The Basis for American Exceptionalism

Where does American Exceptionalism come from?

American Exceptionalism comes from a worldview – a Biblical Worldview.  The whole basis for American Exceptionalism is the Biblical Worldview!  

The Founding Fathers studied the Bible more than any other book.  Most of them read the Bible through from cover to cover every year –Genesis through Revelation- in addition to topical Bible studies and the 4 hour church services they attended on Sundays.  It’s known that George Washington began every morning on his knees in prayer before an open Bible and the last hour of the day likewise.  

The Bible says that all people are created in God’s own image and likeness with the ability to observe, think, learn, and express our ideas with spoken and written words.  We’ve been given the gift of language and use it to communicate with God and with others.  God is our Creator and has given us this good earth and all its resources to create from and develop things that will benefit mankind.  We get to create from what God has placed under our dominion. 

Think about Ben Franklin, inventor extraordinaire!  He tamed lightning with the metal lightning rod so that fewer houses would be hit by lightning and destroyed by fire, with many lives saved!  At a time when heat was given and all cooking done in the fireplace with the leading cause of death for women being burned to death, Ben invented the famous “pot-bellied” stove.  It provided safer and more even heat.  Bifocal reading glasses and many other helpful products were invented by Franklin. 

Thomas Jefferson invented the “dumb-waiter” to move goods from one story to another, and the lazy Susan for his books so he could keep 3 or 4 open at a time with only a flick of a finger to move from one to another. 

George Washington invented the 16 sided threshing barn with two stories to improve the threshing of grain at Mt. Vernon, and many other helps to farming, as well.

God is pleased when we use and develop what He has given us to bless others!  There are countless examples of the creative spirit of man, and we are creative because we are created in God’s own image and likeness. 

 The God who “gathers the wind in His fist” allows man to harness that wind energy and put it to use!  The God who created water allows man to harness that water energy and put it to good use in many different ways.  The paths in the oceans were discovered by the American Naval Officer Mathew Maury after he meditated on the Scripture from Psalms about the paths of the sea – which brought about much greater safety for ocean going vessels- lower costs for goods transported on ships, etc…

Knowing that the Bible says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God, for God, the Founding Fathers carefully established a foundation from which the genius of mankind could be unleashed, to the glory of God.   

Proverbs 8:12 says, “I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions,” so when the Founders established a plan of government in 1787 to ensure liberty and opportunity for all Americans, in the very first article, section 8 of that Supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, the representatives of the people and the states are given the power and authority “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;”

And the creative genius of mankind was unleashed to produce over 95% of the entire world’s wealth!  In America inventors’ intellectual property was protected by law and they were free to produce and profit from their ideas and inventions!  America became the wonder of the world!  It wasn’t just trained engineers but farmers, factory workers, manual laborers, cooks, people from all walks of life that invented and produced new and exciting products!  An immigrant could land on the shores of this great country with nothing but the clothes on his back and with a dream and hard work go from rags to riches!  95% of the inventors in the World’s Hall of Fame for Inventors were either Americans or they did their work here.  I love that and I love American Exceptionalism!