe” and as a fresh beginning.

Thirteen colonies In the 1760s, many colonists resented British government decisions to prohibit further movement west – into the “Indian Reserve.” And many Protestants resented the Quebec Act, which guaranteed French Catholics in Canada their “liberty” of worship/

Post-revolution growth of institutions • After 1783, the year of American independence, movements for “modernizing” developed. Partly this was the result of an urge to discard some of the British customs in favor of “American” solutions. • Other factors for change included the rise of a belief in “environmental” change – 200 years of altering the landscape of a continent made Americans confident that behavior could be changed by changing the setting in which one lived. • Another growing factor was social control – American ideals centered on freedom, which meant less respect for (and deference toward) ruling elites. But as freedom grew, the traditional elites of the old colonies saw their power diminish. They saw state-controlled institutions (a national bank, a careful creation of new territories, and “state rights” ) as means to – 1. “guide” the development of societies • -- 2. Protect local customs (like slavery).

An American mission In 1788, Benjamin Rush proposed a plan for a “Federal University” that would “prepare our youth for civil and public life.” The curricula included studies in ancient and modern history, commerce, agriculture, manufactures, natural history, chemistry, athletics, and rhetoric – in short everything a young nation needed to develop a “virgin continent.” The plan was never acted on, but the idea of an “American continent” was popular.

Native suppression An American victory at Fallen Timbers (1794) opened the Ohio River-Northwest region to large numbers of American settlers. The “west” was becoming synonymous with “freedom and opportunity. “

Trade Restrictions After 1800, American exports were harmed by wars in Europe. Business owners and laborers complained that the Federal government should do more to “promote free trade.”

Reaching for the Pacific When Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, it was to “show the flag” and stake America’s claim to all of North America. Resources in the west would make trade with Europe easier and more profitable, but also less vital. The love-hate relation with Europe would mark US culture for 150 years

Continental ambitions Jedidiah Morse not only was a pioneering geographer of North America, he was also a premier spokesman for the ascendancy of the United States in the Western Hemisphere. He believed that it was the “inevitable destiny” of the US to “gain mastery” over the North American continent. He also advocated a program for teaching Native Americans to develop “our ways” of life.

Morality vs. Profit Alcohol had been an issue of morality – and practicality – for decades. Puritans had already compromised by allowing fishermen to work on Sundays (fish being a major export, with lumber and furs). I Fishermen then protested the lack of alcohol on Sundays and frequently ignored the rules by buying it in illegal “grog shops.”

Malthusian Economics Thomas Malthus, a British minister, believed that the rise of population could create worthwhile reforms – but that ultimately overpopulation would create famine, riots, and collapse of societies. Americans generally found his view too pessimistic.

Rising poverty • After 1815, concern grew that poverty was on the rise. The reasons were debated: • In rural America, mechanical devices began to replace workers in the fields – an observer wrote that threshing grains with flails declined: “anyone not a perfect idiot can stand and pound upon the floor of a barn [but now] threshing machines are everywhere used.” • In cities immigration (5 million from 1820 to 1860) kept wages low. Matthew Carey, an early ‘economist’ noted that an average laboring couple earned $143 a year in Philadelphia about 1835, but had “bare-bones” expenses of $145.74 – any illness at all meant that poverty and starvation could occur • From 1750 to 1850, the proportion of wage-earning laborers in New York City rose from 6% to 27% of the population • Groups like the Sunday School Union and American Tract Society thought poverty would decline if “moral character” was improved.

Societies for Prevention of Pauperism “Transmit the values of the respectable class of people down to the poor” and “all would be well.”

Self-Help Many immigrant groups created “self-help” organizations to assist newcomers. The Tammany Society of New York grew into a powerful political organization. Its members dominated New York City government for decades.

Anti-immigration Not every American appreciated rising immigration. Stores, hotels, and restaurants posted “no Irish” signs. But cheap immigrant labor aided transportation, mining, and other industrial ventures. The “Exceptionalism” idea made it natural to “Americanize” immigrants through education

Making Americans School readers used stories of the Revolution and early nation to teach immigrants English and American values.

LAND Land drew thousands westward over the mountains , where land was so plentiful that new states often granted voting rights to “all free men” (i.e. white men).

Building the Continental Empire

Manifest Destiny It is the "divine destiny" for the United States "to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man” by expanding US values across North America John L. O’Sullivan (American journalist) in 1845

How to Overcome the distances and obstacles • A continental nation would require: • Advances in technology to allow faster transportation over mountains and rivers. • Available land for new settlements (which would have to be negotiated with various Indian tribes. • Expanding population (including immigration from abroad). • Exploitation of the continental resources through agriculture, mining, and trade • National unity and agreement over major policies.

Politics and the role of the president The anti-slavery and other reform movements flourished during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. As the hero of New Orleans, Jackson was wildly popular with the people, but many in the northeast part of the country questioned his ability. Cartoons in the 1828 election reminded voters that Jackson had invaded Spanish Florida in 1819, hanging two British subjects for selling weapons to the Indians, and nearly bringing on a war. Many feared Jackson would ignore normal political methods and act on his own in most matters of government. They were right. Jackson said that, as the only candidate chosen by all the American voters, the president acted “for the people,” even if Congress did not agree with his policies.

The Iron Horse Transportation in America was going to be revolutionized by the latest advance in steam engines – the railroad. It took advances in metallurgy to produce the first successful locomotives, like the General Tom Thumb (1829), which became the center piece of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first successful system in the country.

The Telegraph The telegraph was perfected in the 1830s by Samuel F. B. Morse, an artist and inventor. After partnering with a former Postmaster General, who helped Morse develop the system of lines for telegraph communications, Morse became a very rich man. The telegraph revolutionized the transmission of information in America, altering news and even military movements.

Reform movements The 1830s and 1840s constituted an era of reformist movements. In addition to the anti-slavery movement and the demand for the women’s rights to vote, there were peace movements, anti-alcohol movements, a prison reform movement, and the first call for vegetarianism as a way of improving the “national health.” Ultimately, the anti-slavery movement pushed all the other calls for reform into the background.

Anti-Slavery Across Oceans A British travelerwho accompaniedthe novelistWilliam MakepeaceThackeray on a tourof America capturedthe grim realities ofa slave auction. The British Navy was suppressing the Atlantic Slave trade.

Slavery and Progress Despite laws that prevented slaves from becoming educated, southerners still claimed that slavery was a “civilizing institution.” John C. Calhoun (left), former vice-president, long-serving Senator foe South Carolina, wrote essays arguing that slavery was “indispensable to progress.” He further argued that slavery would slowly bring advances to the “black race” so that they could – in some future century -- “take their place among civilized peoples of the world.” Anti-slavery groups called Calhoun’s defense of slavery nothing more than a “sad attempt to defend an immoral institution.”

Anti-slavery In the early 1800s, the anti-slavery movement had been primarily a call for ending slavery and then equipping the ex-slaves to return to Africa and “colonize” a new society (Liberia was the result of these ideas). But as slavery grew after 1820, “abolition” became the focus of anti-slavery movements. In Boston, William Lloyd Garrison called for “no compromise” with slave states, demanded the immediate end to slavery and even burned a copy of the Constitution because it recognized the existence of slavery. Massachusetts became the heart of abolition.

Women and Unionism Working in the textile mills (left) and other industries like bookbinding (right), young women found their lives strictly regulated, with dormitory-like housing, curfews and “morals clauses” in their work rules. Some resented this and began to organize unions. The women in the mills were able to get the Massachusetts Legislature to investigate work conditions – the first government investigation of labor conditions in U.S. history.

War with Mexico Ignoring warnings from the government of Mexico, which had yet to acknowledge the independence of Texas, Polk persuaded Congress to admit Texas as a new state. In 1846, Mexican troops and American cavalry exchanged shots along the Rio Grande River, which led Congress to declare war.

Civil Rights By the end of the Civil War (1865), the U.S. had adopted the 13th amendment, prohibiting slavery in all states. The 14th amendment prevented states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Civil War Union victory in the Civil War reflected the industrial power of the northern states. It also increased the belief in an American “destiny” to remake the world.

The Centennial Celebrated The American Centennial Exposition of 1876 was one of key events of the year, with a “world’s fair” in Philadelphia made up of dozens of buildings and pavilions that extolled the progress of the nation –its growth in size and industrial, its population, its social and economic development. The US was becoming a power capable of challenging the British empire.

An Age of Growing Abundance The Exposition celebrated the unprecedented economic growth of America, showing new inventions, new patents, new devices, and the new prosperity that followed. Farmers by then were producing food, miners so many raw materials, and workers so many goods that prices were dropping for many necessities.

Immigration The massive numbers of immigrants, particularly from eastern and southern Europe, provided industry with a large labor force, but kept wages low and thus corporate profits high.

Anti-Labor Views Several newspapers and many middle-class readers feared labor unions, believing they were dominated by radical immigrants that were socialist, violent and ‘anti-democratic.’ “Reds” became an instant expression of socialist dangers/

Political Machines Many cities had long been controlled by political machines that delivered votes to selected candidates in return for special favors. But reform groups (and some labor groups who wanted higher wages) blamed immigrant voters as the source of the machines’ power, and so sought to restrict immigration. The only result of this was in the 1870s, when the Congress yielded to public pressure and banned Chinese immigration for a number of years.

1898 -- War with Spain While the US felt that seizing the remaining Spanish territories in the western hemisphere would “increase freedom” some in Latin American felt differently.

The “Bully Pulpit” Progressive reformers saw the Theodore Roosevelt as the one person who “represented all the people” (an idea that went back to the 1830s). Theodore Roosevelt accepted a number of the reform ideas of the progressive movement and used his office as a “bully pulpit” to urge reduction of child labor, regulation of trusts, conservation of natural resources, and efforts to reduce corruption in government. Only after he was elected in his own right in 1904 did he push for some of these reforms.

The “Great White Fleet”” Roosevelt’s decision to send the US fleet around the world in 1907 was regarded by Europe and Japan as an announcement of intentions to take a major role in world affairs.

American Exceptionalism