American Exceptionalism may just be the most misunderstood concept in contemporary American politics. Liberals seem to have absolutely no understanding of it whatsoever, and unfortunately, I fear a majority of conservatives believe the concept simply amounts to “We are better than them”.American Exceptionalism does not simply amount to bragging rights that we have the largest economy in the world, the most successful military and one of the freest countries yet to grace this earth. These observations are post facto a much larger and far more important premise which forms the foundation of American Exceptionalism: God grants rights directly to individual people, not governments, and does so in equal measure.
Of course, this is not the end of it. The concept is neither American nor exceptional (in that it is not the product of one philosopher or nation). English and French philosophers had argued this point long before George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention. What does make this concept American and exceptional though, from our vantage point as modern people, is the fact that our Founders codified this philosophy in our most important political and governing documents, most notably the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
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