Fronteir Exceptionalism :: essays research papers

What is exceptionalism? As defined by The the Statesn Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, is it 1) the condition of being exceptional or unique and 2) the theory or belief that something, especially a nation, doesnt conform to a pattern or a norm. Some historians trust the terms origins to Alex de Tocqueville, the 19th century French historian. Since colonial times, Americans felt of themselves as the preeminent example of a social and morally advanced society. posterior Winthrops City on a Hill illustrated the Puritan ghostly tones for these ideals. After the Revolution, a combination of secular and sacred ideologies formed that truism the United States as providentially selected to be a divine stand for for liberty and a new world order. But dont all peoples of a nation feel an exceptional pride in their nation? Why did/do Americans feel that course? I believe one of the most fundamentally important facets that contributed to the American exceptionalism spirit this time was the frontier. The frontier, whether a place or mental process, certainly make American thought from a ragtag colonial cluster to a hegemon with muscular muster. I disagree with many Turnerian protgs, however, in that the process of settling the frontier was not a series of successes. The new recap of western hi chronicle shows that not all courses of action taken resulted in progress. Patricia Limerick discusses this well in her essay entitled What on Earth is invigorated due western History? In this essay she tries to quell old myths that atomic number 18 celebrated by those who would like to hold on with a blind eye to false stories. But these interpretations of the west are just as vitally important as the Indian and cowboy mystique. The concept of America and what an American is was fashioned from the combination of myth versus reality. Most of my paper entrust be examining these topics from Limerick, Ridge and Richard Whites When Frederick Jackson Turner and c ow Bill Cody Both Played Chicago in 1893.Turner and Cody told the story of the west in two starkly assorted angles, and with two different approaches. Turners narrative was one that told of large, empty expanse of let off land that was there for the taking, and was basically free from violence. Codys Wild West showed an adventure of conquest and persecution at the hands of the Indians, a correct means of life on the plains.(47) But when the two are taken into eyeshade together, the biases of each bring to light the complexities that shadowed their explanation for their perspective.